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As Latinx students navigate higher education it is vital to understand how they negotiate their multiple identities (i.e. cultural and academic culture) and how that negotiation affects a student’s educational experience. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand and examine Latinx graduate students’ experiences as they navigated higher education. A key aspect of the current study was to capture personal narratives through a qualitative approach and focus on shared themes among participants. This study examined the experiences of 9 Latinx graduate students currently pursuing a Master’s degree in an attempt to address the following questions: (a) how do Latinx graduate students negotiate cultural and educational identities as they pursue higher education? (b) what are the effects of this negotiation on Latinx graduate students? The results confirmed that family is a crucial aspect of a Latinx graduate students experience. The three themes that emerged were: (a) managing roles and familial expectations (b) negotiation techniques and (c) coping responses. Familial support, valuing education, and understanding the trade-offs of pursuing an education were significant themes in how Latinx graduate students managed roles and expectations. Biculturalism and deviating from gender norms were common ways Latinx graduate students negotiated their identities as they pursued higher education. Lastly, communication, code-switching, and guilt were often ways that students coped with these negotiation techniques. Results of the study suggest that a Latinx graduate resource center, family graduate student orientations, and expanding on diversifying teaching faculty representation in graduate programs would greatly benefit Latinx graduate students in persisting and completing their graduate studies.
Advisor: | Ortiz, Anna |
Commitee: | Locks, Angela, Moreno, Rosa |
School: | California State University, Long Beach |
Department: | Educational Leadership |
School Location: | United States -- California |
Source: | MAI 81/1(E), Masters Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Higher education, Multicultural Education, Ethnic studies, Hispanic American studies |
Keywords: | Biculturalism, Coping, Ethnic identity, Graduate students, Higher education, Latinx |
Publication Number: | 13862213 |
ISBN: | 9781085574525 |