Browsing by Author "Aragon, Antonette, advisor"
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Item Open Access A thematic analysis of the Excel Pre-Collegiate Program as an avenue of successful postsecondary enrollment for Latina/o students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Armendariz, Cynthia Núñez, author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Anderson, Sharon, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Scott, Malcolm, committee memberCollege access and college enrollment rates are significantly lower for students of color, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and first-generation students (Reese, 2008). High schools, universities, and state and federal agencies have all recognized that the gap in college enrollment between students of color and their white counterparts is a major issue (Loza, 2003). High schools have implemented college prep classes and dual enrollment programs, universities have built bridge and pre-college programs, and the federal government has implemented legislation and provided funding geared at closing the enrollment gap between students of color and white students (Reese, 2008). Even with the various forms of interventions, the issue of low post-secondary enrollment specific to students of color continues. This study examines the experiences of Latina/o students who participated in the Excel Pre-Collegiate Program, a pre-college program offered through Metropolitan State University of Denver. In addition, the study explored how the participants' culture and background influenced their college-going and general educational experience. The study found that pre-college programs are an important and needed opportunity for students to gain the skills and knowledge to successfully navigate the college application process and enroll in college. Pre-college programs address many of the barriers and challenges that deter Latina/o students and students of color in general from attending higher education institutions.Item Open Access Campus climate for diversity and its impact on sense of belonging(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Marquez, Angela, author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Anderson, Myron, committee member; Anderson, Sharon, committee member; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Kuk, Linda, committee memberIntentional efforts toward recruitment and retention of diverse populations of students, faculty, and staff are essential for the evolution and development of higher education institutions. Progress relies on a commitment to diversity in all facets of the institution in order to embrace a population that continues to diversify. Through assessment and evaluation of current student populations, understanding the impact of this effort is realized through an evaluation of the environment. This study utilizes data previously gathered through a campus climate survey at one university. Guided by a Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality (CRQI) Framework, a quantitative methodology and an intersectional data mining approach is performed. Analysis begins with demographic data disaggregated by race, and then separated by gender identity and first-generation status to investigate for differences between and within groups on an established Campus Climate for Diversity dimension and a Sense of Belonging dimension. The data are analyzed through ANOVAs, split-file ANOVAs, and Factorial ANOVAs. The results indicate statistical, significant differences between races on all measures of the Sense of Belonging dimension and differences within racial groups when analyzed at the intersection of gender identity. Last, through simple linear regression analysis, campus climate for diversity serves as a predictive variable to sense of belonging for students attending this university.Item Open Access Dreams deferred: testimonies of the undocumented Latino/a student experience(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Burton, Mirella Medina, author; Banning, James, advisor; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Davies, Timothy G., committee member; Valdez, Norberto, committee memberAccording to Passel and Cohn (2008), in 2008, there were 1.5 million undocumented children under the age of 18 living in the United States. California housed 22% of the nation's total undocumented population (Passel & Cohn, 2008). Each year approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from United States high schools, and 25,000 of these students graduate from California alone (National Immigration Law Center, 2006). This narrative study explores the meaning of the label "undocumented" as it is experienced by Latino/a undocumented college students in educational settings. Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) theoretical frameworks to analyze the participant's testimonies, this study illuminates the multiple forms of subordination that Latino/a undocumented students experience because of their race, language, socioeconomic background, gender, and immigration status.Item Open Access Graduate students of color: the impact of mentoring at predominantly white institutions(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Gonzalez, René, author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Basile, Vincent, advisor; Folkestad, James, committee member; Cespedes, Karina, committee memberDespite the increasing diversity of the US population, particularly of Latinx residents, the lack of resources and the underrepresentation of graduate students of color (GSC) are lingering issues in higher education. This dissertation discusses the impact of mentoring at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) for GSC. With Critical Race Theory (CRT) as my lens, I expand on mentoring, mentorship services, counter-storytelling, critical social factors and a historical context of higher education in order to both illustrate the problem and offer specific solutions to the systemic barriers that GSC face every day on college campuses. By leveraging the narrative side of CRT, this study provided the opportunity for additional GSC by creating a qualitative/quantitative survey designed to capture perceptions and experiences at other PWIs. These stories identify a trend or need for appropriate services in a system where GSC are attempting to navigate. The results offer specific counterstories by and experiential knowledge of GSC on mentoring at PWIs. There were two types: open-ended and Likert-scale. The survey results gave clarity on the specific topics it was designed to address. Respondents' overall attitudes and perceptions of mentoring show that mentees expect mentors to exhibit high levels of accessibility, approachability, trust, interest in a mentee's personal and academic welfare, especially as a person of color. Also, GSC expected at least some level of engagement with the mentee as a junior colleague, not merely as a student. Finally, GSC expected mentors to help navigate departmental academic support structures and policies as well as professional opportunities.Item Open Access Grandma, could this dissertation be my Indigenous Tayal facial tattoo? An autoethnography of overcoming the fear of statistics through the dichotomous use of p-values(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Lin, Hsiao-Ching, author; Most, David, advisor; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Doe, Sue, committee member; Faircloth, Susan, committee member; Timpson, William, committee memberThis dissertation's idea began with my class notes and questions in the statistics courses I attended in my doctoral program. These notes and questions originally were about the concepts of the bell shape, statistical distribution, and hypothesis testing. They then became my inquiries of p-values because what I learned in the courses about how the dominant use of p-values have generated inequities such as academic bias and misleading statistics education; they caught my attention as inequities were at the root of my learning growing up as a Taiwanese Indigenous student and woman. I reference Indigenous critical theories' (ICT) concept of challenging the mastery of knowledge via centering Indigenous intelligence in the knowledge (Justice, 2016) as the primary epistemology to conduct this autoethnographic study. All in all, using autoethnography as the research method, I ask four research questions to explore my meaning-making of learning the dichotomous use of p-values: 1. How do I make meaning of the dichotomous use of p-values in the statistics courses I attended? The exploration of this research question illustrates how and why I was drawn to the issue of p-values and what is the essential problem of using p-values dichotomously. Using p-values dichotomously means using statistical significance to decide the effectiveness of a research treatment or intervention. 2. How do I make meaning of the dichotomous use of p-values in the literature of this study? The analysis of this research question shows the broader contexts of the canonical teaching and use of p-values and that of inequities engendered by them. To answer this research question, I explored the history and philosophy of the connection between statistics and scientific research and inequities caused by using p-values dichotomously. These inequities explored and explained in this study are death, job loss, life threats, and academic bias. 3. How do research questions 1 and 2 help me address inequities discussed in this study as an Indigenous woman researcher? The answer to this research question explains how the inequities generated from improper use of p-values. It also aligns with the inequities I have encountered as an Indigenous woman and graduate student in a country not of my birth. 4. How do research questions 1, 2, and 3 help me overcome my fear of statistics? Pondering this question led me to complete this dissertation—Grandma, Could This Dissertation Be My Indigenous Tayal Facial Tattoo? An Autoethnography of Overcoming the Fear of Statistics Through the Dichotomous Use of P-Values. This study not only critiques the dichotomous use of p-values but also explains the inequities generated from it by unraveling the social norm ingrained in the use of p-values. It also heals me from feeling unintelligent, timid, and small about statistics as, during the process of completing this dissertation, I have overcome the fear that accompanies emotional trauma associated with the numeric dimension of confirming realities.Item Open Access Making meaning of whiteness: life experiences that inform culturally conscious student affairs leaders(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Webb, Leslie J., author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Davies, Timothy, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Hempel, Lynn, committee memberFour white student affairs educators shared their histories, experiences, and critical incidents that helped shape their focus on inclusive practice at predominantly white institutions of higher education. Critical white studies and the construction of whiteness, identity development models, privilege, multicultural competence and consciousness, and social justice provided a conceptual framework for this narrative inquiry. Through a series of interviews, participants shared their understanding of identity, critical incidents that influenced their development, and their experiences as engaged white student affairs educators. Eighteen total themes were developed in this study throughout the participant's stories. The most emergent themes developed in the study included (1) Contextualized Identity, (2) Individual Story, (3) Action and Presence, (4) Core Values and Beliefs, (5) Responsibility and Accountability, (6) Transformational Practice, (7) Campus Ecology, (8) Justice, (9) Assessment, (10) Spirituality, (11) Progressive and Continual Development, (12) Self-reflexivity, and (13) Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness. Overarching findings included the possibility of developing "positive" white identities that make space for inclusive practice; race privilege and the relationship to power must be examined in order to locate and understand self in the context of engaging in justice work; various stages exist within the process of coming to terms with a "positive" white identity; and, personal and professional development is continual and ongoing. Participants expressed challenges coming to terms with whiteness through memory recall and critical incident exploration, acknowledged unearned privileges, articulated the interconnectedness of their multiple layers of identity, and lived with the conflict and messiness surrounding their identity and how it influences their practice. Possibilities for future research are also provided.Item Open Access Persisting Latino students at Colorado State University: their mentoring experiences(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Salas, Rich A., author; Banning, Jim, advisor; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Valdez, Norberto, committee member; Quick, Don, committee memberThis study examined the experiences of 17 Latino students who participated in the El Centro Resource Leaders Mentoring Program (ERLMP). The El Centro Resource Leaders Mentoring program at Colorado State University focuses on assisting incoming Latino/a freshman and transfer students with the transition to college by providing academic and cultural resources, involvement and leadership opportunities, and mentoring support. The purpose of the program is to assist Latino students to be successful and eventually graduate from Colorado State University. The program has been in place since 1994. All the participants in this study were currently serving or had served as Resource Leader Mentors within the last five years. The goal of the research was to understand the lived experiences of the students and their own perceptions of the reasons for their academic success and persistence. This study used an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) of qualitative inquiry. Personal one-on-one interviews were conducted revealing thematic connections and interrelatedness of thoughts, patterns, and experiences that helped identify the essence of participants' experiences. The IPA approach allowed the researcher to explore the underlying meanings and experiences of undergraduate Latino students. The majority of the participants were first generation college students attending Colorado State University. Four major themes emerged from the data: Participants' Common Challenges, Participants' Common Experiences, Participant Benefits of Program, and Participants' Lessons Learned. The experiences of Colorado State University Latino students who had participated in the ERLMP provided valuable insights in understanding their mentoring experiences and what contributed to their persistence.Item Open Access Relation of out-of-schooltime program participation to [STEM] academic outcomes for underrepresented youth(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Rubinson, Amy, author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; MacPhee, David, advisor; Peila-Shuster, Jackie, committee member; Haddock, Shelley, committee memberThis is the primary abstract to my three-part dissertation research project. This publication includes two introductory chapters that provide background information and the theoretical framing for the research. I prepared chapters 3, 4, and 5 as independent research publications; therefore, some of the introductory content of each is summative and yet repetitive of the chapters that precede it. In the final, sixth chapter, I describe how the three research studies relate to each other and contribute to the research worlds of youth development and out-of-schooltime programming, specifically as related to identity development, college readiness, and exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The research in study 1 supports other findings that out-of-schooltime programs provide support for youth of color. I collected data through focus groups of program participants and alumni to understand the participants' experiences in the program. The study results show the amount of community cultural wealth (CCW) that youth of color developed through participation in the out-of-schooltime program. The research also emphasizes the role of the program location in the development of CCW. I use a critical-race-theory (CRT) lens through which to frame the analyses for this portion of the research. I present the data through a composite counternarrative told through the program participants' voices. Findings reveal that the participants experienced a great deal of CCW, which seemed to assist them during college. I include examples of the six forms of CCW the participants gained from the program. The study concludes with suggestions for practice and future research. This research is part of a larger project intended to provide a basis for increased understanding into how out-of-schooltime programs support underrepresented youth. In the second study, I investigate the factors that seem shared among participants who graduate with 4-year degrees and among those who do not. I use qualitative and quantitative survey data to gather information from alumni youth participants. I analyze the data using a CCW and bioecology framework to understand the strengths of the community throughout the college-readiness process. Findings reveal that participants who academically successful are supported from many different venues. Additionally, these participants need opportunities to shine and show pride in their academics and STEM accomplishments. Those participants who pursued STEM fields indicated they were engaged in fun STEM activities at a young age and received positive recognition in a STEM area. This research supports the need for youth programs that create an inclusive community and values each person’s role and contributions. This study closes with suggestions for practice. For the final study of this three-part research project, I investigated the ways in which amount of experienced discrimination and level of identity awareness influenced participants’ academic and STEM outcomes. I used the same qualitative and quantitative survey tool as in the prior study, and the same population of youth program alumni. I analyzed the data using a three-part framework, including CCW, CRT, and bioecology. I used bioecology in the survey design, as is evident in the survey asking about many components of participants’ lives. I used CRT to identify instances of discrimination and to reframe my perspective to be that of my participants instead of my own. I used CCW to identify strengths the participants employed to overcome discrimination and other obstacles. Findings reveal that participants experienced increasing discrimination for multiple identities at each of the escalating levels (individual, institutional, societal, and civilizational). Additionally, the nonSTEM-persistent participants experience more high-level awareness and discrimination for their identities compared to the STEM-persistent group. In many cases, participants who had experienced more discrimination had higher academic aspirations. This research builds on the growing knowledge base related to the experiences and effects of institutional racism on underrepresented youth.Item Open Access The experiences of Latina students during their first year of attendance at a four-year university(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Perdigon, Nereida, author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Anderson, Sharon, committee member; Kent, Suzanne, committee memberLatin@ is a minority group that has grown rapidly in the last twenty years in the United States. However, Latin@s have low participation in higher education, placing the group in a disadvantaged position compared with other ethnic groups. Therefore, it is important for the United States to educate and appropriately employ this group. This qualitative study used the counter-storytelling methodology to highlight the personal experiences (Creswell, 2008, p. 514) of eight Latina/Chicana students during their first year within a public institution. The main instruments to collect the data were face-to-face interviews and a letter-to-self written by the participants. The analysis was done using a triple framework of Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Theory, and Community Cultural Wealth. This study found several common results: Participants were thankful for their families’ support during this process in the university. Most participants indicated that there was alack of information in high schools for minoritized groups, especially with financial aid. Participants also specified having a deep desire to complete their degree, but their financial needs prevented them from totally concentrating on their academic progress. Furthermore, participants expressed their negative experience during their first year in college such as discrimination, microaggressions and oppression by the faculty, administrative staff, and their peers. This study supports former studies where discrimination, oppression, and lack of economic resources prevail in the lives of Latin@ students (Castillo & Hill, 2004; Cavazos, Johnson, & Scott, 2010; Pappamihiel & Moreno, 2011; Perez Huber, 2009, 2011). This study also supports the cultural value that these students bring to universities and negates the predominant assumption that Latin@ families discourage retention, when this study demonstrates the opposite (Aragon, 2014; Yosso, 2005).Item Open Access The intersection of agriculture, Latinas/os, and higher education in the land grant system: a mixed methods study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Archibeque-Engle, Shannon L., author; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Pritchett, James, committee memberFrom government reports and academic journals to popular media there is a call for more educated agriculturalists. Latinas/os have long been instrumental in United States' agriculture and yet similar numbers of Latinas/os are not studying agricultural sciences at land grant universities. The mission of land grant universities is to provide access to education, especially agricultural education. Given the changing demographics of the United States, if land grant universities are to address our nation's need for educated agriculturalists, Latinas/os must be included as part of the solution. This study provides universities, particularly land grant institutions, a portion of the data and analyses necessary to identity how to both recruit and successfully graduate people prepared to lead as professional agriculturalists. This study deconstructs the intersection of agriculture, Latinas/os, and higher education. This transformative convergent parallel mixed methods study examines the learning environment of agricultural higher education from a Critical perspective. This examination is conducted through three distinct studies and is organized in a manner similar to the chronological order an undergraduate student would encounter a College of Agricultural Sciences. That is, what do students first encounter in terms of physical artifacts, what are the lived experiences for students, and finally what are the student success outcomes in the College of Agricultural Sciences. The first segment of this dissertation focuses on what a student first encounters upon entering a College of Agricultural Sciences. Physical artifacts present in educational settings make visible the values of the institution. Such messages signal the institution's desire for a culturally inclusive and supportive environment. Given the land grant mission of inclusive education, the labor heritage of agriculture, and the saliency of stereotype threat in creating an inclusive learning environment, critically assessing the equity climate of departments of animal sciences in land grant universities is overdue. This study utilizes Banning et al.'s 2008 taxonomy based on visual ethnography methodology to interpret the equity climate of three departments of animal sciences at land grant institutions to answer the critical question: who is welcome? The systematic coding and thematic analysis reveal exclusive learning environments clearly communicated by the physical artifacts present. The second portion of this dissertation addresses the lived experiences of students. While there has been a focus on recruiting Latinas/os and others to study agricultural sciences, there has not been an examination of the lived experience of Latinas/os currently studying agricultural sciences in college. The purpose of this narrative study was to describe the lived experience of six Latina undergraduate students studying in a College of Agricultural Sciences at a Predominantly White Land Grant Institution. The thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews yielded three distinct themes, namely, Overt Exclusion, Nepantlera, and Intersectionality through the saliency of agricultural identity. Recommendations for inclusive agricultural education environments were voiced by the participants, providing us a path forward to fully include and support Latina students in the agricultural academy. The third segment of this dissertation study focused on undergraduate student success. Given the financial constraints of most institutions, it is important that we are strategic in our programming to support an ever more diverse undergraduate population. This study offers a rigorous and systematic approach to quantitatively assess programmatic needs in three segments: an analysis of the demographic representation of the state, an analysis of historic opportunity gaps (1990 through 2014), and an analysis of recent undergraduate student success utilizing predictive logistic regression models. Using Colorado State University (CSU) as a case study for this systematic assessment, CSU was found to not represent the state it serves, Colorado. Further, statistically significant opportunity gaps were found for gender, Pell eligibility, first generation status, residency, and minority students. Finally, the first year retention, four year graduation rate, and six year graduation rate predictive models provided evidence for program investment to support first generation, minority, and resident students. Of note, non-minority students were found to be 1.78 times more likely to graduate in four years than were minority students. Minority students were 53 percent less likely to graduate then majority students in six years. First generation students were less likely than non-first generation students to graduate in six years and non-residents were more likely to graduate than residents of the state within the six year time frame.Item Open Access Voices of Hispanic and Latina/o secondary students in northern Colorado: poetic counterstories(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Gabriel, Maria L., author; Timpson, William, advisor; Aragon, Antonette, advisor; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee memberThis study examines the experiences of Hispanic and Latina/o middle and high school students in a public school district in Northern Colorado over four years (2006 to 2009) as described by the students themselves and analyzed and interpreted by a member of the same cultural group. Informed by a pilot study, the dissertation includes a document analysis of the transcriptions of 105 open-ended responses of Hispanic and Latina/o 8th to 12th grade students to the question, "Describe a time when you or someone you know confronted an issue because of their race or ethnicity." In February and March of 2011, two purposefully selected focus groups with eight Hispanic and Latina/o students were asked four specific questions, including if they had similar or different experiences than those in open-ended responses. All eight students described racialized experiences in their schools and shared additional insights from their experiences, including their feelings and suggested changes for schools. The archival data and focus group transcripts were analyzed using Critical Thematic Analysis (CTA), a blended approach of analysis methods supported by a Critical Race Theory (CRT) research lens. Poetic analysis was used as a final step of analysis, and nine research poems are presented as a form of counterstory. The five main implications of the research included the suggested inclusion of students' voices in educational debates, the need for understanding the sociopolitical context of schooling for Hispanic and Latina/o students, school-based policy, the role of schools and educational leaders in intervening when racism abounds, and the potential use of arts-based research to address critical issues such as race in qualitative research.