Transitional object as empowerment tool: Workshops for Latina women to persevere in higher education
Abstract
Thackara’s efforts to create spaces focused on wellbeing, and less on products, were invoked in this research. However, rather than simply abandoning the object, this work reassigns meaning to these objects—using them as empowerment tools—designed to become extensions of the body, thoughts, and experiences. This case study details the development and implementation of workshops designed to empower young Latina women persevere in higher education. The workshops brought awareness to structural barriers, coaching in self-reflective techniques, and the co-creation of transitional totemic (symbolic) objects that serve as aides-mémoires of the event. This paper highlights the workshops in three points: a) a brief history of barriers to Latinos’ educational success; b) description and analysis of the IRB-approved survey and qualitative interviews; and c) the outcome of the participatory workshops designed to empower young Latina women.
Keywords
empowerment; latina; education; transitional-object
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.591
Citation
Sibrian, A. (2024) Transitional object as empowerment tool: Workshops for Latina women to persevere in higher education, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.591
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Transitional object as empowerment tool: Workshops for Latina women to persevere in higher education
Thackara’s efforts to create spaces focused on wellbeing, and less on products, were invoked in this research. However, rather than simply abandoning the object, this work reassigns meaning to these objects—using them as empowerment tools—designed to become extensions of the body, thoughts, and experiences. This case study details the development and implementation of workshops designed to empower young Latina women persevere in higher education. The workshops brought awareness to structural barriers, coaching in self-reflective techniques, and the co-creation of transitional totemic (symbolic) objects that serve as aides-mémoires of the event. This paper highlights the workshops in three points: a) a brief history of barriers to Latinos’ educational success; b) description and analysis of the IRB-approved survey and qualitative interviews; and c) the outcome of the participatory workshops designed to empower young Latina women.