Muxerista Factorship: Recuerdos, Resistencia, y Reimagining Peer Muxerista Mentoring

• In Event: Beyond Mentoring: Muxerista, Feminista, and Black Feminist Approaches to Femtorship

Abstract

In this retrospective piece, we document how our peer muxerista mentoring and Chicana/Latina femtorship shifted post tenure. We build on previous work (Author, 2010; 2011; 2013) that documented how we engaged in liberatory praxis by focusing on the ideology and practices of a peer muxerista mentoring that supported our navigation of the tenure and promotion processes and the development of our scholarship.

Peer Muxerista Femtorship
We view “muxerista mentoring” as both a process between and among Latinas and a product of these relationships (Author et al., 2010; Revilla, 2004). Here, we extend muxerista mentoring to include femtorship praxis. Rooted in equity, solidarity, and empowerment, the significance of femtorship lies in its foundation of intersectionality and supports femtees in building self-efficacy and resilience in spaces that marginalize our communities.

Methods:
We engaged in weekly two-hour pláticas (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016; Gaxiola Serrano, 2021) for critical conversations and reflections. Pláticas privilege our positionalities and epistemologies, and honor our lived experiences as both researchers and participants. It emphasizes our identities as co-creators of knowledge, and prioritizes reciprocity, vulnerability, and reflexivity (Gaxiola Serrano, 2021). We concentrated on how femtorship advanced our academic and professional careers.

Data Sources:
Our data included transcripts of conference presentations, weekly pláticas, and recuerdos. Using reflection, clarification, and self-critique, we analyzed the data based on our diverse experiences, emotions, and collective experiences. We were engaged throughout the entire research process and responsible for authentically and accurately representing ourselves, given our intimate involvement in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Findings:
(1) peer femtorship and social mentoring as collective resistance

Post tenure, our peer femtorship necessitated more of a focus on the social aspects of our professional lives. Centering physical and mental health, we strived to find more balance as tenure brought increased demands for service roles. Critical to our emotional and physical selves, we created safe spaces to share experiences and knowledge of the “system.”

(2) acts of transformative resistance

As tenured faculty, we took on powerful roles, including tenure and promotion committees. We shared information about the policies and politics of these committees and collaborated with each other to increase advocacy efforts for other scholars. Relationships and community building continued to be key in resisting the tier 1 research obsession. We continued to uplift our working-class, multilingual, immigrant, and Indigenous communities of color.

(3) resisting our socialization to tormentorship

We found that our roles as femtors needed to shift from one of scare tactics and regañadas to one of uplifting knowledge and contributions. Intergenerational relationships (Generation X vs millennials) influenced how we engaged with faculty who found strength in their work/life balance

Scholarly Significance:
Research on Chicanas/Latinas in HSIs reveals their unique academic experiences. These insights inform the development of femtorship and how to replicate it. Our research may facilitate and increase retention and promotion of Chicanas/Latinas, a particularly important endeavor given the low numbers of tenured Chicanas/Latinas.

Authors

• Lucila D. Ek, University of Texas - San Antonio

• Iliana Alanis, University of Texas - San Antonio

• Patricia D. Quijada Cerecer, University of California - Davis