When They Enter, We All Enter: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Girls of Color and College-Going

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Black Women and Girls in Pursuit of a Higher Education: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

This paper investigates the college-going experiences of urban Girls of Color. It looks at the types of assumptions made by educators based on students’ family backgrounds, which are counter to the experiences of students. These beliefs are often grounded in stereotypes that portray families as lacking the interest and care to support their daughters’ postsecondary goals. However, this work finds that students do not feel a lack of support from their families. Rather, they report high levels of support from their families with regard to postsecondary expectations. This study finds that the challenges these students face have largely to do with their limited social capital when it comes to the ways in which they engage with the college-going process.

Authors

• Shena Sanchez, University of California - Los Angeles

• Robert Cooper, University of California - Los Angeles

• Suzanne Quon, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College