Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Educational and Psychological Studies

Major Professor

Jose Castillo, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jennifer Wolgemuth, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kahlila Lawrence, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Diedre Cobb-Roberts, Ph.D.

Keywords

Anti-racist practices, School psychology programs, Social justice, Student voice

Abstract

This study aimed to uplift and critically analyze the experiences and perspectives of Latine school psychology graduate students regarding their programs' socialization process. I sought to call out oppressive structures and to identify anti-racist practices described by participants. I intended for this to inform school psychology programs on oppressive structures they must dismantle and anti-racist practices that disrupt the status quo to support the well-being and success of Latine graduate students. Seven Latine school psychology graduate students participated in one or two semi-structured interviews. I employed thematic analysis to discover themes from participant interviews. Once themes were identified, I utilized an arts-based inquiry approach to convey participant emotions in the form of poems. Participants described their socialization process across two themes: 1) the educational and emotional labor of being a minoritized student, and 2) community and isolation. When examining the data for oppressive structures, three themes emerged: 1) financial burden, 2) ambiguous professional expectations, and 3) enactment of social injustice, with the third theme breaking down into two subthemes: 1) interest convergence and 2) contradiction of education. I identified two themes regarding anti-racist practices participants experienced as part of their socialization process: 1) supporting students as social justice change agents and 2) cultural humility and responsiveness. Implications for school psychology programs and future research are discussed.

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