First-Generation Women of Color Professionals: An Examination of the Intersectional Experiences in Higher Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Our symposium argues that first-generation students’ struggles continues into graduate school and work in post-secondary education. As Women of Color in professional roles, the panelists facilitate discourse on their positionality gained through experiences of being former first-generation college students. This session will 1) reveal the counterstories of a faculty, dean, administrator, assistant director, and researcher/scholar, 2) prepare first-generation faculty and students to better navigate through issues of institutional racism and microaggressions, and 3) examine how our unique experiences impact how we connect with leaders and stakeholders inside and outside the classroom. We are proposing: What happens when the experiences of first-generation, Women of Color in higher education professionals contribute significantly to the success of first-generation college students?

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Division J - Section 4: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching

Chair

• Rebeca Burciaga, San José State University

Papers

• Unpacking the Institutional Barriers of Being a Community College Student to an Administrator - Carmen Marie Dones, West Los Angeles College

• Triple Threat: Asian American, Women-Identified, and First-Generation - Cindy Nhung Phu, Pasadena City College

• Racially Invisible in a Racially Constructed World - Zeina Otaky-Ramirez, California State University - Northridge

• Momentos agridulces (Bittersweet Moments): Finding Myself - Patricia Aguirre, California State University - Northridge

• My Journey From a First-Generation Graduate Student to a First-Generation Professor - Dimpal Jain, California State University - Northridge

Discussant

• Tracy Lachica Buenavista, California State University - Northridge