Latina Undergraduates on the Path to Becoming Exitosas on Their Own Terms

Abstract:

This research shares testimonios from 11 Latina undergraduates attending a 4-year PWI in the Western US to better understand how they defined and measured their success in higher education. Traditional success measures, like graduation and persistence rates, are based on the institution's values and do not fully represent Latine values. While Latina undergraduates embraced dominant measures of student success, such as academic achievement and career attainment, they also shared student success beliefs that closely aligned with their Latine values, as well as emphasizing well-being. Drawing from Anzaldua's pathway to conocimiento, this study demonstrated how Latina undergraduates were on the path to becoming exitosas (successful) on their own terms by balancing both dominant measures of success and those that honored their Latine values. A better understanding of Latina undergraduates' beliefs about student success will assist higher education and student affairs professionals in supporting Latinas' success in all the ways they define it. This article provides recommendations for practice and research with the goal of enhancing the Latina undergraduate student experience.