Identity Negotiation Strategies for Academic Success: A Qualitative Study of Latina Women’s Experiences in Highly Selective Institutions

A lack of academic preparation, deficient knowledge of the United States’ higher education systems, and low socioeconomic status have ranked highest in contributing to Latinos not achieving the same level of academic access and completion when compared to their peers. In the last decade, the number of Latinos who were able to successfully overcome such barriers and gain access to higher education has increased; however, there is still a clear underrepresentation at higher education institutions. A recently explored topic is identity negotiation and the strategies used to reconcile, adapt, or assert different aspects of a person’s identity to be more culturally attuned to higher education. While there is ample literature as to Latinos in higher education, generally, there is a gap in the literature regarding the strategies employed by Latinos who do successfully complete their education to understand the strategies employed to succeed, with little to none found specifically to understand the strategies that Latina women employ to negotiate their identities within highly selective, predominantly White institutions. This qualitative study seeks to further investigate those strategies of Latinas who successfully achieved their educational goals at their highly selective institutions.