Toward a Theory of Minority Student Participation in Predominantly White Colleges and Universities

Abstract

This article describes the construction of an alternative framework for minority, specifically Chicano, student participation in predominantly White colleges and universities. The framework described is based on a two-year study investigating the experiences and actions of first-generation college students who identify themselves as Chicano. Through interpretation of interviews, observations, and documents, an in-depth understanding of the nature of their experiences and actions on a predominantly White university in the Southwest United States was gained. The culmination of this understanding was captured in the construction of a grounded (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), conceptual framework. Development of the framework occurred in three stages: first the role of the students as cultural workers was posited, highlighting the ways in which the students took active roles in fighting their marginalization; the next stage focused on the ways in which Chicano culture provided “cultural nourishment” for the students in their role as cultural workers; and finally, the framework suggests that students seek to achieve synthesis between their own culture and the university culture in such a way that it creates cultural transformation and liberation.