Beyond Grit: Doctoral Persistence and Leadership as Praxis Among First‑Generation Latinx PhD Students

This article presents two qualitative studies examining doctoral persistence, critical agency, and leadership identity among first-generation Latinx doctoral students. Study 1 draws on autoethnography with a first-year Mexican American/Chicano Army veteran to trace critical consciousness amid financial instability and racial marginalization. Study 2 uses narrative interviews with a fourth-year Latina student to examine how persistence and leadership identity evolve across later doctoral stages. Together, the cases form a developmental arc revealing how early survival conditions either produce attrition or transform into legacy-oriented leadership praxis. Findings underscore the centrality of mentorship, peer solidarity, and culturally responsive practice in sustaining Latinx doctoral persistence.