Judy Marquez Kiyama

Funds of Knowledge for the Poor and Forms of Capital for the Rich? A Capital Approach to Examining Funds of Knowledge.

Educational researchers have assumed that the concept of funds of knowledge is related to specific forms of capital. However, scholars have not examined if and how these theoretical frameworks can complement each other when attempting to understand educational opportunity for under-represented students. In this article, we argue that a funds of knowledge approach should also be studied from a capital perspective. We claim that bridging funds of knowledge and capital has the potential to advance theory and to yield new insights and understandings of students’ educational opportunities and experiences. Finally, we provide a discussion of key processes — (mis)recognition, transmission, conversion, and activation/mobilization — to which educational researchers need to pay closer attention when attempting to understand the attainment of goals in under-represented students’ lives.

College Aspirations and Limitations The Role of Educational Ideologies and Funds of Knowledge in Mexican American Families

Using a qualitative multiple-case-study design, this study explored how funds of knowledge in Mexican American families contributed to the development of educational ideologies. Findings illustrated the following ways in which families are involved in their children’s education: the formation of both helpful and limiting educational ideologies, which highlighted beliefs regarding college-going processes; college information drawn from social networks and academic symbols found in families’ everyday lives; and the development of college-going realities. Unique to this study is the extension of funds of knowledge beyond traditional K–12 discussions and the incorporation of outreach literature into this framework when studying issues of college access.

Family Lessons and Funds of Knowledge: College-Going Paths in Mexican American Families

Families are crucial in the development of a college-going culture in the home. This qualitative study illustrates that Mexican American families are no exception. Using a multiple case study design, this study explored the funds of knowledge present in Mexican American families. Findings from this study reveal how daily educational practices, extended family networks, and preexisting college knowledge contribute to the development of positive college ideologies. Findings suggest that a shift in how researchers and practitioners understand and incorporate families in educational programming must take into consideration the fact that families have knowledge both about education in general and about college specifically.

A Critical Agency Network Model for Building an Integrated Outreach Program

This study considers a distinct case of a college outreach program that integrates student affairs staff, academic administrators, and faculty across campus. The authors find that social networks and critical agency help to understand the integration of these various professionals and offer a critical agency network model of enacting change.

The Role of School and Community-Based Programs in Aiding Latina/o High School Persistence

This study documents the important role school and community-based programs have for sustaining the persistence of Latina/o high school students in an urban, low achieving school district. Consensus among student participants revealed these programs provided a safe space where students were able to develop confianza (mutual trust) with caring adults. Safe spaces were also culturally and linguistically affirming where students could be themselves. Adults associated with these programs served as institutional agents who helped students address personal and school barriers, which allowed students to successfully negotiate within schools. Without these community and school-based programs and the supports available through them, students indicated they would leave their respective high schools.

Against All Odds: Latinas Activate Agency to Secure Access to College

This qualitative study seeks to understand Latinas’ college-going behaviors by examining their agency and role in securing opportunity for college. The authors examine the activation of agency among 16 urban Latinas when navigating the structures influencing college opportunity through a cultural ecological model. Examples of agency are represented as Latinas resist educational inequities and navigate their educational, familial, communal, and out-of-class environments. In some cases, individuals and systems within these environments serve as agents of resistance; in other environments, they serve as agents of support for Latinas. We specifically were interested in understanding how Latinas activate agency and make sense of how their college-going behaviors influenced college opportunity and transition.

The Dangling Carrot: Proprietary institutions and the mirage of college choice for Latina students

Abstract:The proximity of proprietary institutions to working-class urban areas is rarely explored as a factor in Latina student college choice. Utilizing Chicana Feminism as a conceptual lens, this study explores the path of proprietary college choice for Latina high school students. Qualitative interviews and geographic data reveal how factors of race, gender, and class contribute to the marketing and location of proprietary institutions. The authors argue that marketing expensive vocational programs to Latina students who cannot afford tuition contributes to the maintenance of racist, classist, and sexist hierarchies.

Ideologies of Invisibility and Support for Families of Color During Orientation Initiatives

This article reviews how orientation programs perpetuate or combat an ideology of invisibility for families of Color during the transition into college. Findings identify the ways in which ideologies of invisibility or support are constructed through institutional messaging of dismissal or welcome that influence the engagement of families of Color. Implications are offered for research and practice when working directly with diverse families and for extending literature around the role of families in higher education.

“We’re Serious About Our Education”: A Collective Testimonio From College-Going Latinas to College Personnel

Upon transition to higher education, Latinas face obstacles including cultural stereotypes, limited financial resources, racist campus climates, family responsibilities, being first generation college students, and cultural incongruities. Despite obstacles, Latinas exhibit college aspirations and goals. This article centers Latinas’ messages directed at college personnel in the form of a collective testimonio. Their messages are important for higher education professionals to consider when working with Latinas. Implications for practice, teaching, and future research are shared.