Employing Intersectionality for Student Success in Higher Education

Primary Investigators

Yasmiyn Irizarry, The University of Texas at Austin; Nancy López, University of New Mexico; Edward D. Vargas, Arizona State University

Research Team: Shania Montufar and Ricardo Lowe (UT Austin); Masi Swanagan, Lacey Hites, and Julian Angel (UNM).

Removing barriers to postsecondary success for Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and other minoritized students requires illuminating intersectional inequities as a first step in advancing institutional transformation (Garcia & Cuella 2023; Casellas Connors, 2021; Giebel et al., 2023; Riegle-Crumb, King, Irizarry 2019). We propose phased mixed method activities: 1) Comprehensive literature review; 2) In-depth qualitative case studies of institutional data collection, document review, and reporting practices related to race, ethnicity, and intersectionality; and 3) Pilot survey of institutional data collection and reporting practices. We will focus our research on whether there are any institutions already employing promising practices as well as on missed opportunities.

This study is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation under Grant No. 058266. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funder.