UC San Diego

Only 5% of the graduates from medical schools identify as Latinx (AAMC, 2019). While, in the state of California, the growing Latinx and bilingual community is expected to exceed 40% of the state’s population with only 5% Latinx physicians (Martinez et al., 2019). Diversity of the physician workforce is important because underrepresented students are more likely to work as a physician in underserved communities, such as urban and rural communities (Mitchell & Lassiter, 2006). The field of higher education is lacking research on Latinx student persistence in premedical studies in higher education. Moreover, the literature on underrepresented STEM students is lacking an analysis of the cultural assets that Students of Color bring with them into STEM. Through this dissertation, I advance STEM research by applying asset-based theoretical frameworks and culturally relevant methodology in order to center Latinx first-generation premedical students voices and experiences.

Guided by the following theories, Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) (Yosso, 2005), Latinx STEM Student Success Model (Rendón et al., 2019) and Chicana/Latina Feminist Epistemology (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016), this dissertation aims to take on an assetbased approach and use culturally-sensitive methodology to understand the persistence of Latinx students in medicine. Yosso’s CCW (2005) provides a foundation in viewing students of color entering the college environment with cultural assets and to further center Latinx premedical students, the Latinx Student STEM Success Model (Rendón et al., 2019) is applied to explore Latinx cultural assets, strengths developed from families/communities and knowledge that Latinx students have gained that are related to the Latinx asset (Rendón, Nora & Kanagala, 2014). Additionally, I employ pláticas, a culturally-sensitive methodology that draws from Chicana/Latina Feminist Epistemology (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016), which acknowledges and centers Chicana/Latina scholars way of knowing and knowledge (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016). This study is based on twenty four Latinx premed students from a large research university, an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution. Each participant completed two pláticas, for a total of forty-eight pláticas, observations of the Latinx PremedInitiative sessions and website content review of activities.

Findings are presented in the three articles focusing on cultural assets of Latinx students during their undergraduate years, such as navigational, resistance, giving back and a methodological article. This study presents novel findings of the use of cultural assets of Latinx students in premedical studies. Latinx premedical students use the following, navigational and resistance asset as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and giving back asset is related to student’s physician career aspirations to serve underserved communities and address health inequities. Additionally, pláticas methodology is introduced to call for a reframing of methodologies in STEM education research to provide a culturally relevant methodology to engage Latinx Students and advance STEM education research on Latinx students. Research on Latinx STEM students has focused on the attrition of Latinx students in STEM, however I find that Latinx students are persisting and creating meaningful pathways for themselves that is inclusive of their cultural background.

This dissertation is significant because it provides an asset-based approach and culturally sensitive use of pláticas on Latinx students to identify the cultural assets Latinx students use as they persists towards medical school. I also provide recommendations for institutions of higher education to embrace and leverage cultural assets, to reimagine graduatepathways for Latinx students to persist towards their medical dreams.