Commuting Between Cultures: The Double Burden of Social Mobility for Latino/a First-Generation College Students

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 18: Intersectional Journeys: Navigating Identity, Race, and Mobility in Education

Abstract

Conversations about social mobility in the U.S. are often framed by cultural narratives of progress. But, as Karida Brown (2016) showed in her work on the “hidden injuries” of school desegregation, narratives smooth out the messy complexity of lived experience. In doing so, they risk obscuring social processes and dynamics that diverge from those captured by cultural forms. Narratives of progress dominate discussions of social mobility among first generation college students in the U.S. While a college degree undoubtedly opens doors for many such students, upward mobility rarely comes without costs. Surprisingly little research on social mobility and higher education among Latino/a first generation students at non-liberal arts, non-residential colleges exists. There are several reasons we believe this is an important understudied area of research. First, research on Latino/an educational trajectories indicates Hispanic first generation students face obstacles not shared by their non-Latino/a peers. For example, particular cultural beliefs and values, along with greater social isolation, less diverse social networks, and limited access to social capital relevant for academic development prior to arriving to college, contribute to these unique challenges (e.g., Gamoran et al. 2012). These and related findings caution us against generalizing about Latino/a first generation students’ experiences from studies of predominantly white first generation students; cultural factors appear to greatly shape the former’s experiences in ways we do not yet fully understand. In this research, we seek to understand the nature and sources of the challenges faced by these students to better understand how they contribute to, and exacerbate, existing social and educational inequalities.

Authors

• Alessandra Lembo, Purdue University Northwest

• Christabel L. Rogalin, Purdue University Northwest