Home-school cultural value mismatch (HSCVM) describes a tension first-generation (FG) college students experience in having to choose between academic and familial priorities, with consequences to academics and wellbeing (Vasquez-Salgado et al., 2015, 2018). This mismatch is experienced uniquely by FG students based on intersections of social class, race-ethnicity, and gender, with FG Mexican women being particularly affected (Vasquez-Salgado et al., 2018, 2021). HSCVM has been traced to cultural differences in home and university spaces. Yet, the larger cultural scripts undergirding HSCVM that dictate how to think, feel and behave —otherwise known as master narratives (Syed & McLean, 2021) — and students’ responses to such scripts, including their resistance strategies, have yet to be examined. This dissertation utilizes a narrative analysis to identify master narratives underlying HSCVM and resistance responses to these narratives. Guided by theories on Borderlands (i.e., the psychological experience of being between two opposing cultures; Anzaldúa, 1987/2012) and everyday resistance (i.e., subtle acts with potential to undermine power; Vinthagen & Johansson, 2013), I analyzed in-depth interviews with five mostly low-income FG Mexican college-bound women across two time points (after their senior year of high school and after their first year of college). All women attended Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), those with a public mission to “serve” the holistic needs and cultural experiences of Latine FG students (Garcia et al., 2019). Such settings have yet to be explored in HSCVM literature. Results revealed two primary master narratives that stemmed from notions of the American Dream, reflecting cultural ideas of working hard and meritocracy that were experienced by women in classed, racialized, and gendered ways in both home and school contexts. These two narratives included that a “good college student” is independent, competitive, and exceptional and a “good Latina daughter” is responsive to family needs, follows parental directives, and works to fulfill parental aspirations for the future. Further, each woman demonstrated overlapping and distinct resistance strategies when responding to their unique experiences with HSCVM. These responses included working hard to meet multiple priorities, taking experiences one day at a time, resisting negative self-talk through acts of self-acceptance, practicing boundary-setting and boundary-bending, and working with loved ones to reduce HSCVM tensions. In examining the everyday acts of resistance to the HSCVM, these findings document the multiple ways FG Mexican women engage agency to grasp for and co-create alternate perspectives of what it means to “good” and “successful” in the borderlands of home and school. Understanding their resistance provide insights and pathways for institutions, like HSIs, to validate students’ belonging by challenging rigid narratives of success and working toward mutuality between home and school values.

Considerable attention has been dedicated to addressing the lack of diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Yet the way in which discussions about diversity are framed can implicitly signal who belongs or is included in these fields. For minoritized students in STEM (e.g., low income, first-generation, women, students of color), social psychological research has sought to develop strategies to promote identity safety, or the notion that their social identities are welcomed, valued, and respected (Davies et al., 2005; Markus et al., 2000; Murphy & Taylor, 2012).

The present research tested the impact of three diversity ideology cues on minoritized students’ identity safety and interest in social justice efforts in STEM. The color-evasive (CE) cue emphasized that demographic differences among people should be ignored to achieve group harmony. The multicultural (MC) cue recognized the importance of social group differences, and the critical multicultural (CMC) cue had added messages calling attention to the structural causes of social group differences (i.e., inequity).

Diversity cues were embedded in two common artifacts in STEM university settings: a recruitment email for a diversity scholarship program (Study 1) and a syllabus for a gateway course (Study 2). Study 1 aimed to recruit students from low-income backgrounds, yet challenges with recruitment led to broadening eligibility requirements so that adequately powered analyses could be conducted (n = 234). Study 2 included students of color (n = 172). Following exposure to the cue, participants completed measures assessing their expectations for encountering bias in the program or course, perceptions of how honest the diversity message felt, anticipated belonging in and attitudes about the program or course. To test whether CMC had differential benefits in developing students’ social justice orientations, these experiments also assessed participants’ perceptions that the program (or course instructor) was committed to social justice and their desire to learn about STEM inequities.

Both studies revealed that, relative to a CE cue, a CMC cue that both recognizes group differences and acknowledges the role of systemic oppression in reinforcing these differences reduced participants’ bias expectations (and not their perceptions of the diversity message as dishonest), which increased their anticipated belonging and attitudes. Relative to a CE cue, a CMC cue also increased participants’ perceptions that a program (or course instructor) was committed to social justice, which increased their desire to learn about STEM inequities. The studies also revealed some mixed findings with an MC message. Similar to a CMC cue, a MC cue tended to improve some outcomes compared to a CE cue. Yet in some cases, a CMC showed improved outcomes relative to a MC message. This suggest that CMC messages might function more consistently as effective ISCs.

The current studies are the first to experimentally test how relative to a CE cue, a CMC cue, and at times a MC cue, can foster students’ sense of identity safety and interest in learning. The work also identified the pathway by which this happens: by shaping expectations for bias and not perceptions of diversity dishonesty. These findings highlight the need for integrating critical cues about diversity that both affirm the importance of students’ social identities and call attention to the structural forces that shape their experiences in STEM. The present research offers practical implications for how STEM authority figures (e.g., program directors, faculty) might draw upon these findings to frame conversations about diversity and suggestions for future research to advance equity in STEM.

Black students contend with negative stereotypes and biases about their racial identity, which adversely impact their experiences within school settings. These consequences are reflected in teachers’ disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline against Black students (Okonofua & Eberhardt, 2015; Okonofua, Walton, et al., 2016; Raffaele Mendez et al., 2002). To mitigate these harsh effects, school administrators are starting to incorporate restorative justice education (RJE) – a community-based approach rooted in understanding and rectifying harmful behaviors – into their school policies to reduce discipline disparities and to improve teacher-student relationships (Gregory et al., 2016). The scale measures teachers perceptions of how well the school incorporates cultural diversity and highlights marginalized student voices, reinforces healthy relationships with their students, and recognizes the importance of restorative discipline to challenge the longstanding harms resulting from disproportionate discipline.Current empirical research focuses on the implementation of teachers’ restorative practices (Anyon et al., 2014; Gregory et al., 2018), and whole-school restorative programs (Kehoe et al., 2018; Gregory et al., 2016). However, research has yet to develop a robust measurement tool for assessing restorative justice education (RJE) attitudes. Testing the psychometrics of an RJE scale is important to validate the perspectives of teachers and school staff and evaluate how well school administration implements the RJE tenets in their school climate. Drawing from district school data, I conducted secondary data analysis of the 2018-2019 California School Staff Survey, an online survey that measures the perceptions and experiences of K-12 teachers and school support personnel (WestEd, 2019). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional RJE scale with 27 items that included the three tenets of RJE. The scale had strong convergent validity, but the discriminant validity was problematic thus suggesting more analyses are needed. Results found that Black and Latinx teachers had more discerning views of their schools implementation of restorative policies and practices compared to White and Asian teachers. Similarly, teachers with five-to-ten years of teaching experience were also more likely to report that attitudes that were more critical than teachers with less than five years of teaching experience and teachers with more than 10 years of experience. The study developed the first quantitative measure – guided by theoretical tenets of RJE – to evaluate restorative practices in real-world academic settings. The scale provides insight on the importance of implementing a holistic RJE approach for student success. Further, the study offers suggestions for future research to evaluate the effectiveness of RJE with Black students.