First-Gen Latinx/Afro-Latinx and Complex: Keeping Resilient Responses on Shuffle

This qualitative study examined the racialized experiences of first-generation Latinx and Afro-Latinx students in higher education. Fourteen participants engaged in pláticas, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups to reflect on how their identities, race, and institutional dynamics shaped their collegiate journeys. The study examined how these students navigated both personal and institutional settings, revealing the emergence of tensions around belonging, authenticity, and cultural responsibility in everyday interactions. Using Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) alongside Multidimensional Identity Negotiation Theory (MINT) and Co-Cultural Communication Theory (CCCT), this study developed an emergent framework—the Resilient Response Model—to better understand how students respond to complex identity pressures. The model introduces four core responses: Resilient Perseverance, Silent Endurance, Emotional Retreat, and Critical Refusal. Each captures how students manage the tension between thriving academically and surviving emotionally in environments that often marginalize or misunderstand them. Narrative and discourse analyses showed that participants experienced systemic neglect, class-based assumptions, racialized surveillance, and internalized pressure to succeed for their families. Students utilized strategic, emotional, and cultural responses to navigate harm and affirm their identities. Students used silence, code-switching, cultural funds of knowledge, and community as both shields and strategies. Findings highlight that traditional student success models often overlook the emotional labor carried by first-generation students of color. The Resilient Response Model provides a novel perspective on how students navigate and resist within institutions that are not designed with their full identities in mind. These findings have implications for academic and student affairs professionals seeking to create more culturally responsive and sustaining environments in higher education.