The educational and lived experiences of Mexican American women enrolled in developmental education at a community college in a rural setting

Research indicates that large numbers of Mexican American students 48% (Crisp & Nora, 2010) are required to enroll in developmental education upon registering for college. As such, the overrepresentation of Mexican American students in developmental education is problem that merits research. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore and draw attention to the experiences of Mexican American students as they endeavor through developmental education coursework at a community college located in a rural setting. This study applied a qualitative single case research design. It was through four female Mexican American participants that I was able to explore the educational and lived experiences of Mexican American students enrolled in developmental education in a rural community college and derived meaning from those experiences using the Community Cultural Wealth Theoretical Framework lens (Yosso, 2005). The interview and focus group revealed experiences that were heard through the voice of the participant that is often absent in the literature. The data was then transcribed and analyzed for themes. The analysis revealed that the participants' possessed aspirational, linguistic, navigational, social, familial, and resistant capital. In addition to these six forms of capital, motivational capital emerged.