Bridging silos in higher education: using Chicana Feminist Participatory Action Research to foster Latina resilience

This study takes place at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and examines the experience of women who are part of a research collective studying a Latina college mentoring program. As of Fall 2018, Latina undergraduates made up the largest group at this university, totaling more than 7,000 of 37,000 undergraduate students. In Fall 2016, a college mentoring program to support Latina undergraduates was launched by campus administrators. Out of the program, a multi-generational research collective formed where the research team uses a Chicana Feminist Participatory Action Research (CFPAR) design that engages program staff, faculty, administrators, graduate and undergraduate students in both the design of the study and the continual re-design and implementation of the college mentoring program. This paper uses the researchers’ testimonios and group pláticas to share about their role in the implementation of the research using a CFPAR approach and how they have been impacted by this Latina-centered space that fosters resilience. This research has implications for faculty, staff/practitioner, and student collaboration and for how institutions can support spaces like this to better serve Latinas in higher education.