It is already tough getting through college, but it is even tougher for female first-generation students of color. This study analyzes the lived experiences of 16 female first-generation students of color that have found their way to succeed throughout high school and college. With some investigation of the factors that contributed to these women’s success, resistance and resilience were found as the common combination of influence. Resistance involves the response to unjust circumstances with strategies for the betterment of the situation. Resilience, on the other hand, refers to the coping and adapting mechanisms used to deal with adversities. In this particular case, resistance and resilience goes hand-in-hand, in which “resilient individuals…
Academic resistance refers to seeking the expected path to college in order to better not just their own lives, but the lives of their families and communities. By continuing on to college and graduating with a degree, the women are challenging the system by resistance through achievement. Behind the resistance through achievement is the “prove them wrong” attitude to break the “myth of intellectual inferiority”. This strategy further motivates them to succeed, thus fostering their academic resilience. Academic resilience refers to overcoming adversity and succeeding academically despite the unfortunate circumstances. Traditionally and historically, the theory behind academic (or educational) resilience is possessing the following traits – social competence, problem-solving skills, autonomy, and sense of purpose, which is to survive. Recent studies have expanded on this theory, incorporating four other elements – risk factors, vulnerability areas, protective factors, and compensatory strategies. Risk factors are characterized as environmental circumstances (family dynamics, low-income/unsafe neighborhoods, quality of education, etc.), while vulnerability areas includes factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, language,…
