The Chicana/o/x Dream: Methodological and Theoretical Considerations in the Study of Hope, Resistance, and Educational Success

The third guest in the PEAR fall speaker series is Professor Gilberto Conchas, the Inaugural Wayne K. and Anita Woolfolk Hoy Endowed Professor of Education at the Pennsylvania State University and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education.

Location: Grace Dodge, Room 363, or on Zoom at https://teacherscollege.zoom.us/j/94123625011

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Abstract

Dr. Conchas will discuss his book with Nancy Acevedo, The Chicana/o/x Dream: Hope, Resistance, and Educational Success and its lessons for capturing the student voice. The book profiles first-generation college students of Mexican descent who have overcome adversity by utilizing various forms of cultural capital to power their academic success. Conchas and Acevedo address the mechanisms that shape the achievement, aspirations, and expectations of Chicana/o/x students who grew up in marginalized communities and unequal school contexts and share success stories about this growing population of students.

The authors critique the educational policies and practices that systematically fail to champion Chicana/o/x success and examine the use of community cultural wealth that supports U.S.-born and U.S. immigrant students of Mexican descent to make their achievement possible. In so doing, the authors look toward the future by highlighting the actions that Chicana/o/x students take in creating bridges between K–12 to college and between their communities and higher education.