Cultivating a College-Going Identity for Latina Girls: Experiences at School and at Home

Over the last 20 years, conventional Girl Studies has established a need to recognize the intellectual, gendered, and embodied development of girls as viable subjects of interest. Though there is an increase presence of girl... [ view full abstract ]

Over the last 20 years, conventional Girl Studies has established a need to recognize the intellectual, gendered, and embodied development of girls as viable subjects of interest. Though there is an increase presence of girl of color experience in Girl Studies, there remains a gap in recognizing young Latina adolescent experiences. Regrettably, the “girl” in Girl Studies is either a White or Black girl in the United States or she is a Muslim girl, an Indonesian girl, an African girl who is showing the world how she is “rising” in spite of the global experiences she finds herself in. But what of Latinas in the US who are not “foreign” girls and are all too often not considered “local.” Indeed, the 2015 National Women’s Studies Association program included over 60 papers on Girl Studies. Of those, only 5 were obviously centered around Latina girl experiences. This panel urges the need to include Latinas in Girl Studies. By highlighting Niñas, or Latina girls, panelists provide an intervention to the way we understand adolescent development and girlhood within the Latin@ experience. The papers will emphasize how Latina/o Studies can trouble the hegemonic narrative of girlhood in Girl Studies. In particular, panelists will explore topics on education, sexuality, and mother/daughter relationships to understand how niñas finesse their gendered childhood and adolescent experiences within a particular US Latino ethnic context.

Rebeca Mireles-Rios will speak on Latina/o adolescents perceptions of teacher support and communication about higher education and how this influences their future aspirations and expectations.

Panel 101