Profesoras: Chicana Professors Revisiting Aspirations and Experiences in Academia From Graduate School to the Professoriat

• In Event: Chicana Feminist Approaches to Theorizing About Chicana/Latina Educational Inequalities in Higher Education

Abstract

This work builds upon Anzaldúa's (2002) path of conocimiento theory to describe Chicana professors’ aspirations and experiences from graduate school to the professoriate. Using the method of testimonio and methodology of Chicana Feminist Epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998), this longitudinal study focuses on 10 Chicana tenure-track faculty members in the academy from 2001-2016. Their aspirations and experiences from graduate school to the professoriate echo Anzaldúa's seven stages along the path of conocimiento moving from an internal quest to one that is in conversation with a larger social world. Their reasons for pursuing a Ph.D. mirror the first stage's earthquake-like realization of a need for change. The second, nepantla, is revisited throughout graduate school and during their early academic careers as a place where multiple realities coexist. The third Coatlicue stage is despair about their place in academia. Recognizing the importance of their presence in the academy and the value of their work, the fourth is a call to action. In the fifth, the women create new ways to remain in academia without compromising their beliefs. During the testing stage, the women describe clashes of realities. In the final “spiritual activism” stage, they are cognizant of how their work as individuals affects social change at large. Their aspirations consider not only their dreams but also those of their families, communities, and future generations.

Author

• Rebeca Burciaga, San José State University