Articulando Chicana/Latina's critical narratives on their graduate experiences

Abstract

This study examines the experiences of seven Chicana/Latina doctoral students and one queer Chicana/Chicano at a large, predominantly White public research university in the Midwest, using qualitative and interpretive research methods. To achieve this, I gathered eight semi-structured narratives with self-identified Chicana/Latina women and one queer Chicana/Chicano, who were doctoral students during the time of the study. Two methodological frameworks are employed in this work: critical narrative research and a decolonizing methodology. Critical narrative research is a methodological approach that incorporates a critical analysis of personal stories, the processes of storytelling, and the relationship between individual narratives and the larger cultural, political and economic conditions that inform their creation. A decolonizing methodology engages with imperialism and colonialism in ways that supports a critical understanding of the assumptions, motivations, and values informing research practices. I incorporated my testimonio as a tool to theorize oppression, resistance, and subjectivity. Homogenization of Chicana/Latina doctoral students recurs in literature, by examining their educational experiences, such as their schooling, class background, political identities, and the manner in which agency is exerted, is challenged by giving voice to these experiences. The narratives provide evidence of the lack of support, the numerous barriers, daily microaggressions, and the resiliency that came from the development of “personal communities” that Chicanas/Latinas experienced in their doctorate programs. I argue that in order to fully understand the experience of doctoral students one must use a “Community” of Theories for Understanding the Underrepresented Graduate Student Experience. These will in turn inform educational policy by providing institutions of higher education with possible areas of intervention to equalize the doctorate experience of Chicana/Latina bicultural students.