Advocating and Empowering at Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Institutional Agents' Use of Capital in Racialized Organizations

• In Event: Equitable Education Systems and Perspectives on Institutional Change

Abstract

Guided by theories of institutional agency and racialized organizations, we explored how staff at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) use their capital to support students. Fifteen staff members at Morado Catholic University (MCU), a small private Catholic HSI, were interviewed for this study. Findings suggest that racially minoritized staff use their experiences and shared identities with students to create spaces and programming to empower and serve racially minoritized-students. Findings also show that racial schemas at the institution, and whiteness in particular, affect agency.

Authors

• Esteban Alcala, University of Pittsburgh

• Gina Ann Garcia, University of Pittsburgh