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Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Restricted Thesis: Campus only access
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
Department
Educational Leadership
First Reader/Committee Chair
Enrique Murillo
Abstract
This study explored the experiences of Latino educators, with the intention of looking at how their work helped shape their identities. This study focused on Latino men to highlight their unique experiences, as they are underrepresented in higher education research and face distinct challenges in identity development and advocacy. While this study centered on Latino men, it drew on broader research on Latino students to explain their experiences in higher education. What started as a focus on on-campus employment grew into a broader exploration of how personal, cultural, and systemic factors influenced their development as activist educators. The results from a hermeneutic phenomenological approach highlight the role of community, social movements, and higher education in shaping the paths of Latino students. The findings show that the participants’ drive to advocate for others did not begin in college. This identity started with the people and movements that influenced them earlier in their lives. Family members, teachers, and neighbors planted the seeds, while social justice movements like the Chicano movement gave them an understanding of inequities. College became the place where they gained the tools to act. Through on-campus jobs, mentorship, student organizations, and social groups, these Latino men learned how to navigate systems and turn their passions into works of resistance. Based on the results of this study, I call on institutions to step up. On-campus jobs should be designed with purpose, mentorship should be fully supported, and culturally affirming spaces should be prioritized. Latino students bring immense cultural wealth, and higher education has a responsibility to create environments where they can lead with intention.
Recommended Citation
Felix, Jesse, "OPENING DOORS: THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF LATINO ACTIVIST- EDUCATORS AND THEIR JOURNEY TO ADVOCACY" (2025). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2109.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2109
