A Phenomenological Study on Latinas’ Resistance Behaviors in Engineering at an HSI

• In Event: Leading for Change: Student Leadership, Advocacy, and Resistance in Higher Education

Abstract

Utilizing the LatCrit theory of resistance (Solorzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001), this study explores how 15 Latinas in Engineering programs at a Hispanic Serving Institution make sense of their resistance behaviors within the context of the institutional climate and departmental culture, and the ways in which they combat oppressive structures to persist. Centering Latinas’ meaning-making frameworks, we use an interpretive phenomenological design highlighting their nuanced experiences (Matua & Van Der Wal, 2015). Findings reveal an inclusive institutional climate overlaying a pernicious and misogynistic departmental culture marked by female underrepresentation and toxic masculinity. Given these conditions, Latinas resist through fluid and overlapping resistance behaviors that are shaped by the interplay between their intersectional identities and influenced by familial perceptions.

Authors

• Marina Lambrinou, Loyola University Maryland

• Qi Shi, Loyola University Maryland