Swimming Against the Current: Latinx Doctoral Student Experiences Through a Bioecological Lens
This study investigates how Latinx doctoral students in the Southwest region of the United States experience and navigate doctoral education at a historically white institution (HWI), with attention to the social contexts and systems that shape their persistence and belonging. Despite growing interest in diversity in graduate education, the structural and relational challenges faced by Latinx students remain underexamined.
This article addresses a gap in the literature by applying Bronfenbrenner and Morris’s expansion of the bioecological model, traditionally used in child development, to understand Latinx doctoral students’ experiences. It also incorporates Latinx critical race theory (LatCrit) to examine how racism, power, and intersectionality influence academic life.
This qualitative study used narrative inquiry and counterstorytelling to collect and analyze the experiences of Latinx doctoral students. The collaborators were selected through purposeful sampling, and data were analyzed through iterative coding across Bronfenbrenner and Morris’s expansion of the five ecological systems and LatCrit’s focus areas.
This article uniquely contributes to the body of knowledge by using a bioecological lens to map how Latinx doctoral students’ development is influenced across micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chronosystems. It reframes doctoral persistence as an ecological and sociopolitical process, while keeping in consideration the interplay of Process–Person–Context–Time (PPCT).
Faculty relationships often lacked culturally sustaining mentorship. Students experienced tension when cultural identities clashed with academic expectations. Family, home communities, and sociopolitical climates indirectly influenced their academic engagement. Institutional norms often reinforce whiteness and meritocracy, undermining Latinx knowledge and presence. Over time, student-led organizations provided belonging and resistance amid shifting political contexts.
Educators and institutional actors must consider the whole student, beyond the classroom, by incorporating faculty advisor training grounded in the focus areas of the bioecological model and LatCrit’s frameworks. They should design culturally affirming peer mentorship programs, implement policies addressing racial profiling, and ensure campus environments are inclusive of students’ cultural identities. Training faculty and staff in culturally sustaining advising practices and supporting Latinx research agendas is crucial for promoting retention and fostering a sense of belonging.
Future studies could pursue longitudinal work to evaluate long-term academic and professional outcomes in addition to expanding the use of the bioecological model in graduate education research, exploring cross-racial comparisons, and assessing how intersecting identities (e.g., gender, class, im/migration status, and experiences) shape Latinx doctoral students’ experiences.
The findings emphasize the urgent need for higher education institutional actors to create culturally sustaining environments. By considering the full ecological contexts of Latinx doctoral students, institutions can more effectively support underrepresented populations and dismantle harmful norms that inhibit authentic identity expression.
Future studies could examine how cultural and academic identities intersect in doctoral programs, how students manage cultural dissonance, and how institutional practices either support or hinder identity-centered scholarship. Longitudinal studies are also needed to track the impact of these dynamics over time.
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