Abstract
This study investigates the experiences of Brazilian students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in the United States, focusing on their sense of belonging and understanding of institutional servingness. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological approach, 11 Brazilian students shared insights through in-depth interviews, highlighting their complex relationship with the HSI designation. Findings reveal that Brazilian students often feel excluded, as HSIs typically cater to Spanish-speaking populations, which do not align with Brazilian cultural and linguistic identities. As a result, participants report a sense of “Brazilian-shaming” within these institutions, where they feel counted for enrollment purposes yet unrepresented in cultural programming. Despite these challenges, Brazilian students form connections through informal networks and social media, fostering a sense of belonging within the Brazilian community both on and off campus. This study underscores the need for HSIs to broaden their understanding of Latin* identities and inclusivity to genuinely serve diverse student populations.
Introduction
Hispanic-Serving Institutions are higher education institutions that enroll 25% or more Hispanic full-time equivalent undergraduate students (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2025). As the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation and scholarship continue to evolve, it is equally important to bring attention to the underserved and misrepresented Hispanics/Latin*s 1 . This allows for challenging the dominant narrative at the intersection of HSI research and Hispanic/Latin* students (Garcia, 2019a). It is also imperative to expand the literature on sense of belonging (Lara & Wood, 2015) regarding Brazilian students’ experiences in higher education, given the limited published research on their experiences at HSIs. Published scholarship on Brazilian students centers around their K-12 educational experiences (i.e., Costa & Carnoy, 2015), their experiences in the medical fields (i.e., Sanchez et al., 2011), their international status (i.e., de Sandes-Guimaraes et al., 2019), and Brazilians in higher education in Brazil (i.e., Zucoloto et al., 2016); yet, scholarship lacks to highlight Brazilian students’ experiences within the United States context and within HSIs.
Brazilians represent 1% of the 44.5 million immigrants in the United States (Blizzard & Batalova, 2019). Approximately 450,000 Brazilian immigrants reside in the United States, of whom 64% reside in Florida (80,000), Massachusetts (65,000), California (39,000), New Jersey (29,000), and New York (25,000). Regarding education, 42% of Brazilian immigrants (ages 25 and older) have at least a four-year college degree, and 11% have less than a high school diploma. Furthermore, Brazil is the 9th leading country sending students to the United States, with 11.7% of Brazilian international students enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States (Blizzard & Batalova, 2019). Brazilian students (international and domestic) continue to enroll in U.S. higher education institutions. Given the lack of research on the Brazilian community, their population growth, and their positive impact in the U.S., it is important to understand their experiences at one HSI to make sense of serving and create a sense of belonging. This paper also expands understandings of belonging in linguistically diverse contexts by examining how Brazilian students navigate servingness within an HSI. In doing so, it challenges prevailing assumptions that HSI servingness is inherently inclusive by revealing how pan-ethnic constructions of Latinidad can simultaneously produce inclusion and erasure.
For Brazilian students, demographic questions that list race and ethnicity, such as White, African American, Asian American, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino, do not always encompass Brazilians’ identity (Negrón-Muntaner, 2016). However, scholars have pointed out that Brazilian students are likely to self-identify within Hispanic/Latino identities to be perceived as more Americanized and accepted into the U.S.’ mainstream racial and ethnic identities (Leão, 2022; Marrow, 2003; Negrón-Muntaner, 2016). This pattern of self-identification was evident in a 2020 U.S. Census coding error, which showed that more than 416,000 Brazilians, comprising over two-thirds of the Brazilian population in the U.S., identified as Hispanic/Latino (Pew Research Center, 2023). Brazilian individuals represented less than 1% of the 61.1 million Hispanics recorded nationwide (Pew Research Center, 2023). Nonetheless, Brazilians often do not consider themselves as Hispanic due to differences between Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking cultures and their association with Spanish-speaking cultural identities (Negrón-Muntaner, 2016). Regarding self-identification, Brazilian people, like other immigrants, prefer to identify with the country of Brazil and/or as Latin American from a geographic logic (Hursh & Salinas, 2023; Marrow, 2003), given that Hispanic refers to people originating from Spanish-speaking countries (Salinas & Lozano, 2021).
Furthermore, data collected by U.S. institutions of higher education and government only provide “Hispanic/Latino” as a pan-ethnic term, and they cannot be separated; Brazilians will most likely self-identify with this term(s) (Hursh & Salinas, 2023; Marrow, 2003). Yet, when higher education institutions report data to be designated as an HSI to the U.S. Department of Education, Brazilian students ‘ data are included within “Hispanic/Latino.” Research on HSIs will often use the “Hispanic/Latino” data without identifying and separating who is Hispanic and Latino. This practice raises important questions about whose experiences and identities are being recognized and served within institutions that meet the numerical criteria for HSI status. Given that Brazilian students do not identify as Hispanic, their inclusion in institutional counts contributes to the HSI designation while potentially obscuring their distinct cultural, linguistic, and ethnic experiences. This tension between numerical inclusion and lived experience underscores the importance of examining servingness beyond enrollment metrics. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how Brazilian college students make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at HSIs. The research questions guiding this study are: 1) How do Brazilian students make meaning of servingness at HSIs? and 2) How do Brazilian students create a sense of belonging at HSIs?
Hispanic-Serving Institutions Overview
HSIs were federally recognized as a by-product of demographic shifts and geography to help promote and expand educational opportunities for Hispanic and Latino/a/x students (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). To be designated an HSI, universities must be eligible through accreditation and serve an enrollment of at least 25% identified Hispanic undergraduate full-time equivalent (FTE) students (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.), with 50% of these students needing to be classified as low income and develop a five-year plan for their needs (Schuh et al., 2011). In the 1980s and early 1990s, the enrollment of Hispanic students in higher education across the U.S. began to increase significantly (Excelencia in Education, 2014). Through the work of advocates and policymakers, the U.S. government officially recognized the HSI designation in 1992 under the Higher Education Act, which provided additional funding to these official HSIs (Excelencia in Education, 2014). While funding was provided to these newly minted HSIs, they were not institutions created to serve Hispanic students in their mission and practice. Over the last 30 years, Hispanic student enrollment continues to multiple and HSIs have grown to approximately 600 institutions (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2024a). These HSIs have an estimated enrollment of 3.8 million Hispanic college students and enroll 66.2% of all Hispanic college students in the U.S. higher education system (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2024a, 2024b). By 2026, “Hispanic enrollment in higher education is expected to exceed 4.3 million students”, which surpasses “any other racial-ethnic group by over 10%” (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2024a, p. 1). As the growth of Hispanic/Latin* students in higher education continues, so will the number of HSIs increase, which will diversify the typologies of HSIs and how they practice serving their specific populations (Garcia, 2017b; Hurtado & Alvarado, 2012; Mendez et al., 2015; Rendón, 2015).
The HSI designation is rooted in racial and ethnic identities of the undergraduate student population, which means research in this context must be connected to the identities of the students it serves (Garcia, 2019b; Garcia & Dwyer, 2018; Hurtado & Carter, 1997). Despite not being mission-driven to serve Hispanic students, HSIs aim to increase educational opportunities and improve the academic attainment of Hispanic students by addressing their cultural needs (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). Studies about Hispanic/Latin* students’ experiences at HSIs developed further insight about institutions’ cultural practices and their sense of being served experiences at HSIs developed further insight about institutions' cultural practices and their sense of being served (Garcia et al., 2019; Garcia & Cuellar, 2023; Vega et al., 2022). However, there needs to be more research on many country-specific identities that inhabit Latin American students and their experiences at HSIs. By expanding research to include different experiences beyond the Mexican/Chicano narrative (Garcia, 2016; Garcia & Okhidoi, 2015) and the Mestizaje/Blanqueamiento, Spanish-culture dominant narrative (Kovats Sánchez, 2021; Vega et al., 2022), the needs of the diverse Hispanic/Latin* student populations are met in better, more comprehensive ways (Ballysingh et al., 2017). And, more distinct diversity within the Hispanic/Latin* population needs to be accounted for in the pan-ethnic identity of “Hispanics” when used in the federal designation (Casellas Connors, 2022; Garcia, 2023; Vega et al., 2022). Due to the diversity of Hispanic/Latin* student composition at each HSI, researching subcultures and recognizing individual perspectives is beneficial for HSIs to assess their impact on Hispanic/Latin* students (Dayton et al., 2004).
HSIs are changing the predominantly Black and White racial narrative in higher education by including Latin* relevant pedagogy and practices in and outside the classroom (Garcia, 2019b). While most of the research on HSIs has represented Chicano/Latino student experiences (i.e., Garcia, 2016; Garcia & Okhidoi, 2015), and a few studies on HSI-enrolled Caribbean students (i.e., Boveda, 2020; Cole, 2011; Esmieu & Terrazas, 2017), there is limited research investigating how Brazilian students experience and engage at HSIs. The purpose, therefore, of this study is to examine how Brazilian college students make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at HSIs.
Sense of Belonging at Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Sense of belonging is linked to both social and academic components of a student's educational experience (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Strayhorn, 2008). According to scholars, Latin* student's educational experiences are impacted by their race and ethnicity (i.e., Cuellar & Salinas, 2022; Garcia & Dwyer, 2018; Hurtado & Carter, 1997), the culture of the institution (i.e., Garcia, 2017a, 2017b, 2019a, 2019b), and engagement with faculty and staff members are important to develop a sense of belonging (i.e., Griffin-Fennell & Lerner, 2020; Hurtado et al., 2015; Kato & Marinez, 2020). Sense of belonging at HSIs is defined as a “student's sense of mattering” to their educational institution (Garcia, 2019a; Lara & Wood, 2015, p. 136; Maestas et al., 2007). The sense of mattering allows Hispanic/Latin* students to perceive a sense of belonging and feel like their identities are acknowledged by others and their HSIs (Elliott et al., 2005; Tovar, 2013). Hence, a sense of belonging promotes academic and social integration (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Kato & Marinez, 2020; Maestas et al., 2007), cultural validation (Lopez et al., 2020; Rodriguez & Gonzales, 2020), and social connectedness as psychological drives to foster a sense of belonging for Hispanic/Latin* students (Botello & Torres, 2021).
Academic and Social Integration for Latin* Students
Academic and social integration play a significant role in helping students create connections and identity to develop a sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Kato & Marinez, 2020; Maestas et al., 2007). In their study, Hurtado and Carter (1997) addressed how 272 Latino students expressed the importance of social interactions in academic and social environments to their connection and identity with their institution. The findings revealed how Latino students interact and integrate academic and social relationships with peers outside the classroom to share their academic experiences. As Latinos share their academic and social interactions, they begin to develop a sense of belonging among peers (Hurtado & Carter, 1997). Furthermore, involvement in social-community organizations and religious clubs had the most impact on Latino students’ sense of belonging on campus (Hurtado & Carter, 1997). For these Latino students, developing a strong sense of belonging includes engagement with organizations and groups, which “maintain connections with these external communities” and create a “home” feeling within and outside of the institution (Hurtado & Carter, 1997, p. 338). Also, membership in fraternities and sororities heightened a sense of belonging for Latino students at HSIs (Guardia & Evans, 2008; Hurtado & Carter, 1997). Hurtado and Carter's (1997) study highlights the need to solely focus on social integration activities since academic performance does not always impact a sense of belonging for Latino students.
Sense of belonging of Hispanic students at an HSI impacts their retention and experiences (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Maestas et al., 2007). For example, creating programming that fosters diversity, racial and ethnic, and cultural awareness of Hispanic cultures in colleges and universities creates a positive experience for Hispanic students’ sense of belonging (Maestas et al., 2007). In another research, Kato and Marinez (2020) expand on how Latinx STEM transfer students’ social integration impacts their sense of belonging, retention rates, and connection to the campus community. Research demonstrates that while institutions may provide academic support and career readiness, Latino/a students still struggle without intentional efforts to build campus relationships and foster belonging, highlighting the critical gap between technical preparation and the social integration necessary for student success (Kato & Marinez, 2020; Lara & Wood, 2015). From the research, it is clear that HSIs’ policies, practices, and culture must reflect the needs of Hispanic/Latin* students to develop a greater sense of belonging and holistic success beyond persistence.
Cultural Validation and Belonging Within HSIs
Hispanic/Latin* students’ sense of belonging at HSIs is grounded in ethnic and cultural validation. As mentioned, connection to their peers, whether in cultural student organizations or formalized ethnic-based communities, helps Latinx students feel connected to their institution (Kato & Marinez, 2020). Cultural belonging is the “connection between a student's cultural identity and their overall connection to a postsecondary campus” (Rodriguez & Gonzales, 2020, p. 302). It is through cultural validation that Hispanic/Latin* students feel affirmed in their identity and develop a capacity for success beyond graduation (Covarrubias et al., 2020; Lopez et al., 2020; Rodriguez & Gonzales, 2020).
Studies of first-generation Latinx students at HSIs (Covarrubias et al., 2020; Rodriguez & Gonzales, 2020) show that culturally enhancing experiences, like mentorship, shared language and experiences, transition assistance, and familial engagement, impact their perceptions of cultural belonging to an HSI (Garcia, 2019a; Garcia et al., 2019). In Lopez et al.'s (2020) study, Latinx students expressed how cultural validation and belongingness were felt in ethnic recognition via “events, offices, and spaces” on their campus and through a diverse curriculum, which reflected their lived experiences. In Rodriguez and Gonzales’ (2020) study, Latinx students expressed how their identities impact their academic aspirations and how culturally relevant mentorship with peers and professionals aids in their success. Cultural validation and belonging are critical for Hispanic/Latin* students to feel a sense of belonging. As of 2017, 64% of all Brazilians in the U.S. are foreign-born (Blizzard & Batalova, 2019), which means this population is comprised of first-generation students, yet as Brazilian students, their cultural heritage is missing within these validating experiences at HSIs.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework used for this study is the Multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness in HSIs (Garcia et al., 2019). In their study, they “conceptualized what “servingness” means to HSI and Latinx students” (p. 746) with the goal of unpacking how other scholars use “serving” in the HSI context. In this study, we use Garcia's (2019b) definition of servingness as “a multidimensional and conceptual way to understand what it means to move from simply enrolling Latinx students to actually serving them” at HSIs (p. 1). The Multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness highlights how servingness manifests in various ways to elements that impact servingness: (a) indicators of serving, (b) structure of serving, and (c) external influences on serving. First, indicators of serving include measurable academic and nonacademic outcomes or culture of the HSI (Garcia, 2019b; Garcia et al., 2019). These indicators of servingness are measurable outcomes to understand the impact and quality of the student experience at an HSI (Garcia et al., 2019). Two, Garcia et al. (2019) state that to become a space of servingness, validation, and racialized experiences of all people in the organization should be included, as they impact students’ academic and non-academic outcomes.
Second, the structure of serving includes “the decisions that leaders make with regards to serving,” including mission and values statements, diversity plans, engagement with the Latinx community, culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy, and programs and services for minoritized students (Garcia et al., 2019, p. 772). The structures of servingness cannot always be measurable, but are noticeable and impactful to students and other stakeholders. Lastly, the framework also incorporates external influences such as local and national politics, stakeholder and alumni relations, and community and geography. External influences, structures, and indicators of serving all impact how Latinx students perceive servingness at their HSI (Garcia et al., 2019).
The Multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness provides a “better understanding to transform [HSI] institutions in order to better serve Latinx students” and all stakeholders based on the institution's indicators, structures, and external influencers of servingness (Garcia et al., 2019, p. 774). This study uses the concept of servingness to center the Brazilian students’ experience and specific non-academic/cultural aspects at HSIs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how Brazilian college students make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at HSIs.
Methods
The research design of this study is a qualitative phenomenological study. Phenomenological research is the study where researchers can “conceptualize, categorize or theorize about” the lived experiences of individuals, how their experiences are structured, and what those experiences mean as part of the phenomenon (van Manen, 1984, p. 38). Phenomenology is a methodology, “yet sensitive approach that gets inside phenomena” (Mobley, 2019, p. 94) that aims to understand how people make meaning of a phenomenon. In this study, we investigate the phenomena of how 11 Brazilian college students make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at HSIs.
Data Collection
Participants in this study were recruited via social media and e-mail. Through snowball sampling, the call for participants was shared with HSIs’ staff and administrators to share with students of Brazilian descent. Also, using social viral networking sampling (Salinas, 2020), the call for participants was shared via social media platforms (i.e., Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) to recruit Brazilian college students to participate in this study. Although recruitment occurred nationally, all participants who responded were enrolled at HSIs on the East Coast of the U.S. Participants were enrolled across multiple HSI campuses in the region rather than at a single institution. Data were analyzed collectively to examine shared patterns in how Brazilian students made meaning of servingness and belonging across HSI contexts, rather than to compare institutional differences. To protect participant anonymity, which is especially important given the limited number of Brazilian students at many institutions, we omit specific geographic details that could risk identifying individuals. It is also important to note that the use of snowball and social-media-based recruitment may have shaped the composition of the sample, as students who were more connected to Brazilian social networks or more attuned to experiences of institutional inclusion and exclusion may have been more likely to participate.
Participants expressed interest via e-mail in participating in this study. Then, the researchers scheduled a 60-minute interview via Zoom. Before data was collected via interviews, all participants had to read and sign a consent form. During the interviews, participants were asked: What does it mean to be Brazilian? How do you define and describe Hispanic, Latino, Latina, or Latinx? How do you define and understand HSIs? How is your HSI university supporting Brazilian students? How do you make meaning of servingness at your HSI university? How do you create a sense of belonging at your HSI institution? It is important to note that when participants were asked, “How do you define and understand HSI?” nine participants were unclear about what an HSI is (see the first finding). Given that participants were unclear about HSIs, the researcher read the definition of HSI. Also, when the participants were asked, “What does Latinidad mean to you?” Like the previous question, Brazilian college students could not answer this question because “Latinidad” is a term in Spanish, not Portuguese. In this sense, the researchers assumed that Brazilian students understood Spanish. Therefore, the researchers translated Latinidad (Spanish) to Latinidade (Portuguese) after the first interview. Following this translation from Spanish to Portuguese, participants in this study made the connection between Latinidade and U.S. imperialism in Latin America. This includes how the U.S. has created race and ethnic terms to consolidate people of Latin American descent. Latinidad is relevant because it functions as a pan-ethnic construct through which HSIs define and operationalize servingness, often privileging Spanish-language and Hispanic-centered norms. Overall, participants of this study were asked 20 interview questions to examine how they make-meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at their institution.
Participants
Participants in this study needed to self-identify as Brazilian, be at least 18 years old, and enroll at an HSI. All participants are of Brazilian descent; ten were born in Brazil, and one (Mara) was born in the U.S. to parents from Brazil. Yet, at the time of the study, all participants held either U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency. Nine participants self-identify as Latina (women), two as Latino (men), and no one as Latinx (gender-nonconforming). Three of the students had transferred from another university to their current institution. Ten participants were undergraduate students at the time of the interviews, and one was a doctoral student. Two undergraduate students did not share their class status, but they stated they were upper classmates (Junior or Senior) during the interviews. All students were asked to select a pseudonym to protect their identity. See Table 1 for participant demographics.
Participant Demographics.
Indicates the participants who did not disclose their class status.
Data Analysis
Data analysis of this study involved making sense of the data through the lens of Garcia et al.'s (2019) Multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness in HSIs. First, the researchers worked and organized the data. All interview data were audio-recorded and then transcribed for analysis to examine how they make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at their institution. Transcribed data were reviewed for accuracy, and any identifiers were removed and replaced with pseudonyms, and then sent to the students for their review. Participants of this study did not make any edits or changes to the data.
Second, the data were coded individually by two of the researchers applying the Multidimensional conceptual framework (Garcia et al., 2019) as an organizing structure. Cristóbal and Marlynn read the data and then developed a list of codes that aligned with the three dimensions of servingness: (a) indicators of serving, (b) structure of serving, and (c) external influences on serving. The research team then agreed on 19 codes that were distributed across these theoretical categories. All transcript data were coded in an Excel sheet to capture the participants’ experiences of this study. Some of the code includes: Hispanic/Latin* identity comparison, Latinidade, community, belonging, campus life resources, and HSI identity. Then, using InVivo coding, the researchers analyzed participants’ data and took direct quotes to inform each code. Last, the data codes were broken down into segments to help name the findings of this paper. Through this process, authors acted as critical colleagues during disagreements and addressed conflicting codes through collaborative dialogue until consensus was met (Schuck & Russell, 2005). They searched for important patterns to answer this study's research questions: 1) How do Brazilian students make meaning of servingness at HSIs? And 2) How do Brazilian students create a sense of belonging at HSIs?
Findings
The data collected in the study was used to analyze how Brazilian college students make meaning of servingness and create a sense of belonging at an HSI. The findings in the qualitative study are grouped into three findings: 1) HSIs are excluding Brazilian students; 2) Hispanic-Serving Institutions lack servingness for Brazilian students; and 3) social connectedness creates a sense of belonging for Brazilian students.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions are Excluding Brazilian Students
The first finding of this study informs how Brazilian students have a limited understanding of what a Hispanic-Serving Institution is. Nine Brazilian students had no concept of what an HSI is until the researcher provided a definition. Maria, who was unsure, shared, “I don't know how to define that.” Isla asked, “What the hell is a Hispanic-Serving Institution?” After participants tried to answer the interview question, “How do you define and understand Hispanic-Serving Institutions?,” and given that they were unclear about what an HSI is, the researcher read the definition of HSI.
After participants heard the definition of an HSI, it was at this point that participants honed in on Hispanic identity as the crucial measure of an HSI. Maria then stated how HSIs are “institutions that help or guide people who define themselves as Hispanic or relate to that.” Rosa said, “It's a place where they have services and resources to help Hispanic people.” And, Isla conceptualized her existence at an HSI by stating: “Am I in a Hispanic-Serving institution?” I didn't know what that was. I'm still a little bit confused. I assumed that it's institutions that try to be inclusive towards people from Hispanic ethnicities. So, [HSIs] are like, “No, you're not Hispanic. You can't come here.” I am genuinely confused. Universities want to include us [Brazilians] when it's beneficial for them. So they will count us [as Hispanic] when they want to say that we're a Hispanic-Serving Institution because it's good for the numbers. But if I want to apply for a scholarship, I can't because I am not Hispanic. So, I feel like it's double standards. We're in this gray area where we're only counted when it's beneficial to them.
Isla highlighted the confusion and negativity she feels for HSIs. For Maria, Isla, Rosa, Ana, Mara, Mariya, Sonya, Sabrina and Lauri, HSI was an unknown identity, and they were not aware of the purpose of HSIs. At the same time, other Brazilian students did not want to define and engage with the topic around HSIs. For example, Eli and Wayne said they did not want to define HSI because it includes the term Hispanic. Wayne said, “I do not want to define that [HSI].” Sabrina's observation captures a critical contradiction in HSI implementation: ‘Hispanic-Serving Institutions are Spanish-Serving Institutions. They are Brazilian-Shaming institutions.”
As Brazilian students in this study engaged in the definition of HSI, it was evident that they did not know or did not want to define it, as they do not relate or identify with the ethnic label of “Hispanic.” Mariya, Sabrina, and Maria know the term Hispanic, which excludes Brazilian people and is a term forced by the U.S. to include everyone of Latin American descent under the Hispanic umbrella term. Mariya shared, “Spanish or Hispanic-Serving Institutions are those institutions specialized in helping Spanish-speaking people.” Sabrina said, “If I read Hispanic, I would be like, “Okay, that's for Spanish speakers.” I probably wouldn't identify because I feel like it is not for me. This is not for Brazilians. This is for Spanish speakers. Brazilians don't … How do I say this? They don't identify as Hispanic.” Like Sabrina, Mara shared, “I do not identify with Hispanic. All of my life, the term Hispanic has been geared towards speaking Spanish people from Central America or South America, which does not include Brazil. So, I definitely feel when it says Hispanic-Serving Institution, I feel like Brazil is not included.”
This finding reveals the disconnect Brazilian students feel with the HSI identity and how it makes them feel used by the designation that does not include them when using the term Hispanic. Participants of this study do not identify themselves as Hispanic, as the term is used to refer to people from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries. Therefore, Brazilian students from this study feel excluded from HSI and, as Isla states, she feels “underrepresented when called Hispanic.”
Hispanic-Serving Institutions Lack Servingness for Brazilian Students
Brazilian students did not perceive HSI as “serving institutions” as they do not self-identify within the Hispanic identity, and the institutions did not provide them with additional engagement opportunities. As stated in the first finding, Brazilian students of this study understood HSI as only serving students from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries. When asked about the services available on their campus for Brazilian students, nine participants mentioned they were not aware of any resources, programs, or events for Brazilian students. Instead, student participants of this study pointed out that all the institutions’ services only centered on Hispanic populations and cultures. For example, Rosa mentioned how “unwelcoming” and culturally irrelevant the Hispanic/Latin* Office was for Brazilian students. She noted: I went there [Hispanic/Latin* Office] one time, and it was very unwelcoming. But it was very Hispanic-heavy. And I think there was like one Brazilian flag, but there wasn't that much Latino influence. It was very heavy on the Spanish [speaking countries]. Yet, I feel like there are many more Brazilians than Hispanics on campus.
Like Rosa, other participants were unaware of what their campus offered for Brazilian students. However, Lauri and Eli specifically highlighted the International Student Office as the only place Brazilians can find community on campus. Even though participants of this study did not hold international student status, they often experienced the microaggression of being labeled as international students. For instance, Eli shared: We [Brazilians] are labeled as international students. So, I don't feel there is support for Brazilian students. There is no space where I feel recognized and welcomed as a Brazilian. We have that International Student Service, something, but do nothing other than the International Festivities Program once a year. Everything is a mess. Everything is a zoo. All they do is, “Let's have a festival, bring food from your country and wear a shirt from your soccer team.” Nothing represents me. None of the cliches about Brazil represent me.
All Brazilian student participants of this study also shared that their culture and holidays are different from Hispanic culture and holidays, yet are not celebrated on college campuses. Isla expressed how she would be surprised if her HSI would celebrate Brazilian culture or holidays. Isla stated, “I get to a point where I don't really even expect it. I would be surprised if they included Brazil in some way.” In particular, students referred to Hispanic/Latin* Month celebrations as examples of how Brazilian students are not served and represented. Mara shared: During Hispanic Heritage Month, usually, there are festivals, we would go down to the cafeteria and there's different flags representing different countries, and there is never a Brazilian flag. And when people think of Hispanic Heritage Month, there never is Brazilian representation. People don't usually think about Brazil being represented, so I don't really celebrate or feel included in Hispanic heritage months. But there is no Brazilian festival to attract Brazilians, to share our food, music, language and culture.
Mara pointed out how, at her university, “there are no Portuguese language classes” offered; however, there are “Spanish, German, Italian, French, Hebrew, Japanese, and Arabic” courses. In relation to the lack of Portuguese representation and services to Brazilian students, Mariya suggested that the university should provide “websites and messages in Portuguese for Brazilian students.”
This second finding reveals how Brazilian students make meaning of servingness within an HSI, an exclusive experience for Brazilian people. As participants of this study shared, HSIs do not celebrate Brazil's culture, language, and holidays. Therefore, Lauri felt “angry and disappointed because it's not fair to not acknowledge [Brazilian students] and not have events or engagement activities.” Sabrina shared that “Hispanic-Serving Institutions are Spanish-Serving Institutions. They are Brazilian-Shaming institutions,” which made participants of this study, like Isla and Wayne, feel “invisible.” And Mara felt “ashamed … because we don't speak Spanish and don't get support.” In other words, HSIs lack inclusive servingness for Brazilian students, making them feel invisible and ashamed. These emotions reflected the broader negative campus experience rooted in exclusive serving practice rather than in the HIS designation.
Social Connectedness Creates Sense of Belonging for Brazilian Students
Brazilian participants of this study are excluded from the definition and cultural nuances of servingness at HSIs; therefore, they sought their sense of belonging. Wayne shared how Brazilian students are disenfranchised from HSIs, and this disenfranchisement forces students to create their sense of belonging. Wayne expressed, “[HSIs] create a form of disenfranchisement for Brazilian students. Here at the university, you're going to interact with Brazilians on campus on a more individual basis when you find them … So, we foster a sense of community.” Through social connectedness, Brazilian students create a sense of belonging among themselves to empower all other Brazilian students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
All the participants shared how they created their social connectedness on their own via academic settings. Lauri said it is about taking the initiative to “get together and create a community ourselves.” Sonya and Isla stated how they developed a sense of social connectedness by finding other Brazilian students on their campus. Sonya connected with another Brazilian student through a class project; she noted, “we were not friends. But it's nice to have someone you can talk to, and then you can hang out outside of class.” Isla felt that finding Brazilian students was challenging due to the lack of programming and support, but once found on campus in shared courses, they created an instant connection. Isla shared, “you're already my best friend. It's like you're Brazilian. Do you want to be my bridesmaid?” Social connectedness is an innate psychological need for humans to have positive social and psychological well-being. Thus, individuals often seek each other for a sense of belonging in spaces (Botello & Torres, 2021).
Furthermore, Brazilian students relied on informal modes of social connectedness to strengthen their sense of belonging at their institution and beyond. Isla, Sabrina, Ana, Eli, and other participants used social media, like Instagram, group chats, and other platforms to find connections among Brazilian students. Isla shared how she used Instagram to look for other Brazilian students. Isla said: So, the freshmen have the [#FreshmanClass]. The first thing I did was I added my picture, and I said, “I'm Brazilian,” and then everyone who posted their pictures, any names that I could see that were like, “Oh, she or he could be Brazilian,” I would go into their profiles and see if they have something related to being Brazilian or not. If they are [Brazilian], I will follow with a text. That's how I found my friends here, honestly.
Social media played a significant role in building a sense of belonging among Brazilian students at HSIs and went beyond the campus to build social connectedness.
Seven of the participants of this study emphasized the large Brazilian population in the surrounding communities and how they found a sense of community outside the university. Ana stated, “There are a lot of Brazilians around … The Brazilian community is big. It's not small … So, you're going to go into those businesses and going to go to those places, and you're going to meet people there.” Mara found a sense of belonging in a Brazilian place – either a church, supermarket, or restaurant. She explained: And it's been nice having a group of people I can communicate in Portuguese. For a long time, my parents thought I would lose my Portuguese because I didn't have friends who were Brazilians in high school. So, it's been nice having a group I can speak Portuguese with, that group that I can relate to about certain topics, issues, and interests in Brazilian pop culture and food.
Like Ana and Mara, Sabrina highlights the local community's importance to her sense of belonging. Sabrina said, “Being Brazilian in [South Florida] is really good. I feel like I'm home.” This finding reflects how Brazilian students create a sense of belonging through social connectedness within the surrounding Brazilian community.
Discussion and Recommendations
The findings support the complexity of how intersectional identities can yield many competing experiences. All of these may be important in unpacking the lived experiences of a cultural subgroup that have largely been missing in HSI and higher education research. It is important to note that these findings are based on a small, qualitative sample of 11 Brazilian students enrolled at HSIs on the East Coast and are therefore not intended to be generalized to all Brazilian students or all HSIs. Brazilian students of this study reported an overarching experience of invisibility and exclusion within HSIs, both as individuals and as a cultural collective. These accounts should be understood as examples of recurring tensions rather than definitive characterizations of HSI environments as a whole. The HSI designation reveals how pan-ethnic categories function as administrative conveniences that obscure power relations. By subsuming diverse Latin American experiences under “Hispanic/Latino,” institutions can claim diversity while maintaining Spanish-centric programming that marginalizes non-Spanish speakers. Within the institutions represented in this study, this institutional logic allows HSIs to benefit from Brazilian enrollment numbers while avoiding the substantive work of cultural inclusion. Although the minority experience within higher education is known to be one of disconnection and isolation, Brazilian students within HSIs experience the rare complexity of being counted as “served” and yet culturally erased. Therefore, Brazilian students feel a lack of belonging at HSIs.
Drawing from our findings, we conceptualize Brazilian students’ sense of mattering as dependent on three interrelated dimensions: cultural recognition, institutional responsiveness, and affective attachment. These dimensions emerge from participants’ narratives and are offered as a conceptual lens rather than a comprehensive model of Brazilian student experiences across HSIs. These dimensions extend beyond the ways in which servingness is typically operationalized within HSI contexts. Among Brazilian participants of this study, servingness was frequently experienced through cultural celebrations, language programming, and symbolic forms of inclusion, which partially create validating experiences for these students within the institution. Although these elements hold significance, they reflect a narrow conception of what it means to serve a student population. Food, flags, and holidays present culturally resonant elements but, in isolation, fail to constitute meaningful institutional engagement. Similarly, the availability of Spanish-language resources does not inherently reflect responsiveness to Brazilian students, whose primary language is Portuguese. While these patterns were consistent across participants, they should be interpreted as a lack of institutional commitment to culturally relevant curriculum within the structure of serving, indicating areas of concern warranting further investigation rather than as definitive evidence of institutional intent or uniform practice across HSIs. Therefore, future studies should highlight how linguistic hierarchies operate within HSIs and how they intersect with institutional assumptions about Latinidad.
In this way, Garcia et al.'s framework, though comprehensive in articulating structural indicators of servingness, may inadvertently reward the providing of pan-ethnic or Hispanic cultural programming as sufficient evidence of institutional commitment. Our analysis suggests that, for the Brazilian students in this study, such indicators were perceived as incomplete or misaligned rather than entirely missing. For Brazilian students in this study, meaningful representation and cultural validation on campus entailed explicit recognition of their distinct cultural and linguistic identity, acknowledged within, but not subsumed under, the broader Latin* category. Their understanding of servingness diverged from frameworks emphasizing measurable and identity indicators, instead centering on institutional practices that recognize and respond to specific cultural needs, rather than assuming that pan-ethnic programming equitably serves all Latin* students. Although Brazilian students are often included in HSI enrollment counts, they do not identify as Hispanic, which complicates how their presence is understood in relation to servingness (see Garcia & Cuellar, 2023). Existing research highlights how HSIs have historically relied on broad ‘Hispanic/Latino’ categories without differentiating among diverse ethnic and racial identities, which raises questions about how students like Brazilians experience belonging and recognition within HSIs.
The term “Hispanic” itself implies the exclusion of Brazilian students and discourages them from potentially feeling a true sense of belonging within these institutions. Thus, it serves as a symbolic oversight of their unique cultural identity and experiences. Subsequently, this sense of othering was blatantly present in the institutional structures for serving via the services and programming offered, which revolved around Spanish-speaking ethnic groups and cultures. Participants described these patterns as common across their respective campuses, though the extent and form of exclusion varied by context. Our findings indicate that this lack of cultural inclusion is noted, and HSIs are not seen as inclusive of Brazilian students, as they are expected to speak Spanish. According to the Multidimensional Conceptual Framework of Servingness in HSIs (Garcia et al., 2019), structures such as culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy, and culturally validating experiences are essential to establishing a foundation of serving at HSIs. However, Brazilian students were aware that their culture and language were never taken into account in shaping the institution's HSI identity. While many HSIs might only offer Spanish language courses and only translate admission materials into Spanish, it is critical that other languages (i.e., Portuguese) are provided to meet the needs of Brazilian families and students. Therefore, it is critical not to assume that all Latin* people speak Spanish. At the same time, these observations should be read as highlighting structural blind spots throughout the validating experiences and structures for serving, rather than categorically defining HSIs as uniformly exclusionary. Similarly, a limitation for this study is that servingness framework only focuses on the Spanish language and culture as the foundation of the HSI's identity benchmark. Therefore, a recommendation for a future study is to analyze how servingness can be expanded to include different languages within the Latin* diaspora (i.e., Portuguese, Indigenous languages, French, and Creole). The Multidimensional Conceptual Framework of Servingness in HSIs (Garcia et al., 2019) does not apply a psychological framework, which does not address emotional dimensions of identity formation and feelings that come with being in a racialized climate. The Multidimensional Conceptual Framework of Servingness in HSIs (Garcia et al., 2019) does not incorporate a psychological approach and therefore does not fully address the emotional dimensions of identity formation or the affective experiences associated with navigating racialized campus climates. For this reason, future research should expand this framework by integrating psychological perspectives that attend to these emotional and identity-related processes.
Furthermore, in this study, Brazilian students make meaning of servingness at HSIs as an exclusive experience for Brazilian students. Students felt “angry and disappointed,” “invisible,” and “ashamed” because HSIs do not celebrate their culture, language, and holidays. These emotional responses reflect participants’ interpretations of their institutional environments and structures for serving, rather than a universal experience among all Brazilian students at HSIs. To summarize how they make meaning of their experiences at HSIs, Sabrina expressed, “Hispanic-Serving Institutions are Spanish-Serving Institutions. We present this quote as an illustrative articulation of participants’ sense-making, not as a definitive classification of HSIs as a sector. They are Brazilian-Shaming institutions.” The concept of Hispanic-Shaming was presented by Hinojosa and Zepeda (2018) to provide context to the process of how Latinx students navigate HSI academic spaces that are “broken space and must be held responsible for reevaluating their approaches when ‘serving’ students marginalized by their [skin] color, because without an intense examination of how to improve their dialogue, HSIs risk encouraging the shaming” of these students (p. 60). HSIs are sites that “shamed-consciously or unconsciously-marginalized students” and are “governed mostly by that discourse of shaming” the experiences of Latinx students’ lived experiences, social identities culture, language, and holidays (Hinojosa and Zepeda, 2019, p. 84). Rather than viewing shame as an individual emotional response, we argue that “Brazilian-shaming” represents a form of institutional gaslighting – and “Latinx ghosting” (López et al., 2022, p. 3) – where students are simultaneously included (for demographic purposes) and excluded (from cultural recognition). This concept is offered as a framework to surface institutional contradictions, not as a claim that all HSIs enact Brazilian-shaming in the same ways or to the same degree. Therefore, administrators and faculty must intentionally create spaces and fund spaces where Brazilian students can be celebrated, validated, and feel a sense of belonging. However, to create a sense of belonging, they must be socially connected to individuals within the institution, and the Brazilian students highlighted the lack of compositional diversity of Brazilian faculty, staff, and administrators at the HSI (Garcia et al., 2019).
Social connectedness is considered a basic human need that is informed by culture and strongly influences the adaptation to new spaces, contexts, and, in this case, institutions (Hardway & Fuligni, 2006). The desire to develop relationships and belonging is not unique to college students and can play a major role in impacting students’ experiences (Lee & Robbins, 1995; Wilson & Gore, 2013). Lacking connection with others, as measured by isolation and loneliness, can be related negatively to psychological outcomes among Latin* students (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). Thus, it is important to examine how this connection, or therefore lack of it, is experienced by Brazilian students. The findings of this study revealed that Brazilian students found social connectedness outside of the institutions and had to find connections via social media and other community members.
This universal human need is expected to be essential in understanding the experience of Brazilian students. Specifically, it has been noted that social connectedness is particularly important to minoritized groups (Botello & Torres, 2021). It is likely that the double-embedded minoritized identity of Brazilian students within HSIs (e.g., being a minoritized student of color and, likely, being an ethnic minority within the Latin* student community) may multiply the importance of social connection. Most, if not all, individuals and entire groups seek to experience a sense of belonging with others and the social world around them (Lee & Robbins, 1995). Past research indicates that the type and phase of an institution does impact a sense of belonging in Latin*s (Botello & Torres, 2021).
The caveat in our findings lies in the assumption that HSIs could provide a slightly stronger sense of servingness and a greater possibility of connection, yet the findings discard this. Surprisingly, contrary to expectations of a lack of connection, isolation, and a missing sense of belonging as natural consequences of this disconnect and institutional dismissal, Brazilian students report positive social experiences that promote connection. Future studies should explore the characteristics of Brazilian students and their connections with faculty, staff, peers, and the overall campus environment.
Despite being disenfranchised within a minoritized group, students have adeptly discovered meaningful connections with individuals and communities outside the academic space, thereby attaining the essential level of social connection. Utilizing available tools like social media to establish social ties, connections were forged across a diverse range of spaces, both within and beyond the confines of the institution. Thus, the Brazilian students established their own validating experiences at the institution by formulating culturally specific support groups for life on and off campus (Garcia et al., 2019). While the specific depths or quantifiable measures of these social connections and support groups were not explored, the data suggested that meaningful bonds were formed in fleeting moments and within larger Brazilian communities (Garcia et al., 2019). In essence, a sense of connection and togetherness emerged when peers with similar Brazilian backgrounds coexisted in shared classes or spaces. For example, in celebration of the Hispanic/Latin* Heritage Month (September 15—October 15), this celebration can start a week earlier, including Brazil's Independence Day (September 7). Ensuring the inclusiveness of Brazilian students as part of the Hispanic/Latin* Heritage Month will promote servingness. For the Brazilian students, they sought and cared more about the cultural acknowledgement, cultural validation, and their racialized experiences on campus, rather than all other aspects of servingness as a starting point to feel like they belonged in the HSI practices of the institution (Garcia et al., 2019).
Literature has noted that social connectedness derives from having a strong sense of belonging to both a cultural collective and the prevailing mainstream culture (Yoon et al., 2012). Yet, within-group differences, conflicting findings, and limiting metrics that measure social connectedness as an individualistic belief (i.e., “I am …”) instead of a collectivistic perception (i.e., “We are …”) highlight how a basic need for social connection can be understood and experienced in complex ways (Botello & Torres, 2021; Yoon et al., 2012). Further research should address how social connectedness may be related to experiences within higher education and metrics such as academic outcomes. Additionally, more exploration of other factors impacting these experiences should be undertaken, such as regional location and the specific makeup of the institution, which has been noted as influencing perceptions of belonging among self-identified Latin* students (Sanchez, 2017). Our study was conducted on the East Coast of the United States, where a larger population of Brazilian people lives. Consequently, implications may be tied to this geolocation, as available Brazilian communities and connections may be more likely in this state compared to a state or city with less representation overall.
Footnotes
Author Contribution(s)
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
The original qualitative data used in this study is not publicly available due to confidentiality considerations. However, access may be provided if required by Federal Government regulations.