“The weight we carry in our backpack is not the weight of our books, it’s the weight of our community!”: Latinas negotiating identity and multiple roles

Abstract

In the United States, out of 100 Latina/o elementary students, only 0.3 will complete a doctorate degree. Latinas/os/x as a fast-growing minority population in the United States continue to be underrepresented in higher education. The underrepresentation and limited empirical research on Latinas with advanced degrees calls for immediate attention to the inequities that exist within the Latina/o/x educational pipeline. Drawing from a Latina/o Critical Theory analysis and Chicana Feminist Epistemology standpoint these interviews explore the nuanced experiences of twelve Latinas in an Educational Leadership Doctoral Program. Life history interviews were used to reveal how the women 1) balance and negotiate their multiple racial, social class, and gender identities and roles, 2) their first-generation college student identity and guilt and 3) their identity and roles as motivation