Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities
<p>Over the past years, the number of Latinx students enrolled in higher education institutions in the UK has increased considerably. Nevertheless, Latinx students constitute a minority which has not received much research attention. The lack of Latinx representation in higher education is suc...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1826313930809540608 |
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| author | Bello, LA |
| author2 | Xu, X |
| author_facet | Xu, X Bello, LA |
| author_sort | Bello, LA |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>Over the past years, the number of Latinx students enrolled in higher education institutions in the UK has increased considerably. Nevertheless, Latinx students constitute a minority which has not received much research attention. The lack of Latinx representation in higher education is such that Latinxs have been referred to as "the invisibles" in the literature (Robertson et al., 2019) despite their continuous efforts to gain recognition. In fact, the existing literature on Latinx students is mainly US-based and features deficit-based approaches that portray individuals negatively (Dueñas & Gloria, 2022).</p>
<p>Motivated by this gap in the literature, this dissertation set out to explore how Latinx graduate students at the University of Oxford construct and develop their identities. This qualitative case study applied two lenses to the analysis of students’ identity formation: Markus and Nurius’ Possible Selves and Latinx Critical Theory. The research included 12 participants who were Latinx graduate students at the institution. The data consisted of the personal statements that participants wrote to gain admission to the university, and one-to-one semi-structured interviews, which were analysed applying reflective thematic analysis.</p>
<p>Findings indicate that interpersonal relations played a key role in Latinx students’ identity formation throughout their academic experiences. Participants' social contexts and backgrounds influenced the formation of their like-to-be and like-to-avoid selves, and aided reflection on their current selves and intersectional identities. Low Latinx representation was found to have a significant impact on students' experiences and positionalities. Furthermore, this study found that Latinx students faced several challenges at the institution in relation to their intersectional identities, which include discrimination and microaggressions. Despite the hardships Latinx students faced, the University of Oxford was regarded as a place where students can position themselves as producers of knowledge and agents of change.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:24:08Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:cb663b6c-987d-4102-9a20-8d77a8a5828b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:24:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:cb663b6c-987d-4102-9a20-8d77a8a5828b2024-08-22T08:36:40ZBeing Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identitiesThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdccuuid:cb663b6c-987d-4102-9a20-8d77a8a5828bEducationEducation, HigherCase studiesLatin American studentsQualitative researchRace identityEnglishHyrax Deposit2023Bello, LAXu, X<p>Over the past years, the number of Latinx students enrolled in higher education institutions in the UK has increased considerably. Nevertheless, Latinx students constitute a minority which has not received much research attention. The lack of Latinx representation in higher education is such that Latinxs have been referred to as "the invisibles" in the literature (Robertson et al., 2019) despite their continuous efforts to gain recognition. In fact, the existing literature on Latinx students is mainly US-based and features deficit-based approaches that portray individuals negatively (Dueñas & Gloria, 2022).</p> <p>Motivated by this gap in the literature, this dissertation set out to explore how Latinx graduate students at the University of Oxford construct and develop their identities. This qualitative case study applied two lenses to the analysis of students’ identity formation: Markus and Nurius’ Possible Selves and Latinx Critical Theory. The research included 12 participants who were Latinx graduate students at the institution. The data consisted of the personal statements that participants wrote to gain admission to the university, and one-to-one semi-structured interviews, which were analysed applying reflective thematic analysis.</p> <p>Findings indicate that interpersonal relations played a key role in Latinx students’ identity formation throughout their academic experiences. Participants' social contexts and backgrounds influenced the formation of their like-to-be and like-to-avoid selves, and aided reflection on their current selves and intersectional identities. Low Latinx representation was found to have a significant impact on students' experiences and positionalities. Furthermore, this study found that Latinx students faced several challenges at the institution in relation to their intersectional identities, which include discrimination and microaggressions. Despite the hardships Latinx students faced, the University of Oxford was regarded as a place where students can position themselves as producers of knowledge and agents of change.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Education Education, Higher Case studies Latin American students Qualitative research Race identity Bello, LA Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title | Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title_full | Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title_fullStr | Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title_short | Being Latinx at the University of Oxford: exploring graduate students’ identities |
| title_sort | being latinx at the university of oxford exploring graduate students identities |
| topic | Education Education, Higher Case studies Latin American students Qualitative research Race identity |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bellola beinglatinxattheuniversityofoxfordexploringgraduatestudentsidentities |