Latinx Youth's Experiences in the Ontario Education System: Race, Invisibility, and Capital

Abstract

This article explores Latinx youth's experience in Ontario's education system and the level of support they encounter throughout their education. Based on phenomenological qualitative interviews, this study found that Latinx youth in Ontario lacked sufficient support networks throughout their childhood and adolescence. Using Bourdieu's theory of capital and education, as well as Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), this research explores how a lack of access to relevant capital positions Latinx youth at a disadvantage in their educational attainment and how their unique experiences are unrecognized. This article is based on a total of 52 participants (27 one-on-one interviews and 23 participants in two focus groups). The findings indicate that youth perceive parents to have limited social networks, skills, and knowledge necessary to assist their children in Ontario's education system. School teachers, guidance counsellors, and principals who are positioned to provide supplemental support for marginalized youth often failed to provide any significant guidance. Youth were faced with finding alternative modes of support or depending entirely on themselves. Given the lack of discourse surrounding the unique experience of the Latinx minority, the experiences of Latinx youth remain mostly unseen.