The Lived Experiences of the Latinx Mentor and The Role of Community Cultural Wealth
Date
2017-12
Authors
Gamez, Blanca Ursula
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Abstract
This qualitative research study explored the phenomena that surrounds the Latinx mentor and the Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) six forms of capital (Yosso, 2005) utilized in mentoring relationships. The six forms of capital (Yosso, 2005) serve as a platform for cultural knowledge, abilities, and experiences that assist in the psychosocial and academic enrichment of the Latinx college student. Utilizing phenomenology as the study’s design illuminated the voice of the Latinx mentor and contributed to the existing body of knowledge surrounding academic persistence and resiliency of Latinx college students.
The main research questions that guided this study are: (1) What are the lived experiences of professional Latinxs who serve as formal mentors at institutions of higher education in Central Texas to Latinx college students? (2) How can the experiences of these Latinx mentors be used as a tool to inform the work of other mentors, mentoring programs, and institutions of higher learning? (3) What role does Community Cultural Wealth have in the Latinx mentoring relationship? Data collection sources for this study included two 60-to-90-minute individual interviews with eight Latinx mentors, archival data, a researcher’s journal, and field notes. Taylor Powell and Renner’s (2003) and Hatch’s (2002) typological analysis methodologies for analyzing qualitative data served as my guide for analyzing data. Utilizing thick rich descriptions, bracketing my own subjectivity, relying on triangulation methods, and implementing member checks, is how I established trustworthiness. The study provided detailed descriptions into the mentoring experiences of eight Latinx mentor participants. Key findings indicated that Yosso’s (2005) CCW framework played a significant role in the Latinx mentoring relationship. In addition to Yosso’s (2005) six forms of capital, a single new form of capital, Relational Capital, emerged which added depth to the existing CCW framework. Relational Capital includes the following three characteristics Compassion, Experiential, and Generativity and eight tools utilized by Latinx mentors in their mentoring relationships. Because of the emergent theme, a new framework was developed. This framework materialized utilizing the concepts originated from Yosso’s (2005) CCW model, the new form of capital, and characteristics and tools that emerged from the analysis of data.
Description
Keywords
Latinx, Mentor, Lived experiences, Community cultural wealth
Citation
Gamez, B. U. (2017). <i>The lived experiences of the Latinx mentor and the role of community cultural wealth</i> (Unpublished dissertation). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.