Centering Cultural Wealth: Undergraduate Identity Development in a Summer Research Program at an HSI

• In Event: Latiné/x Students: Experiences, Growth, and Servingness Across Contexts

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examines the academic and personal outcomes of undergraduate students who participated in a 10-week summer research program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Designed to address the underrepresentation of marginalized communities in undergraduate research, the program offered accessible, structured, and culturally responsive learning experiences.
Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, the study analyzed data from pre- and post-program surveys, weekly reflections, final research proposals, and presentations. Findings highlight how students developed their research identities by drawing upon various forms of capital, including: aspirational, navigational, resistance, and social capital, as well as their sense of ethical responsibility. The program fostered identity development and research engagement by affirming students’ cultural wealth and lived experiences as foundational to the research process.

Authors

• Anissa R. Stewart, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Fátima Andrade Martínez, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Lupita Romo-González, University of California - Santa Barbara