The Aftershocks of Disaster: Plática-Testimonios of Puerto Rican College Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Continuing to Heal, Support, and Shape Academic Lives Impacted by the Pandemic and Natural Disasters

Abstract

Puerto Ricans constitute the second largest proportion of Latinxs in the U.S., yet there remains a dearth of research regarding their experiences in higher education. Historically, Puerto Ricans in the stateside experience low levels of educational attainment across all levels, high poverty rates, and disproportionately incarcerated. The purpose of my study is to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican undergraduates as they continue to experience racialization, disasters, dispossession and displacement, while simultaneously navigating higher education which historically has been hostile to the inclusion of this population. (Irizarry& Antrop-González, 2007). I pose the critical question: What are the effects of disaster, if any, on Puerto Rican undergraduates’ psychosocial, social, and academic development in higher education?

Author

• Nichole M. Garcia, Rutgers University