Beyond Role Models: Latina Teachers Helping Latinas Cross Borders on the Path to College

• In Event: Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Power, Agency, and Success in the Secondary and Postsecondary Lives of Latina/o Students

Abstract

Through the lens of a Chicana feminist epistemology, this phenomenological study explores the experiences of three Latina graduates of an all girl urban Catholic high school, and examines how the context of an almost all Latina learning environment helped mediate family demands and expectations as the girls prepared for college. Findings reveal a strong family oriented learning environment and the presence of several Latina teachers helped participants construct a strong Chicana/Latina identity as they negotiated conflicting notions of gender and gender role expectations in their homes and communities, while making difficult decisions about their post-secondary education.

Author

• Monica G. Garcia, California State University - Northridge