Why am I here,in college? The voices of Hispanic undergraduates in a bilingual transition program

Abstract

This study examined the perspectives of 27 Spanish-speaking undergraduate students on their reasons for attending college. The students were enrolled in a transitional bilingual program at a state university in the New York City metropolitan area. Using Dialogical Self Theory, the work of Latour, and Bakhtinian concepts of dialogic events and responsibility, this research analyzes students’ discourses on their reasons for college attendance. The study found that while students predominantly express social mobility as their primary motivation, this discourse is often a ready-made narrative that remains unproblematized. By examining how students articulate their reasons for college attendance through the duality of I-positions and it-positions, the research reveals the sometimes complex decision-making processes, uncertainties, and ontological investments that may be obscured in mainstream accounts of students’ success and persistence in college. Analyzing this duality has significant implications for student support in higher education, particularly for first-generation, historically underrepresented student populations.