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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.
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