Academic Socialization Experiences of Latina Doctoral Students:

A Qualitative Understanding of Support Systems That Aid

and Challenges That Hinder the Process
Juan Carlos Gonzalez

Presentation By: Analie,

Ayra, Lisset, Melissa,
MyTeAnna and Yesenia
 Purpose and Research Question

It examines how academic socialization contributes to What are the educational

the success or failure of Latina doctoral students. experiences of Latina
Specifically focusing on the possible opportunities and doctoral students at
challenges presented in the mixing of academic culture
and Latina culture to understand Latinas’ views on their predominantly White
underrepresentation at the doctoral level. institutions, and how have
they responded to academic
socialization?
 Literature Review
Literature Review through empirical research (actual experience).

Addressed institutional structures that hinder Latina graduate students.

● Passing Through the Eye of the Needle: High Achieving Chicanas (Patricia Gandara, 1982).
● Inside Doctoral Education in America: Voices of Latinas/os in pursuit of the Ph.D. (Gonzalez,
2002)
HELPFUL CHARACTERISTICS: attendance at integrated K-12 schools, family support,
guidance from mother, supportive spouse/partners, resistance to academic
unworthiness, mentors, and strong cultural background.

CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME: poor K-12 education, lack of financial support from

institutions, discrimination based on class/gender, family responsibilities, lack of
mentors, and low expectations from professors.
 Theoretical Framework
This article uses the production theory that encompassed 2 major types of theories: Phenomenological theory
and Marxist critical theory. These 2 theories were used to understand Latina students forms of resistant,
individualization and forms of socialization.
 Method
○ Qualitative Method
○ 13 1-2 hour semi-structured interviews
■ Open Ended Questions
■ Through 4 years
● Research Sites - Conferences
○ Gathering at the River: Women of Color in the Arizona
Academy, National Association of Chicana and Chicano
Studies, American Educational Research Association, and
the Association for the Study of Higher Education
○ Survey - educational career paths, degrees, fields of study, and how they
self-identified in terms of race and ethnicity.
 Interviewees
○ Latina doctoral students in their 3rd + year
■ Advanced students were selected to examine the experience of those
close to the end of their programs
○ Majority self-identified as Latina
■ Also self-identified as Chicana and Hispanic, Puerto Rican,
Afro-Latina, Chicana Feminist, Fronteriza, indigenous identified
Chicana, Chicana de Latin America, and American of Mexican
descent
○ Traditional path, nontraditional path, began at a community college
○ K-12 schooling experiences
○ Household - Parents, language
 Positive and Negative Experiences
Positive academic preparation prior to graduate school. They developed a positive academic
experiences from k-12 to grad school which led to more positive experience within their doctoral
experience

Institution-wide support systems which includes being awarded financial opportunities, and
being exposed to new region of the country by leaving home to attain their doctorate degree.

Institution-wide diversity - being on a campus that nurtured and supported their cultural
identities was a positive experience.

Latina doctoral students there is an undesired cultural assimilation, and overt/covert racisms
that set the tone for their educational challenges

Cultural isolation and tokenism

Lacked of mentorship and collegial support, and experienced racially hostile classroom
environments
 Academic Socialization and Latina
Resistance
The socialization process they were met with was set to mimic the expectations and outcomes of white make
academics.

Latinas who were more culturally aware were more resistant to the attempts of socialization they were met with in
graduate school.

Successful resistance to academic socialization was viewed as integration with like-minded scholars who supported
and encouraged Latina resistance to socialization
- This resulted in them rejecting their “subordinate” and asserting themselves as equals amongst their peers,
adopting the notion that they have something to prove.
- Found support through mentorship
- Found ways to assert their Latina identity and used research to assert their activism for the community

Unsuccessful resistance could be viewed as isolation and marginalization.

- Resulted in academia being viewed as a political game played for survival.
- Some discussed disengaging and skipping classes when confronted with hostility.
- Some switched programs.
 Implications and Limitations

● Findings have provided

● Selection of Latina doctorates
policymakers with a look into
primarily from the social
the problems with academic
sciences.
socialization.

● Institutional climate concerns

● Gender difference between
need to be addressed .
researcher and interviewees.
“The belief is that diverse students
are entering institutions of higher
● Interviews were the primary
education and forcing institutional
and only source of data.
response to and by their presence.”
 Discussion
● As a graduate student yourself, do you see any
similarities when it comes to the experiences (positive
or negative) of the interviewees?

● What changes can policymakers make to better support

minorities in graduate school?
Thank You!

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● Purpose and Research Question-Analie
● Review of Literature (Melissa)
○ Focusing on Table 1 and describing the support they seek (pg 349-351)
● Theoretical Framework (Yesenia)
○ Production Theory, Phenomenological Theory vs. Marxist CT, why Marxist Theory
was used (pg 352-353)
● Method and Interviewees (Lisset)
○ Type of study, how, where (pg 354)
○ Who was interviewed, how do they identify (pg 355)
● Positive and Negative Experiences Ayra
○ Pick three examples that stood out to you from each (pg 356-359)
● Academic Socialization and Latina Resistance (MyTeAnna)
○ Successful and unsuccessful resistance, lost voice and found voice (pg 359-361)
● Findings and Limitations- Analie