This study examines the first-year college transition of first-generation college women of Mexican heritage and the strategies they use to persist in college. The sample is comprised of seven low-income, first-year female college students of Mexican heritage at a large, highly competitive public university. I conducted one semi-structured interview, four open-ended interviews, and three photo-elicitation interviews with each participant (56 interviews in total). I also visited each woman’s dorm room to document meaningful artifacts. Additionally, I conducted participant-observations during campus tours led by the women, and also conducted four focus groups to engage them in the process of analysis. This study identified the types of familial-cultural practices these women engaged in with their families and how they developed asset-based resources used to navigate their first year of college. A Latina/o critical race theory framework was used to analyze the raced and gendered layers of their experiences and highlight the forms of resilience and agency developed by study participants.

Findings from this study revealed the following: Firstly, familial cuentos and consejos serve as teaching tools that yield critical consciousness. These familial-cultural practices helped these women develop resilient behaviors and positive attitudes that they applied to experiences transitioning into a university setting. Secondly, first-generation female college students of Mexican heritage drew meaning from cuentos and consejos, developing them into asset-based resources that fostered their educational resilience. Thirdly, study participants entered higher education with asset-based resources and identified effective strategies to deploy their assets and resources. Lastly, participants used these strategies to overcome various challenges and persist through their first-year in college. Recommendations gleaned from this study include specific programming suggestions designed to help college administrators interested in college persistence among students of color gain a better understanding of the first-year experience of these students.

This study encourages postsecondary institutions to celebrate and honor students’ multicultural college identities through policies and programming agendas that actively encourage personal, academic, and professional development. Understanding how students negotiate the demands of school and their family ties and commitments contributes to the development of methodologies that will better support these students in higher education. Once we more fully understand students’ experiences and assets, universities can build upon their cultural wealth to better help them develop a sense of belonging at their institutions, which will lead to greater postsecondary success.