Rural Latinx Students’ Spatial Imaginations of Their College Choices

Toward a Student Understanding of “Rural-Serving Institutions” in California’s San Joaquin Valley

Dados Bibliográficos

ID22046292
AutoresMayra Puente (0000-0002-6705-9651, University of California, Santa Barbara, autor correspondente), Mayra Nuñez Martinez (0000-0003-2986-5107, University of California, Davis), Daniel Rios Arroyo (0009-0008-2675-3525, University of California, Santa Barbara), Sarahy Torres (0009-0000-8896-0361, University of California, Los Angeles)
Ano2023
Volume13
Fascículo7
Páginas660
Data de publicação2023-06-28
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEducation Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/educsci13070660
OpenAlexW4382722133
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas34

Rural students face multiple issues pursuing higher education, including financial hardships, inadequate college preparation, and geographic isolation from postsecondary institutions. These issues are further complicated for rural Latinx students, especially those from immigrant farm working backgrounds, who are positioned at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression. Yet, rural Latinx students’ college choice and transition experiences are rarely centered in the higher education literature. This article examined the college choices of nine rural Latinx high school seniors from California’s San Joaquin Valley who chose to attend a public higher education institution in this agricultural region. This article drew on three indicators from the culturally engaging campus environments (CECE) model and employed a Chicana/Latina feminist pláticas methodology to analyze the campus elements that motivated rural Latinx students to enroll in public institutions in the San Joaquin Valley. Findings demonstrate that rural Latinx students purposely chose these institutions because they imagined that such institutions would (a) be racially and spatially familiar, (b) allow them to give back to their rural communities through relevant majors, and (c) offer tight-knit collegiate environments. Recommendations for higher education researchers and practitioners interested in increasing college success for rural Latinx students and expanding traditional definitions of rural-serving institutions (RSIs) are provided

Economic growth · Higher education · Institution · Political science · Rural area · San Joaquin · Social science · Sociology · Education Systems and Policy · Higher Education Research Studies · Indigenous and Place-Based Education