Critical Resilience, Schooling Processes, and the Academic Success of Mexican Americans in a Community College

Abstract

This qualitative study adds new dimensions to the traditional paradigm of resilience through the lives of five Mexican American community college students. The term critical resilience emerges as a result of using ideology from a feminist critical perspective. In-depth interviews, classroom observations, and focus groups were used to learn how this group of students overcame many obstacles and achieved success at Camino Real Community College (a pseudonym). The findings demonstrate that the participants’ critical resilience is promoted by focusing on the cultivation of a larger purpose connected to the social uplift of their families and communities. The author describes strategies situated within a sociocultural context used by the participants to cultivate a larger purpose. The strategies of “playing the game” and showing respeto (respect) shed light on the academic success of Mexican Americans who attend community colleges.