Building a Village of Hope: Collaboratively Navigating M(o)therhood, Scholarship, and Identity

Abstract

This paper investigates the ways in which bilingual and bicultural mothers experience motherhood and formal schooling of their children while also navigating doctoral programs. Mothering is both heavy work and a potential place of power (Lockman, 2019). Leveraging the lived experiences and aspirations of (other)mothers for their children has a strong, lasting impact on how children see their potential futures (Matos, 2019). Understanding and emphasizing epistemologies of the home (Garcia & Delgado Bernal, 2021) is, therefore, a meaningful place to begin discussion about goals and trajectories for mothers and their children. This paper reports findings from the first four plática sessions, each emphasizing aspects of Cultural Capital (Yosso, 2005) with mothers currently enrolled in doctoral programs with school-age children. Mothers and Othermothers (Collins, 2000) came together over Zoom from two universities to discuss their aspirations, successes, and challenges in navigating doctoral programs while supporting their children. Through the use of pláticas and collective biography methods, this study amplifies the voices of women caregivers and their experiences, asking the following questions to understand individual experiences and needs of culturally and linguistically diverse m(o)thers also navigating higher education.