Latina/o School Administrators and the Intersectionality of Professional Identity and Race

Intersectionality of Race and Identity

The diverse Latino population is the fastest growing in the United States, has a burgeoning political and economic impact on the country, but still faces homogeneous categorization. Oboler (1995) outlined that Hispanic and Latino labels are in fact abstractions of reality, and their usage may inevitably single out socially constructed attributes. That is, by accepting these labels, individuals may be subject to limitations related to race, gender, class, or language. Labels are connected to attributes which may then be considered common to the group and can be used to create assumptions for the individuals in the group (Oboler, 1995). Lisa Garcia Bedolla (2005) argued that to understand the contradictions and dilemmas that arise from Latino contact with reality, “An analysis of the Latino experience in the United States must be situated at the intersection of power, collective identity(ies), and place” (p. 4). The analysis of intersectionality of race and identity for Latinos, especially Latina/o educators, is critical as spaces of political power within the spheres of education continue to situate Latino identity in marginalized contexts.

The Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research (ISBER) out of the University of California Santa Barbara with the Center for New Racial Studies (n.d.) posits as follows:

“Intersectionality” is the name that is now given to the complex of reciprocal attachments and sometimes polarizing conflicts that confront both individuals and movements as they seek to “navigate” among the raced, gendered, and class-based dimensions of social and political life. Both as individuals seeking to make a socially just and fulfilling “everyday life,” and as collectivities seeking to “make history” through political action and social movements, we struggle with the unstable connections between race, gender, and class (para. 1).

Both Latina/o students and educational professionals may still be discriminated and treated as marginal to those expected to represent educational success (Holvino, 2008; Viruell-Fuentes, Miranda, & Abdulrahim, 2012). Analyzing immigration and health, Viruell-Fuentes et al. (2012) recognized that “becoming American involves contending with ideologies that render them racial ‘minorities’ and the stigmatized meanings that the racialized society ascribes to their specific group” (p. 2101). Holvino (2008) argued that work and scholarship at the intersections of race, class, and gender are still underdeveloped. This sentiment extends to a generalized perception of people of color as racialized “others” reproducing inequality within an ethnoracial hierarchy (Collins, 1998, 2000; Viruell-Fuentes, 2007, 2011). Collins (2000) further defined how an intersectionality of race, ethnicity, class, and other social categories limits people of color’s access to successful positions in society. By recognizing that Black women’s experiences were also shaped by race and class (Collins, 1998, 2000), she showed that intersectionality further evidences a system of oppression mutually constituted to work together to produce inequality (Collins, 2000; Crenshaw, 1989). Although intersectionality has impacted feminist theory and critical race theory, a conceptual framework exploring intersectionality as impacting the professional identity and opportunities for Latina/o school administrators is warranted.

When discussing ways that intersectionality works, it is important to consider that forms of oppression do not operate independently. Many forms of discrimination are intertwined with others and intersect within the various areas of race, ethnic, socioeconomic, and even religious identities. This concept of intersectionality was first defined academically in the 1980s (Crenshaw, 1989), but it has been subject to discourse since the early 1900s when women’s rights and feminism began gaining traction.

It may be easy to consider a specific form of racial oppression or discrimination as operating in a vacuum. For example, when considering the victimization of gay youth, many leaders and administrators may simply see them as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth and ignore their membership in other minorities. However, personal identity is fluid and multifaceted, and developing this sense of identity is a complex and varied process. Similarly, a student’s experience is not accurately described simply as being gay and as being a religious minority—these experiences intersect, intertwine, and influence each other. As such, when categorizing school leaders by minority membership only, one runs the risk of stereotyping and reductionist attitudes toward understanding their work and life. At the intersection of race and other professional identities, for example, an individual may attribute their experiences to a single category (gender), to a different category (race), or to many categories at once (language, gender, and race), which, in turn, shapes their perception of the experience.

Context of the Study and Instrumentation

Texas was selected for the statewide study because it is one of the largest states in the United States employing a high number of Latina/o school leaders. The state is also home to the faster growing Latino population. Based on the feedback received from the first study from participants in 2007, survey questions were changed and survey section questions were reduced in numbers. The initial survey was first modeled after the School and Staffing Survey (SASS) that was last given in 2011-2012. However, NLLP survey, unlike the SASS survey, included questions related to gender, race, leadership style, barriers, and successes to effective leadership. Although this study specifically looks at professional identity and the intersectionality of race, the larger survey was divided into three broad categories: school demographics, career path, and leadership identity (Murakami et al., 2016). These three categories were further subdivided into 10 sections:

Participants’ email addresses were obtained from the state of Texas education records, which tracks school administrators demographic data. Participants were expected to take 10 min to complete the survey which included both short essay response and Likert-type scale formats (Murakami et al., 2016). The survey instrument was distributed during the spring of 2015. The instrument was distributed again during the following summer and fall. A reminder email was sent out every 3 to 5 days to prompt the participants to take the survey. In all, the survey was available for approximately 3 weeks. This study reflects the responses of 226 school administrators in the state, 57% were female and 43% male, with ages ranging between 33 and 68. Eighty-seven respondents were U.S. born.

Variables considered as influencing the professional identity of Latina/o school leaders included schooling, barriers due to racial/ethnic background, challenges as school administrators, and benefits of race/ethnicity within their work. Short essay questions in this study included the following: (a) Describe your own schooling experiences. (b) To what extent has your racial/ethnic background created barriers in your work as an administrator? (c) What are the biggest challenges you face in your work as a school administrator? (d) What are the biggest successes you face in your work as a school administrators? and (e) To what extent has your racial/ethnic background been a benefit in your work as an administrator? Race and ethnicity were terms included in the questions and offered as interchangeable (grouped). They were left to be defined by the participants due to the high intersectionality variation in backgrounds and cultures among Hispanics.

Data Analysis

Each question was analyzed separately informed by the conceptual framework and includes all qualitative responses, considering confirming and disconfirming data. Ethical considerations included the anonymity of individual responses and masked geographical location. Descriptive and content analyses were the approaches employed for this study. A descriptive analysis was used to summarize the data, portraying important characteristics and features of the data provided by the participants (Coladarci, Cobb, Minium, & Clarke, 2011). Content analysis was used to add to the descriptive approach by coding of the data and an interpretation of qualitative responses for each survey question (Downe-Wamboldt, 1992; Mayring, 2000). The content analysis was conducted by examining similar words used by participants. In addition, the short essay questions were coded and grouped into themes based on the content of each answer. At the end, the researchers were able to identify the main patterns found in the short answers. An inductive process was used for the content analysis, considering related studies based on variables considered. In other words, the researchers were committed to allowing the data to speak for itself and to place it within the conceptual framework. Below, the findings are discussed.

Demographical Characteristics

This study included 216 participants, of which 91 were males and 125 females. Fifty-eight percent of participants self-identified as Hispanic. Others self-identified as Mexican (20%) and Latina/o (7%). The participants ranged from 28 to 73 years of age (M = 47.45, SD = 9.04). Less than 1% (N = 2) identified as Puerto Rican, and 9% of the participants identified as “Other.” Eighty-six percent of participants were U.S. born. Ten percent were born in Mexico and 3% selected “Other.” Of the U.S. born participants, 88% (N = 162) were born in Texas.

In terms of languages spoken, 90% of participants reported fluency in Spanish beyond English proficiency. As educators, these participants spoke Spanish mainly with students and their families. Sixty-one percent of the participants reported that their racial or ethnic background positively impacted their work as an administrator: Sixty-six percent of the participants indicated that their racial or ethnic background has helped them connect with students (with 14% responding as “neutral”). Also, 76% of the participants reported that their ethnicity did not present a barrier in their work as administrators, selecting “rarely” or “never” when asked whether ethnicity created barriers or problems in their work as administrators.

The school administrators indicated their highest level of education. Twenty percent of participants reported to have a doctorate degree, 63% had master’s degrees, 16% declared having an education specialist certification, and 2% indicated a bachelor’s degree as their highest degree. From the sample, the majority of participants (81%) were serving as school administrators and 10% were serving in the superintendency role.

The participants shared information about their formal preparation. Besides principals and superintendents, seven participants indicated they were assistant principals, and 11 indicated they served in other administrative positions. Eighty-three participants acquired their principal or superintendent certification at a public university, whereas 10% attended private institutions. Few participants declared earning their degrees from an online university (n = 4) or a liberal arts college (n = 1). As undergraduates, 27% of participants (n = 57) indicated they began their education at a community college. The majority of participants (75%) indicated that they were “well prepared” or “very well prepared” when they began their current position.

The school administrators reported that on average, their experiences as students in school were very positive. Seventy-six percent responded that their experiences ranged from “positive” to “very positive.” Overwhelmingly, participants also cited the role of mentors in choosing administrative work. Seventy-nine percent of school leaders indicated that mentorship played a significant role in their development of leadership skills and style. The school leaders indicated that their leadership style was “democratic” or “delegative” and only 16 participants indicated a very autocratic leadership style. In addition, 81% indicated that a mentor was important in attaining the position they currently hold; 74% indicated that they currently serve as a mentor or role model to another aspiring professional. Forty-two percent of salaries among school administrators ranged from US$70,000 to US$90,000 a year, with 34% reporting earnings of US$90,000 to US$110,000 a year. Only 21 participants indicated they were earning more than US$110,000. Salaries for males and females did not differ.

Early Schooling Experiences

Participants were asked how they would describe their school experiences. We considered the focus on early school experiences as affecting not only individuals in schools but also their health (i.e., Cummins, 1986; Kumanyika & Grier, 2006). Latinos and African American students are more commonly the focus of interventions. Hardships threatening their academic success often are related with language and poverty. However, it is important to consider Cummins’s (1986) observation that while interventions are often implemented with positive intent, these have not necessarily proved to alter the relationships between educators and students of color, nor the relationship between schools and communities of color. In our intent to learn about those Latina/o students who presented an interest in becoming teachers and administrators, we inquired whether Latinas/os who became teachers and subsequently school administrators were students who did not necessarily experience difficult relationships in schools. Indeed, very fewer school administrators communicated their experiences in school as negative. However, this was not always the case. Surprisingly, 6% of the participants communicated that their experiences in school were negative. On the flipside, only 37% of school administrators expressed their experiences as very positive. Many expressed that their experience in school presented a gamut of both positive and negative aspects (see Figure 1).

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Figure 1.

Latina/o school administrators’ schooling experiences.

Many of the participants contributed with open-ended positive responses. These responses showed the influential role of teachers. Respondents who added comments to negative experiences sections of the Likert-type scale instrument (i.e., Figure 1, Options 1, 2, or 3) shared memories of the following interactions with teachers:

Based on the responses, categorized under negative experiences in school, it is clear that many of these experiences were related to the leader’s racial identity, including the intersectionality of language and ethnicity. For example, when participants use words such as “discriminated” and “had donkey ears put on my head,” this can have traumatic results for children. Other leaders who wrote about negative experiences reflected on their treatment for speaking their native language and being Hispanic, pointing again to the intersectionality of race and language. Two of the leaders wrote about the physical punishment for speaking Spanish.

Among responses indicating school experiences were both positive and negative (survey responses with a Likert-type response 4), the influence of teachers is evidenced. Open-ended responses included the following:

These leaders express that while they had both positive and negative experiences in school, most of their negative experiences centered on issues related to language, Spanish names, and being isolated from other students. As they reflected in the survey, they also experienced lower expectations from teachers and questions about their cognitive abilities based on language skills only. Despite these negative experiences, the Latina/o school leaders persevered and made the best of their experiences.

School administrators who responded having positive experiences, similarly relate those experiences as being influenced by teachers and the importance of being validated in their efforts. Interestingly, not all open-ended responses were only positive as follows:

All responses analyzed indicate the strong influence of adults in determining these school administrators schooling experiences, with strong intersectionality between negative experiences and race, and negative experiences and language. Furthermore, it was clear that the participants in the study could recognize the teachers who cared about and for them. Looking back at their schooling experiences and acknowledging both the good and the bad, these Latina/o school leaders knew which teachers empathized with them and could understand their experiences. Even though respondents are between 33 and 68 years old, it was hard as a research group to understand how corporate punishment was used to encourage learning.

When race is the focus of building individual identity, we critically considered the racial composition of teacher/student associations and intersections in these responses considering the likelihood that these students were served by a teacher demographic that accounts for 65% White teachers and 22% Hispanic in the state of Texas (Bitterman, Goldring, and Gray, 2013). The influence of White teachers and dominant racial ideologies are evidenced in the responses, aligning with Picower (2009) and others who call for the importance of examining these critical intersections. Important to consider is Bernal, Knight, Ocampo, Garza, and Cota’s (1993) observation that Latina/o students are aware that schools are “social, cultural, and political contexts” (p. 135) early in their schooling experiences. In relation to students’ perceived interventions, the responses showed that in some instances, even when interventions were in place, neither students nor parents were fully informed about them. These responses confirm Cummins’s (1986) point about the importance of the need to improve not only interventions but also the relationships between educators and students.

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Table 1.

Latina/o School Administrators’ Negative Schooling Experiences.

- I was ability grouped - Teachers would not help. I was discriminated and had donkey ears put on my head. - When I was in first grade, my teacher used a ruler to hit me on my hands for speaking Spanish. - Corporal punishment was administered for speaking other than English - Many of my Hispanic classmates were tracked into vocational career paths - There were low expectations - There were no role models. Gangs were the only people one could relate with.

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Table 2.

Latina/o School Administrators’ Positive or Negative School Supports.

- In Elementary school I was not allowed to speak Spanish and would get punished if I did. I was retained in the 4th grade because transitioning to English was hard for me. After I finally transitioned 5th-6th grade school was easy and fun for me. That’s why I chose both! - We came back to the U.S. when I turned 8 years old. I was in third grade. I was moved to 1st grade because I didn’t speak English. The bilingual program had a sink or swim mentality. The rigor was not the same and I learned to be compliant. - I attended school in Indiana and experienced much prejudice and loss of opportunity due to my “name.” It was often explained to me by teachers that if I had not been born in Mexico I would understand. - Some teachers were kind; others were biased and showed favoritism. - I was teased growing up because I was in the bilingual program. - Environments lacking diversity or Latino groups were the most challenging as a student. - I attended school. Did the best I could. - Attended school in Mexico until 9th grade; completed high school in the U.S. As an English Language Learner (ELL) student, I was often sent elsewhere to work. This made me feel inferior. - When in high school, I didn’t realize why I never made it into the top class. Later, I understood! That class was for monolingual English students only, not only top academic students. - My transition to the U.S. was rough since I didn’t know the language. My parents and I had very little knowledge on how the system works. I was placed in very basic classes, based on my language barrier, which lowered my expectations. As a consequence I was not prepared for college and had to take remedial classes. This was discouraging at first but I finally overcame this setbacks.

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Table 3.

Latina/o School Administrators’ Positive Schooling Experiences.

- I had some great teachers in certain grades. - I had great, supportive teachers who truly cared about my education. They helped me overcome challenges and inspired me. - I was pushed academically at home and school and I had a positive self-esteem of myself when it came to school. - Since I was strong academically, I had a lot of teachers encourage me. However, there were times when some teachers put me down just because I am a Latina. - White teachers didn’t always treat Hispanics the way they should have. - I had teachers who understood me as a person, and as a learner who I enjoyed, but also had experiences with teachers who I did not like. - Variation in expectations and teacher empowerment. - Because my parents had it so unfair, my attitude was a more positive because I didn’t experience what they did in school. Although, thinking back, there were incidents that I would call not right. - I enjoyed going to school. I did not realize the discrimination at the time. Now that I reflect on it I realize there were many instances of discrimination that I accepted since that is what I was expected to do. - I was a migrant so I went to school in Texas and Louisiana. My parents did not allow for excuses so they always supported the school. - Being the first generation born in the U.S., my parents had high expectations for me. I did everything I could not to let them down. I’m the eldest in my family, and my parents always reminded me that I set the example for my siblings. - I experienced a wonderful but very sheltered matriarchal upbringing in the 60s in McAllen, Texas. I loved my barrio, La Paloma. Barrio back then had a positive connotation. That little barrio produced many first generation college students who are now lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, meteorologists, engineers, and educators like myself. Life was great as a 2nd generation Mexican-American. I did not know I was poor or a minority or bilingual until I came to Houston in the late 70s to go to college. Perception is everything.

Latinas/o School Administrators Connecting With Students of Color

Following on their intersectionality considerations in the development of a professional identity, we asked school administrators to reflect on the extent of their racial/ethnic background as contributing in connecting with the experiences of students of color (Figure 2). The rationale behind the connections of Latinas/os and students of color relates to observations made by Ferdman and Gallegos (2001), who argue that individual identity develops in the context of a group, or intergroup realities. This means that there is diversity not only in America but also within groups, such as Latinas/os. As we can find Mexican families who are indigenous to colonized states like Texas, as well as immigrant families from Mexico, we also acknowledgee other backgrounds such as Puerto Ricans, Cubans, South Americans, and others, as families and children served by Latinas/os. The heterogeneity is often ignored, where “glossing over identifictions based on national origin can be problematic” (Ferdman & Gallegos, 2001, p. 35). Hence, the importance to reveal whether Latinas/os would be prone to articulate if they identified with the experiences with students of color. Not surprisingly, their responses varied.

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Figure 2.

Latina/o school administrators’ race/ethnicity background as contributing to understanding the experiences of students of color.

Seventy-eight participants recognized an intersection between their racial background and the experiences of students of color (Likert-type responses 4-7). There was a representative response from participants who did not perceive their racial background as associated with students of color in their schools. Their identity has been explored by Ferdman and Gallegos (2001), who assert that some Latinas/os may carry an undifferentiated orientation, where they see people of color as “just people.” The authors explain that some Latinas/os may accept the dominant norms of the U.S. society and perceive to view people distinct from their racial or ethnic identity. Ferdman and Gallegos (2001) suggested that these Latinos may take a “color blind” perspective when considering their own racial identity. Moreover, these authors assert that when these particular Latinos encounter barriers, they attribute them to behavior rather than to race, racism, or their Latinoness. Studies in educational leadership may explain this behavior when recognizing race may compromise their own profession. For school administrators of color, they have to be very careful when recognizing their skills because the intent is not to further dismiss instances of discrimination but to address inequalities. Nonetheless, those who responded not perceiving a connection between their own upbringing and potential connections with students of color added comments as shown in Table 4.

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Table 4.

Latina/o School Administrators Who Do Not Perceive Race/Ethnicity Background as Significant to the Experiences of Students of Color.

- I don’t see it as a benefit or deterrents. - Not aware of anything. - Only for Hispanic schools.

Those indicating their racial background as contributing to an understanding the experiences of students of color added comments as shown in Table 5.

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Table 5.

Latina/o School Administrators Who Perceive Race/Ethnicity Background as Significant to the Experiences of Students of Color.

- I generally believe it has been a nonissue, though I believe some of the parents I have worked with have found comfort in my ability to speak Spanish. - It has been a great benefit since the majority of our students, staff and parents are Hispanic. Being able to communicate in Spanish has been an additive in increasing trust with our students and parents. - The ethnicity has not but the ability to speak Spanish has been. - The ability to communicate with our Bilingual families in their language. - As a bilingual educator, it has opened more doors, especially in Title 1, predominately Hispanic student population schools. - I can relate to my students and faculty.

The implications of race in the development of a school leader’s professional identity are indeed complex as demonstrated by the responses. Language and kinship were seen as benefits. There seems to be more to be learned about a connection between Latina/o administrators and students. For example, Ferdman and Gallegos (2001) questioned what factors lead to each orientation. In consideration is that much still needs to be explored about “What is the role of variables [in developing an identity] such as external stressors, perceived threats from others to oneself, or to one’s group, relationships with other people, language use, and ability, phenotype, and family composition?” (p. 54).

Latinas/o School Administrators Capitalizing on Race/Ethnicity

Considering the school administrators’ experiences in schools, the NLLP survey sought to examine the participants’ preparation as a school administrator. For the most part, a large majority of participants responded they felt prepared for the position. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed indicated they felt well or very well prepared for their first administrative job. Within their preparedness, we asked a question that would include race/ethnicity in their preparation, which bring together their experiences. We asked how the Latina/o school administrators perceived their race and ethnicity background as benefiting their work. In a previous NLLP national study, school administrators were divided between those who perceived race/ethnicity as a barrier and those who did not. In studying Latina/o adminstrators in Texas, we found a similar pattern where respondents were divided about their race/ethnicity as benefiting their work. Murakami et al. (2016) found similar concerns about those indicating a void between their race/ethnicity background and their position. Respondents in the Texas study were divided in recognizing how their racial/ethnic background been a benefit in their work as administrators. This question provoked a larger range of both likert-type and open-ended responses, as it connects upbringing experiences and the development of a professional identity (Figure 3):

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Figure 3.

Latina/os race and ethnicity background as benefiting the work of school administrators.

When school administrators were asked whether their race/ethnicity background benefited the work of school administrators, more than 12% of respondents indicated that race/ethnicity did not benefit them as professionals. Those responding not at all (Likert-type option 1) did not add open-ended comments. Eleven percent of participants responding that race/ethnicity was not necessarily benefiting their work (Likert-type options 2 and 3) added the following open-ended comments:

Fifteen percent of participants were neutral in perceiving if race/ethnicity benefited their work. It is clear that some of the leaders that completed the survey are not aware of how their own racial and ethnic identity impacts their work as school leaders. Their open-ended comments included the following:

More than 60% of respondents perceived race/ethnicity as benefiting to some degree (Likert-type options 5, 6, and 7). These school administrators added an overwhelming number of comments when compared with other options in this question. In their open-ended responses, Latina/o school administrators suggest a strong connection between their race/ethnicity and their professional identity as school administrators especially based on (a) common upbringing, (b) common language and culture, and (c) being a role model.

Common language and culture

Latina/o school administrators demonstrated that language and culture were assets they brought to parents and students. Comments as detailed in Table 9 included the following:

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Table 6.

Latina/o School Administrators Who Perceive Race/Ethnicity Background as Not Benefiting Their Work.

- I love all of my students regardless of race. - I don’t feel my racial/ethnic background contributes to connections, or lack thereof, formed by students. - I have rare opportunities to work with students of color but find no difficulty in doing so when the opportunity arises. - I don’t really think that it helps, but it doesn’t hurt. - It benefits when students feel that they are being picked on because of their color or race - I have not always been aware of this, but I believe some students have identified with me due to a common cultural heritage. - My past experiences have given me excellent insight into the struggles faced by students of color.

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Table 7.

Latina/o School Administrators Neutral About Race/Ethnicity Background as Benefiting Their Work.

- I build relationships with kids and don’t pay too much attention to what color they are. - Students and parents seem to trust my decisions. - Parents appear to relate better to me. - Although being Hispanic in a predominately Hispanic region, and I could use that to relate to the students, I believe it was more my socioeconomic status growing up that helped relate to students of the same economic status. - Being able to speak both languages is a huge benefit to communicating effectively with parents. - Familiar with the cultural “hidden rules” that helps me build relationships with all stakeholders. - Being of Hispanic decent has allowed me to connect to the students of color because we are able to see commonalities or shared ground with respect to being minorities. - I can relate linguistically and my personality relates to all ethnicities - I don’t believe me being Hispanic has affected how I connect with students. I attribute the way I am able to connect with students to my upbringing. - It’s not about color. It’s about relationships.

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Table 8.

Latina/o School Administrators’ Connections With Common Race/Ethnicity Upbringing.

- I have been in their shoes. - We have the same educational experiences - I often use my stories and experiences as the first person in my family to graduate from college to inspire my students. - I have been able to rely on my experiences growing up and have been able to share with a few kids to prevent them from going down a wrong path. At the end of the day it’s about choice. - The hardships and judgements I have personally been subjected to have been based on economic standing more than race/ethnicity. - Based on some student’s background, they may see me making more connections and understand them better because our skin is the same color, however, what they may not initially realize is that the connections and interactions I have with students/teachers/parents are not dependent on race or ethnicity. It is dependent on the value I place on all humanity. - The Hispanic population (which is over 85%) on my campus seem excited and happy and work extremely hard. I think that they feel that they can relate to me since I come from a similar background. - Students enjoy hearing my stories regarding my past and overcoming obstacles. - I was able to relay my personal experiences and successes to the families, students and teachers. - I maintain a sense of identity with the families and having worked in industry for 16 years prior to education, I have been able to pragmatically build good relationships with minorities.

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Table 9.

Latina/o School Administrators’ Connections With Common Language and Culture.

- They see themselves in me and feel more comfortable talking to me in English or Spanish. - My culture and traditions helped me connect with my sudents at my campus. - Bilingual students can relate to my own personal experience - I live and work in a community with a large percentage of Hispanic families. Speaking Spanish and being Hispanic makes me more approachable for some families. - Hispanic students can relate easier to Hispanic administrators. - As with most situations when people speak a common language, Spanish-speaking students find me more approachable then the non-Spanish speaking administrators. - Students see that someone of their ethnicity can make it. I can relate to their experiences - Most of the schools I served has been with students of the same ethnic background so I’ve been able to use my language and background in order to connect with students. - Most of our students of color are from interracial relationships. It is easy to relate with them. - Connections to culture. Also growing up in Dallas and attending Dallas ISD public schools has allowed me to embrace the variety of cultures of both the Hispanic and African American communities. - This has been extremely beneficial because we have a commonality and usually I am able to relate to their background, customs, language, and other life experiences that are shaped by culture. - I’m multiethnic and I believe that it has been to my advantage in working with all of my students.

In the last two sections, it is clear that the leaders’ lived experiences have provided them with the ability to comprehend and recognize the diverse backgrounds of their students. This is noted as some leaders express the idea that they can see themselves in the lives of their students. Their capacity to see themselves in the eyes of their students connects these Latino school leaders with their students on a much profound level, which is beyond the conventional principal–student connection.

Latina/o school administrator as a role model

An important asset benefiting students, teachers, and parents related to the Latina/o school administrator as a role model (Table 10). Respondents perceived they could positively influence multiple stakeholders. Their comments included the following:

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Table 10.

Latina/o School Administrators’ as Role Models.

- My background has been an advantage because it has allowed me to have perspective and empathy without facing a vast amount of personal prejudice and bias. - Teachers of color feel like they to can move up professionally. - Being the only one of a very few in this position, I’ve certainly been a resource for students and parents. - I can empathize without feeling sorry for students, I show them that education is key to come out of poverty. - Some students had never seen an administrator or teacher be of Hispanic background. It affirms to the students that anything is possible and that it can be done if they have a growth mindset. - The students and parents love knowing that someone of their ethnicity is in a leadership role. - It is a great plus as an administrator. They understand that I am like them. - The majority of my student population is Hispanic. I connect to them as one of their own, however, more importantly I connect to them as a person, not just a Hispanic Principal. - I make students understand that it is very possible for students of color to achieve. - I believe some students who are minorities feel a sense of comfort and pride when they see that their principal is also a minority. I like to think I am a good role model for them. - It is important for students to see various ethnic backgrounds in leadership roles. This allows them to relate to a leader . . . and to aspire to be one. - There is a sense of connection and understanding. They trust me more than my other counterparts. - Being Hispanic in a school that is 96% Hispanic has been a very positive experience and has allowed more parents to feel comfortable coming to school and being more involved. We still have a long way to go, but speaking the language and being able to relate to both students and parents has been a major asset. - I think the students and parents feel that as a person of color they can communicate with me better than they can with others who are not of color. - Students to me are “sacred” regardless of race or color. I am committed to making sure that all my students receive the best quality of education. Race is not an issue for me as an educator. I see all my students as my own children and I want the best for them. - My background has been extremely beneficial in working with our students. It has helped me to connect and build positive relationships with my students. - I am a role model, I feel like I am their dad—I treat them with respect and take care of them as if they were my own children. I am their biggest champion! - I have had several Hispanic parents tell me that they are thankful I am at my campus. They appreciate the Spanish newsletters, emails and callouts. - Since working at Title 1 campuses the make up of student population is usually Hispanic thus students can relate to seeing someone who look like them and speaks like them. - More important than my racial/ethnic background helping to connect with students, is my belief than I must first show the students how much I care before I show them how much I know. - Personal experiences are countless in the number of times both students and parents did not realize that I was bilingual. As a fair-skinned Hispanic, with an Anglo surname through marriage, they incorrectly assume that I am not bilingual. However, once the Spanish flows . . . all is appreciated and respected instantaneously. - To be a Hispanic male has helped me as I work with many Hispanic students and families today. Students immediately understand that I have gone through many of the same experiences that they have been through growing up Hispanic. This places us on the same level as we speak about goals and overcoming obstacles.This includes other ethnic origins.

The question of how race and ethnicity background benefit the work of school administrators received an extraordinary number of open-ended comments. The participants felt more comfortable in responding to this question as opposed to the question about connecting with students of color. The school administrators confirmed many of the Latina/o capitals listed by Yosso (2005), including the importance of a common upbringing, common language, and culture. The awareness of being a role model for both students and adults was an indication that these administrators were critical in their roles and intentional in their investments to improve the experiences of those in schools. These leaders also ultilized their own experiences with discrimination to develop high levels of empathy for their diverse students. Although still holding their students to high expectation, these Latino school leaders understood that parents saw them as an advocate for their chilren because of their racial and ethnic backgrounds.