Coloniality and Latinx College Students’ Experiences

Coloniality refers to the patterns of power relations resulting from colonialism that shape racial and ethnic groups' experiences in diverse ways. Although it is known that coloniality influences higher education's physical, symbolic, and social spaces, negatively affecting Latinxs' college attainment, less research has been conducted on the way that Latinx students internalize, adapt to, and/or resist coloniality as they navigate primarily White higher education institutions (primarily White higher education institutions [PWHEIs] are higher education institutions where 50% or more of the students are White). To address this gap, we analyzed interview data from junior- and senior-level Latinx students attending a PWHEI in the United States' Midwest region to examine the numerous ways in which coloniality frames appear in students' narratives. We end our discussion by making policy recommendations.