The College Experience of Latinas in Ethnic Sororities: Culture Shock, Marginalization, and Resilience Through Ethnicity

• In Event: 452 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 12. Race and Education

Abstract

While the Latina/o college-age population continues to expand, Latina/o college graduation rates remain low compared to other racial and ethnic groups (Fry and Lopez 2012; Santiago and Soliz 2012). This paper examines the college experiences of Latinas in ethnic sororities. We find that our respondents experienced an initial culture shock and marginalization upon attending SU, a selective, predominantly white university in the Southwestern U.S. Once our respondents joined their sororities, they gained significant benefits, including peer support. Sororities provided a “home away from home” cultural peer support structure with whom they can rely on and trust. Latina sororities provided opportunities for cultural maintenance, where members gained an increased sense of pride in their ethnic identity. Finally, the social networks of our respondents became more racially and ethnically homogenous after joining their sororities, suggesting that our respondents have become incorporated into ethnic support networks, to which they attribute to their positive college experiences.

Authors

• David Orta, Texas A&M University

• Edward Murguia, Texas A&M University

• Cristina Cruz, Texas A&M University