Mexican and Latinx College Student Success
Isis Esparza, iaesparzavalde21sp@ollusa.edu
Our Lady of the Lake University, with Dr. Jessica Quintero
Education
Photovoice: A strengths-based look into Chicana/Latina first-generation college student success
A photovoice project is participatory action research that requires the participants of the study to be the main source of data collection. This methodology involves photography and discussions amongst other peers in the study. As reported by the National Center for Education Statistics College Enrollment Rates, since 2000 the percentage of Hispanic women enrolled in college has steadily increased. The purpose of the researchers using photovoice for this study is to bring awareness to First Generation Chicana/Latina and impart voice on their experiences that helped them through their post-secondary education, as well as what cultural factors or skills attribute to their success. The research will be over a three-day period. On the first day, participants will be informed about the research, how to be active participants, and how the study will proceed. On the second day of the study, participants will be asked to take pictures from their daily lives and caption the picture explaining how the image answers the research question. On the third day of the study, participants will be gathered to discuss all submitted photos and they will all collectively choose up to 10 photographs they believe best addresses the research questions. The investigators will separately listen to an audio recording of the participants' dialogue to dissect and consider the focused theme of the study. The goal of this research is to increase visibility of First-Generation Chicana/Latinas in post-secondary education by viewing their culturally lived experiences.
Erica Martinez, mar55528@ttu.edu
Texas Tech University, with Dr. Branda Pina-Watson
Psychology
The Role of Identity Affirmations with Intragroup Marginalization and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican Descent College Students
Intragroup marginalization (IM) is the interpersonal distancing that occurs when an individual displays cultural norms inconsistent with their heritage culture. IM is associated with acculturation, the process by which an individual from a historically minoritized group modifies their values, behaviors, and identities to the majority group. Simultaneously, enculturation occurs when an individual holds on to values, behaviors, and identities within their heritage culture. Identity affirmations are the development of a strong sense of belonging to the heritage culture (ethnic identity affirmations; EIA) and majority culture (American identity affirmations; AIA). Research supports that individuals who feel better about their identities display better mental health outcomes. The present study investigated the relationships between EIA, AIA, IM, and depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that higher levels of identity affirmations would relate to lower levels of IM. Higher levels of IM would then be associated with higher depressive symptomology among Mexican-descent college students in the United States. This study recruited participants through a psychology participant pool and national snowball sampling method. Two mediation models analyzed whether IM mediated the relationship between identity affirmations and depressive symptomology. Both models found that higher levels of IM were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. The EIA model found that lower levels of EIA were associated with higher levels of IM. The AIA model found that lower levels of AIA were associated with higher depressive symptoms. These results suggest that encouraging higher levels of EIA may reduce IM experiences and reduce harm to Mexican college students' mental health.
Esmeralda Lopez, elopez73@mail.stmarytx.edu
St. Mary’s University, with Dr. Alan Meca
Psychology
Where do I Belong? How Acculturative Stress and Discrimination Influences Hispanic/Latinx
Past research has shown that cultural stressors are associated with increased symptoms of depression as well as alcohol and drug use and aggressive behavior among Hispanic/Latinx. Cultural stressors are defined as stressors rooted in navigating multiple cultural streams at once. Despite research documenting the detrimental impact of cultural stress, limited research has identified factors, such as acculturative strategies, biculturalism, and familismo, that may diminish experiences of cultural stress. Utilizing a subset of 1189 (74.5% female, Mage = 20.43 years, SD = 3.858 years) college students from the MUSIC survey, we looked to identify how specific cultural assets uniquely impact cultural stressors (i.e., pressure to acculturation, pressure against acculturation, and discrimination). Results indicated that greater Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) was associated with reduced pressure to acculturate, pressure against acculturation and whether these individuals will perceive higher levels of discrimination. In addition, Heritage and U.S. Cultural Endorsement had a positive association with heritage in pressure to acculturate, while Americanism had a negative association with pressure to acculturate. Finally, findings indicated familismo had a positive association with pressure to acculturate. Our findings emphasize that cultural stressors a re heavily dependent on Hispanic/Latinx own acculturative configuration (i.e., endorsement of heritage and US cultures and familismo) as well as how they feel about their two identities. These results are discussed in relation to specific cultural stressors that Hispanic/Latinx face in the U.S. and the need for understanding the relationship these individuals faced with competing cultures.
Session Location
- Foster 102
Session Date/Time
- Thursday, 1:45 - 2:45pm
Session Type
- Oral Student Presentations
- Student Presentations