Abstract
This research study investigated the educational experiences of seven Latina undergraduate students. Although Latinx/a/o students are the fastest growing group in U.S. public schools and comprise more than one in four in K-12 public schools today (Krogstad & Lopez, 2015), their dropout rates among Latino students remain unacceptably high and their performance rates are the lowest in all measures of academic progress (Espinoza-Herold & González-Carriedo, 2017, p. 48; Krogstad, 2016; National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2016). Recent trends prove that Latinas and Latinos are entering the university in larger numbers than in the past, yet retention and graduation remain areas for improvement and evaluation (Cerda-Lizarraga, 2015; Martinez, 2014; Solorzano, Villalpando, & Oseguera, 2005). Latina undergraduate students, especially, face challenges that are often exacerbated by cultural norms for their gender and families contradictory expectations. The methodology utilized was qualitative in nature and included a narrative (testimonios) study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that Latina students identify as having an impact on their decisions related to attending college, their retention, and completion of a 4-year college degree. This study analyzed their interpretations and perceptions of their K-12 education. The data for this study was collected trough in-person one-on-one interviews, in-person focus groups, and journal entries completed by self-identified Latina undergraduate students of a mid-sized state university located in Southern North America. The data analysis included the organization of the narrative pieces in themes and in chronological order, as well as a triangulation of the information from different pieces using codes. The journal entries were used in the triangulation to support and sometimes clarified the information that the participants shared in the interviews. The themes that emerged from the data analysis included their perceptions of their identities as Latina college students, resilience in the form of hard work and leadership, familial influence, parents ‘sacrifice as source of motivation, scholarships, and Latinx/a/o mentorship as factors within the academic sector that positively influence Latina students, and stereotypes, microaggressions, and low expectations as barriers. The theoretical frameworks that guided the analysis of this narrative study are social constructivism, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latino Critical Race Theory (Lat-Crit) and Latinidad as a conceptual framework for their constructed identities.