Race-neutrality and Race-consciousness in Students’ Sensemaking of “Servingness” at Two Hispanic Serving Institutions

Authors

Nik Cristobal, University of PittsburghFollow
Gina A. Garcia, University of Pittsburgh - Main CampusFollow

Abstract

Postsecondary institutions that enroll 25% or more Latinxs are eligible for federal designation as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Yet few studies examine how students within HSIs make sense of what it means for an organization to be Latinx-serving. Utilizing interviews and focus groups with students at two HSIs in the Midwest, this study sought to understand how students make sense of the idea of “servingness.” We analyzed differences by students’ race/ethnicity within each institution, and by institution across the two sites. Data revealed a pattern of language that reflected race-neutrality and race-consciousness, with some differences by students’ race/ethnicity and stark differences by institution. Implications for research and practice are offered.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Cristobal, Nik and Garcia, Gina A. (2022) "Race-neutrality and Race-consciousness in Students’ Sensemaking of “Servingness” at Two Hispanic Serving Institutions," Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 5.
Available at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa/vol6/iss1/5