Purpose and Method of Study: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover factors in Hispanic women's lives that influenced their persistence in attainment of a doctoral degree. Six Hispanic women, ranging in age from 44 to 70 years, were interviewed regarding their educational experiences. At the time of the study, five of the participants were employed at an educational organization; two were or had been school principals, three were assistant superintendents of large public-school districts and one was the head of a national non-profit preschool organization who had served in educational leadership at the national level. The interviews for this qualitative study were conducted over nine months, from March 2020 to December 2020. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in person or on the ZOOM application and lasted from 45 to 90 minutes. Findings and Conclusions: Nine themes surfaced from the data analysis. Five themes were identified as being barriers to the PK-20 educational pipeline among the participants and Latinas as a whole. Those themes included: (a) Hispanic children living at or below poverty; (b) Hispanic students academically at-risk; (c) lack of parental education, which limits the college advice they can give their children; (d) teen pregnancy which keeps many Latinas out of college, eliminating graduate school and ultimately doctoral studies; and (e) invalidating agents which hinder success. Four additional themes emerged that proved to be empowering for these Latinas; (a) self-efficacy or ganas, which influences positive performance; (b) validating agents leading to success; (c) aspirational capital, defined as the hopes and dreams of individuals which determine how a person adjusts and navigates social venues and academic institutions; and (d) spiritual beliefs which can be a significant factor in contextualizing persistence and finding a sense of belonging. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]