Date

12-2019

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Department

Liberal Studies

Abstract

The focus of this Capstone project analyzing how Mexicana students balance obtaining an education and being a madre. Mexicanas madres face a clash of the two competing “cultures” of school and home. Being a Mexicana student often means one must observe a set of “cultural” academic expectations; namely, school comes first, and the importance of deadlines and grades. Being a Mexicana madre often means one must observe a competing set of cultural expectations. These include familia first, attend to the children, and cook and clean. The evidence based argument suggests that Mexicana student madres must learn to “navigate” these two systems and find, perhaps, a “third” way to solve this issue in order to successfully complete their college work. Six current and former Mexicana madre/students, were interviewed to see how the support provided madres pursuing a higher education could be reimagined. Based on the analysis of the data and the relevant literature, the three themes that emergent themes included: 1) Extending campus daycare hours; 2) promoting more awareness of Title IX to ensure that pregnancy or family responsibilities do not interfere with obtaining an education; and 3) creating a school policy that allows children in class. From these three action options, an action was undertaken to support Mexicana madre/students better negotiate the two competing cultures of school and home.

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