Dr. Garcia is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and College Student Affairs in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. As a Chicana/Puerto Rican her research focuses on the intersections of race, feminisms of color, and Latinx/a/o communities in higher education. Specifically, Garcia as a mixed-methodologist focuses on the differences and similarities between Latinx sub-ethnic groups, students, and families regarding their college readiness, retention, and completion. Dr. Garcia was named a 2020 Emerging Scholar under 40 for Diverse Issues in Higher Education which elects junior scholars of color who are making a significant impact in academia. She was also named a 2020 Faculty Fellow for The American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). Garcia has published in international and national journals such as the American Educational Research Journal, Race, Ethnicity and Education, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education and Frontiers. She is lead editor for Studying Latinx/a/o Students in Higher Education: A Critical Analysis of Concepts, Theory, and Methodologies published by Routledge. She received her PhD in Social Science and Comparative Education with a specialization in Race and Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Background/Context: Our study takes an asset-based approach to examine the experiences of Puerto ... more Background/Context: Our study takes an asset-based approach to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican undergraduates and the consequences of cascading disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, COVID-19). Puerto Rican undergraduates were prone to vulnerability during cascading disasters because they lacked emergency supplies (e.g., flashlights), effective communication pre- and postdisaster (e.g., texts), and/or knowledge of disaster-related procedures on campus. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: In this article, we use disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine as our theoretical underpinnings to address the colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, in which Puerto Ricans have experienced disaster as an ongoing process illuminated by the sociopolitical and sociohistorical contexts that only exacerbate a longer history of deep-seated colonial traumas. Research Design: This study employs disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine as a theoretical guide to depict an anticolonial approach and provide a thick description of the multiple case study design bounded by the phenomenon of disaster across two units of analyses from 2017 to 2020. The first unit of analysis (case 1) demonstrates how the public education sector has been diminishing in Puerto Rico due to investments, in this instance, in stateside institutes of higher education (IHEs) through hurricane relief programs. The second unit of analysis (case 2) shows how increasingly paramount it is to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican undergraduates left prone to these vulnerabilities. Conclusions/Recommendations: The theoretical application and findings from our study demonstrate that based on the intersections of disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine, Puerto Rican undergraduates have and are still experiencing deep-seated trauma masked in disaster “relief” and “recovery” at the hands of the U.S. government and IHEs. These provide an understanding of disaster at the national, institutional, and individual levels.
Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Tran... more Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Transformative Convergent Mixed Methods (CRTCMM) in education. CRTCMM is a methodology that challenges normative educational research practices by acknowledging that racism permeates educational institutions and marginalizes Communities of Color. The focus of this article is to examine the quantitative component of the mixed methods to interrogate ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’ assumptions of the statistical practices used in analyzing secondary datasets. To demonstrate this method, we analyze the ways in which race and ethnicity are treated as a variable in a secondary higher education dataset, and highlight how the conflation of both can influence how a sample is taken. We argue that it is imperative that theoretical frameworks used in research are not only applied to the research questions, analysis or interpretation, but also the secondary datasets being used.
Author(s): Garcia, Nichole Margarita | Advisor(s): Solorzano, Daniel G | Abstract: A significant ... more Author(s): Garcia, Nichole Margarita | Advisor(s): Solorzano, Daniel G | Abstract: A significant amount of research argues that once an individual completes a bachelor’s degree it will increase their likelihood of securing a well-paying occupation, not only for the college graduate, but also for their children. However, it is unclear how this may or may not be different for racial and ethnic populations. This study examines college-educated Chicana/o and Puerto Rican families’ undergraduate and graduate college experiences. Critical race theory, Chicana feminisms, and pedagogies of the home inform the transformative convergent mixed-methods design of the study. A transformative convergent design has two distinct processes of methods and data collection, both qualitative and quantitative, with the integration of the two occurring in the findings. In particular in studying Chicana/o and Puerto Rican college-educated families, quantitatively, I conduct a secondary analysis of a nationa...
Almost two decades after Delgado Bernal’s theorization of pedagogies of the home, this article ex... more Almost two decades after Delgado Bernal’s theorization of pedagogies of the home, this article examines pedagogies of the home of four Chicana/o college-educated families to understand the role of parent engagement not only in the college choice processes but also in college completion and graduate school enrollment. Using Chicana feminisms to inform educational oral histories, four Chicana/o parent-child dyads were interviewed. The findings suggest that among Chicana/o college-educated families the (re)making of home, (re)covering tensions, and (re)claiming and (re)learning of cultural knowledge were the pedagogies of the home that were embraced by two successive generations of college completers. Complexities, contradictions, and nuances among Chicana/o college-educated families add to the theorization of pedagogies of the home.
Using pláticas, the sharing of cultural teachings through intimate and informal conversations, th... more Using pláticas, the sharing of cultural teachings through intimate and informal conversations, this article analyzes our personal college choice processes as Chicanas by examining the impact of being raised by Chicano college-educated fathers. Drawing on two theoretical frameworks, college-conocimiento, a Latinx college choice conceptual framework, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies, we demonstrate how intimate and informal conversations occur within our own Chicana/o daughter-father relationships in negotiating higher education and household contexts. Our analysis responds to the need to explore daughter-father relationships in higher education research. This work expands the college choice scholarship by moving beyond traditional models to examine the gendered and raced experiences of families of color, particularly focusing on how father involvement is associated with the college choice of daughters.
Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Tran... more Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Transformative Convergent Mixed Methods (CRTCMM) in education. CRTCMM is a methodology that challenges normative educational research practices by acknowledging that racism permeates educational institutions and marginalizes Communities of Color. The focus of this article is to examine the quantitative component of the mixed methods to interrogate ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’ assumptions of the statistical practices used in analyzing secondary datasets. To demonstrate this method, we analyze the ways in which race and ethnicity are treated as a variable in a secondary higher education dataset, and highlight how the conflation of both can influence how a sample is taken. We argue that it is imperative that theoretical frameworks used in research are not only applied to the research questions, analysis or interpretation, but also the secondary datasets being used.
Growth of Latino students in postsecondary education merits an examination of their resources/cha... more Growth of Latino students in postsecondary education merits an examination of their resources/challenges. A community cultural wealth model provided a framework to examine unacknowledged student resources and challenges. A mixed method approach found that first- and second-generation college students report equal numbers of sources of support/challenges. Understanding student needs can assist with program development to increasing college completion rates.
Background/Context: Our study takes an asset-based approach to examine the experiences of Puerto ... more Background/Context: Our study takes an asset-based approach to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican undergraduates and the consequences of cascading disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, COVID-19). Puerto Rican undergraduates were prone to vulnerability during cascading disasters because they lacked emergency supplies (e.g., flashlights), effective communication pre- and postdisaster (e.g., texts), and/or knowledge of disaster-related procedures on campus. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: In this article, we use disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine as our theoretical underpinnings to address the colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, in which Puerto Ricans have experienced disaster as an ongoing process illuminated by the sociopolitical and sociohistorical contexts that only exacerbate a longer history of deep-seated colonial traumas. Research Design: This study employs disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine as a theoretical guide to depict an anticolonial approach and provide a thick description of the multiple case study design bounded by the phenomenon of disaster across two units of analyses from 2017 to 2020. The first unit of analysis (case 1) demonstrates how the public education sector has been diminishing in Puerto Rico due to investments, in this instance, in stateside institutes of higher education (IHEs) through hurricane relief programs. The second unit of analysis (case 2) shows how increasingly paramount it is to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican undergraduates left prone to these vulnerabilities. Conclusions/Recommendations: The theoretical application and findings from our study demonstrate that based on the intersections of disaster capitalism and the trauma doctrine, Puerto Rican undergraduates have and are still experiencing deep-seated trauma masked in disaster “relief” and “recovery” at the hands of the U.S. government and IHEs. These provide an understanding of disaster at the national, institutional, and individual levels.
Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Tran... more Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Transformative Convergent Mixed Methods (CRTCMM) in education. CRTCMM is a methodology that challenges normative educational research practices by acknowledging that racism permeates educational institutions and marginalizes Communities of Color. The focus of this article is to examine the quantitative component of the mixed methods to interrogate ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’ assumptions of the statistical practices used in analyzing secondary datasets. To demonstrate this method, we analyze the ways in which race and ethnicity are treated as a variable in a secondary higher education dataset, and highlight how the conflation of both can influence how a sample is taken. We argue that it is imperative that theoretical frameworks used in research are not only applied to the research questions, analysis or interpretation, but also the secondary datasets being used.
Author(s): Garcia, Nichole Margarita | Advisor(s): Solorzano, Daniel G | Abstract: A significant ... more Author(s): Garcia, Nichole Margarita | Advisor(s): Solorzano, Daniel G | Abstract: A significant amount of research argues that once an individual completes a bachelor’s degree it will increase their likelihood of securing a well-paying occupation, not only for the college graduate, but also for their children. However, it is unclear how this may or may not be different for racial and ethnic populations. This study examines college-educated Chicana/o and Puerto Rican families’ undergraduate and graduate college experiences. Critical race theory, Chicana feminisms, and pedagogies of the home inform the transformative convergent mixed-methods design of the study. A transformative convergent design has two distinct processes of methods and data collection, both qualitative and quantitative, with the integration of the two occurring in the findings. In particular in studying Chicana/o and Puerto Rican college-educated families, quantitatively, I conduct a secondary analysis of a nationa...
Almost two decades after Delgado Bernal’s theorization of pedagogies of the home, this article ex... more Almost two decades after Delgado Bernal’s theorization of pedagogies of the home, this article examines pedagogies of the home of four Chicana/o college-educated families to understand the role of parent engagement not only in the college choice processes but also in college completion and graduate school enrollment. Using Chicana feminisms to inform educational oral histories, four Chicana/o parent-child dyads were interviewed. The findings suggest that among Chicana/o college-educated families the (re)making of home, (re)covering tensions, and (re)claiming and (re)learning of cultural knowledge were the pedagogies of the home that were embraced by two successive generations of college completers. Complexities, contradictions, and nuances among Chicana/o college-educated families add to the theorization of pedagogies of the home.
Using pláticas, the sharing of cultural teachings through intimate and informal conversations, th... more Using pláticas, the sharing of cultural teachings through intimate and informal conversations, this article analyzes our personal college choice processes as Chicanas by examining the impact of being raised by Chicano college-educated fathers. Drawing on two theoretical frameworks, college-conocimiento, a Latinx college choice conceptual framework, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies, we demonstrate how intimate and informal conversations occur within our own Chicana/o daughter-father relationships in negotiating higher education and household contexts. Our analysis responds to the need to explore daughter-father relationships in higher education research. This work expands the college choice scholarship by moving beyond traditional models to examine the gendered and raced experiences of families of color, particularly focusing on how father involvement is associated with the college choice of daughters.
Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Tran... more Abstract This article uses a critical race theory framework to conceptualize a Critical Race Transformative Convergent Mixed Methods (CRTCMM) in education. CRTCMM is a methodology that challenges normative educational research practices by acknowledging that racism permeates educational institutions and marginalizes Communities of Color. The focus of this article is to examine the quantitative component of the mixed methods to interrogate ‘objective’ and ‘scientific’ assumptions of the statistical practices used in analyzing secondary datasets. To demonstrate this method, we analyze the ways in which race and ethnicity are treated as a variable in a secondary higher education dataset, and highlight how the conflation of both can influence how a sample is taken. We argue that it is imperative that theoretical frameworks used in research are not only applied to the research questions, analysis or interpretation, but also the secondary datasets being used.
Growth of Latino students in postsecondary education merits an examination of their resources/cha... more Growth of Latino students in postsecondary education merits an examination of their resources/challenges. A community cultural wealth model provided a framework to examine unacknowledged student resources and challenges. A mixed method approach found that first- and second-generation college students report equal numbers of sources of support/challenges. Understanding student needs can assist with program development to increasing college completion rates.
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Papers by Nichole M Garcia