Unveiling the Gendered Experiences of Mujeres: A Testimonio Approach for Examining Latina Community College Leadership

• In Event: 28.089 - MTCC Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 28.089-11 - Gender Exploration for Latinas: Empowering Chingonas

Abstract

Through an exploratory comparative cross-case study of three Latinas, a testimonio approach is used to examine how gender intersects with ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion to influence the educational leadership journeys of Latina community college administrators. While testimonio is used in educational research, it has not been applied to study Latina community college administrative leadership. Thus the study unveils the everyday way Latinas develop, foster, and enact educational leadership, disrupting patriarchal and Eurocentric scholarship on community college leadership. Findings reveal that mujeres draw from rich, nuanced experiences like childhood discrimination, sexism, social justice, religion, mujerista social support, and a Border identity to become educational leaders. Research and practical implications to better support Latina educational leadership and theory-building are discussed.

Author

• Briseida Elenes, University of San Diego