ERIC Number: EJ1393770
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Oct
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1938-8926
EISSN: EISSN-1938-8934
Navigating the University as Nepantleras: The College Transition Experiences of Chicana/Latina Undergraduate Students
Ramirez, Brianna R.; Puente, Mayra; Contreras, Frances
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, v16 n5 p619-631 Oct 2023
Chicana/Latina undergraduate students represent a significant and growing proportion of student enrollment in higher education institutions in the United States, particularly in states like California that have critical masses of Chicanx/Latinx communities. Despite their increasing enrollment rates, Chicana/Latina college students continue to experience racial/ethnic and gendered isolation, academic and culture shock, feelings of imposter syndrome, and a lack of belonging at the university. This article applied AnzaldĂșa's theoretical concept of nepantla to the college transition experiences of 18 Chicana/Latina mujeres who participated in a Summer Bridge program at a research-intensive, public 4-year university in Southern California. Through interview and focus group data, we found that Chicana/Latina students were constantly negotiating their racial and gendered identities with their new college student identities. The clash between their former realities and new realities positioned them as atravesadas within a university context that questioned their aptitude for higher education, which detrimentally impacted their perception of themselves as students. The fusing of their old and new realities led the Chicana/Latina students in our study to form a new, complex, and informed reality that emerged from their old and new worlds on their own terms and through their own understanding of collegiate success. Given these mujer-centered findings, this article challenges the linearity and assimilationist undertones of leading college transition frameworks and models that are unfit to explain the ongoing transition experiences of Chicanas/Latinas. Further, this article advances an understanding of the transition to college for Chicana/Latina students that is mujer-centered, multidimensional, and fluid.
Descriptors: Student Adjustment, Student Experience, Hispanic American Students, Females, Undergraduate Students, Transitional Programs, Summer Programs, First Generation College Students, Self Concept, Student Attitudes
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A