Latinx have consistently been underrepresented within graduate school, specifically doctoral education. Increased doctoral attainment for Latinx could provide more opportunities for upward mobility. Additionally, increased Latinx representation in higher education administration and faculty positions could validate cultural diversity, as institutions would reflect the realities of the students they are intended to serve.

Despite Latinx being the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S., they are one of the least represented groups in doctoral degree attainment and faculty positions regardless of academic rank.

According to the American Council on Education (2017), doctoral degree attainment for Latinx 25 and older is 0.7%, and Latinx faculty represent a mere 3%, with Latina faculty representing 1%. With meager Latinx faculty representation, Latinx students are left with very few role models and are less likely to enroll and complete their degrees.

First-Generation Identity in Graduate School

To understand this issue more in-depth, we also need to consider the role of being a first-generation college student. First-generation students, who are the first in their families to obtain a four-year degree, represent 30% of doctoral degree recipients. According to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute (2021), almost half of Latinx undergraduates (48%) are first-generation students.

Previous research has shown that the challenges that first-generation students experience are mirrored at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. First-generation students, who are the first in their families to navigate college and do so without prior knowledge of how the system works, find the transition to college intimidating, feel like they do not belong, struggle with navigating college, and are less likely to engage with campus services and faculty. Research has also shown that first-generation students are less likely to enroll and complete their doctoral degrees than their continuing-generation peers. Nevertheless, first-generation students develop navigational skills and lean on familial knowledge to guide them in their college journey.

Latinx Doctoral Experiences

Latinx doctoral students often face social and institutional inequities that hinder their success. Discrimination, based on race, class, and sex, is manifested in overt and covert ways, and causes many Latinx students to question their abilities and belongingness within doctoral education.

Research has demonstrated how Latinx doctoral students employ resistance strategies to counter such barriers and how Latinx doctoral students create their own networks of resistance by finding supportive Latinx faculty and peers, both within and outside of their institutions. They find or create spaces that validate their identities and academic worth. Additionally, they assert their cultural identity, voice, and values, centering them in their work.

My Graduate School Journey

As a queer, Latina, first-generation doctoral student from San Antonio, Texas, I deeply resonate with this topic. Coming from a low-income background and being the first in my family to pursue my bachelor’s degree and my doctorate has been a source of pride for myself and my family.

Going from growing up in a majority Latinx community to attending predominantly white institutions (PWI) for my post-secondary degrees was culturally isolating and intimidating. On top of that, I had to navigate a system that was completely unfamiliar to my parents and me. I applied and entered graduate school with low academic confidence and felt like an imposter. As my friends and I have experienced, these feelings do not always go away. We struggle with imposter syndrome, feeling inadequate, and feeling like we do not belong.   

During my master’s and doctorate, my Latinx and first-generation identities provided me with the skills to navigate college systems and provided me with tools to persist. My Latinx and first-generation communities have provided me with a vital support system in which we mentor each other, share resources, and learn from one another.  These networks and relationships have given me spaces to feel validated, affirm that I am a knowledge-holder and that my cultural values matter. Through many conversations with my Latinx and first-generation friends in doctoral studies, I discovered that although many of us face similar challenges in navigating doctoral education, we also demonstrate beautiful ways of uplifting one another and resisting systems not created with us in mind.

As has been found in previous research and within my personal narrative, the challenges that Latinx first-generation students experience in undergraduate education persist into graduate school, indicating that we never really graduate from being first-generation. With a better understanding of how Latinx first-generation college students navigate graduate school, we can better support the unique needs of this student population. We can learn from the knowledge, values, and skills that they utilize to collectively resist, survive, and potentially even thrive within their programs.

Author Bio: Alicia A. Moreno is currently a third-year doctoral student studying higher education leadership at The University of Texas at Austin and is also the Monarch Program Coordinator. She earned her B.F.A. from the University of North Texas and her M.Ed. from UT Austin.