Virtual Counterspaces: How Latina Doctoral Students Leverage Social Media to Navigate Academia

• In Event: Latina Women in Education

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of virtual counterspaces (Gómez & Cabrera, 2023) through two case studies that examine the impact of Latina-run Instagram accounts on the educational aspirations and academic journeys of Latinas pursuing doctoral degrees. Case study 1 involves 44 semi-structured interviews with Latina doctoral students, focusing on how social media accounts run by Latina academics serve as virtual counterspaces. Case study 2, with 34 semi-structured interviews, examined how followers of academic Instagram pages perceive their content as beneficial for their academic trajectory. Our findings revealed that Latina doctoral students utilize Instagram to build community, for cultural affirmation, and to share and gather information about how to navigate their doctoral programs successfully.

Authors

• Aide Hernandez, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Jennifer Cabrera, University of California - Irvine

• Valerie A. Gomez, University of Southern California