Letters Between Amigas: Using Chicana/Latina Feminist Methods in Race-Gendered Research

• In Event: Chicana/Latina Feminista Pláticas in Educational Research: Methodological Considerations and Tensions

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present approaches of Chicana Latina Feminist Epistemologies and Methodologies (CLFM) that challenge the isolation and invalidation that Women of Color often encounter through traditional qualitative research methods. To engage in research that uplifts the voices and experiences of Women of Color in higher education, this paper draws from two empirical studies that bridge multiple Chicana Latina Feminist Methodologies. This paper follows the structure of an epistolary correspondence between both authors in which they unpack 1) how multi-methods can be engaged within CLFM, 2) call attention to the intricacies and tension that arise when utilizing these methodologies, and, 3) how these methodologies are important for conducting critical raced-gendered research. Our goal is to demonstrate how braiding CLFM allows for research that challenges the marginalization of Women of Color in higher education.

Theoretical Framework: This paper is informed by Chicana/Latina Feminist Theories (Delgado Bernal, 1998). Drawing from the previous work by Fierros & Delgado Bernal (2016) on pláticas, we continue their work of identifying the values of methodologies that center the voices of Chicanas/Latinas and Women of Color. In using Chicana/Latina Feminist Theories we are able to bring focus and learn from the racialized and gendered intersectional identities of the women in our work.

Methods and Data Sources: The two empirical studies presented through this paper used a combination of CLFM. The first study demystifies the educational journeys of citizen Latinx daughters as they navigate the role of immigration status, race, and gender in their familial dynamics and educational responsibilities. The second study engages Women of Color in doctoral programs to highlight how they navigate their educational journeys and define the silences that they encountered while in their programs. These two empirical studies utilize pláticas (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016), video testimonios (Benmayor, 2012; Pizarro & Kohli, 2018), and epistolary letter writing (Cisneros, 2018) for data collection.

Findings: Through the epistolary correspondence, we show how engaging in CLFM provides space to 1) further center the agency of our research collaborators; 2) provide additional opportunities for the continued engagement of lessons and knowledge shared by research collaborators; and 3) be part of the self-reflection process that occurs after and during data collection for our research collaborators. Through these findings we expose the negotiations and contradictions that arise between our past training in traditional research methods when using CLF informed methodologies, as they do not always align. In sharing our process we highlight the messiness and the strengths that CLFM offers during the process of intersectional research.

Significance: Our correspondence to one another demonstrates how braiding CLFM provides a research praxis that is informed by research collaborators. These raced-gendered multi-method approaches strengthen the research by engaging collective reflexivity (between the research and research collaborators), centering experiential knowledge, and countering deficit beliefs about Women of Color. This paper presents examples of a holistic process of vulnerability and reciprocity between researchers, collaborators, and the honoring of narratives within the research process.

Authors

• Yadira Valencia, University of California - Los Angeles

• Magali Campos, University of California - Los Angeles