Presentation from the ASHE 2018 Annual Conference stemming from my dissertation research focused on better understanding the career pathways and lived experiences of Latina/Chicana senior student affairs officers. This presentation focuses on the benefits of employing testimonio as a methodology in research focused on Latinas/Chicana educators' lived realities.

1. Employing a testimonio methodology to
illuminate the career pathways of
Latina/Chicana senior student affairs officers
Molly F. Morin, Ph.D.
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
ASHE Annual Conference 2018
November 16, 2018
© Molly Morin

2. Introduction
Situating the Latina/Chicana SSAO experience
Conceptual Framework
My testimonio and positionality
Background on testimonio as method
Testimonio research design
Findings
Implications and reflection
© Molly Morin

3. Situating the
Latina/Chicana
SSAO Experience
 Underrepresentation
Latinas in SSAO role
 Limited scholarly focus
on Latina administrator
experiences
Women
Administrator
Experiences
Latina
Administrator
Experiences
Women of
Color (WOC)
Administrator
Experiences
Background on the SSAO role
© Molly Morin

4. Purpose
The purpose of this study was to
provide a deeper understanding
of the career pathways and lived
experiences of Latina senior
student affairs officers (SSAOs) in
U.S. higher education.
© Molly Morin

5. Community Cultural Wealth
(Yosso, 2005, 2006)
• Spiritual capital
developed by Pérez
Huber (2010)
• Experiential capital
developed by Navarrette
García (2014)
Resistant
Capital
Aspirational
Capital
Spiritual
Capital
Experiential
Capital
Linguistic
Capital
Navigational
Capital
Familial
Capital
Social
Capital
Community
Cultural
Wealth
© Molly Morin

6. Historical development of testimonio
The Latina Feminist Group – testimonio + Latina/Chicana feminists
Employing testimonio in education research on Latinas/Chicanas
“Many of us, in one way or another, are professional testimoniadoras (producers of
testimonios)…From our different personal, political, ethnic, and academic
trajectories, we arrived at the importance of testimonio as a crucial means of
bearing witness and inscribing into history those lived realities that would otherwise
succumb to the alchemy of erasure” (The Latina Feminist Group, 2001, p. 2).
© Molly Morin

7.  Purposeful sampling yielded seven
participants who met 3 criteria:
 Self-identify as Latina or Hispanic
women
 Hold current or former employment
as a SSAO at a two-year or four-
year college/university in the U.S.
(e.g., dean of students, vice
president for student affairs)
 Worked a minimum of 10 years in
the field of higher
education/student affairs
administration
© Molly Morin

8. Caretaking
Responsibilities*
Professional Association Membership
Children/Step-Children
Extended Family
Parents
Siblings
• AACRAO (American
Association of
Collegiate Registrars
and Admissions
Officers)
• ASCA (American
School Counselor
Association)
• ACPA (American
College Personnel
Association)
• HACU (Hispanic
Association of
Colleges and
Universities)
• NASPA (Student
Affairs Administrators
in Higher Education)
• State-based
associations for higher
education and
student affairs
administrators
• State-based
associations for
faculty
• State-based
associations for Latino
higher education
administrators
First-Generation College
Student Status
First-Generation College
Students = 6
Continuing Generation
College Student = 1
Institutional Type
Community College = 6
Four Year
College/University = 1
*Participants reported a range of
individuals they cared for
© Molly Morin

9. n = 7
n = 5 n = 3
© Molly Morin

10. Findings from the Collective
Power of the Participant Sample
Vital Role of Family
Mentors Fostering Career Advancement
Transforming Experiences of Adversity
Importance of Following Your Purpose
© Molly Morin

11. Implications
 Allows scholars to theorize from Latinas/Chicana subjectivities
 Opportunity to document untold stories and offer a space of reflection
 Breaks away from privileging Eurocentric ideologies and essentializing
Latina/Chicana experiences
 Potential to foster social change
 Outlet for community storytelling and community-building
 Encourages the use of a collaborative data analysis process
Benefits and Opportunities of Employing a
Testimonio Methodology

12.  Draw from seminal testimonio works (e.g., Delgado Bernal, 1998;
the Latina Feminist Group, 2001; Pérez Huber, 2009) as well as
related testimonio studies from other scholars/fields
 Honoring the historical intent of testimonio research in education
 Place the participants and their subjectivities at the center of the
research
 Determine a collaborative data analysis approach to employ
 Sharing and reflecting on your researcher reflexivity is central
Challenges and Considerations when Utilizing
Testimonio in Education Research
Implications

13. Implications
My Reflexión
[Reflection]:
On Bearing
Witness to
Testimonios
of Trailblazers

14. Questions/Discussion
Contact me, Dra. Morin:
mfmorin@iu.edu