Examining Students’ Strengths

Full Title: Nidia BañuelosExamining Students’ Strengths: Community Cultural Wealth and Social Networks in the College-to-Workforce Transition
Nidia Bañuelos, Assistant Professor, Department of Continuing Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison presented this talk as part of the 2023 Spring IRP Seminar Series.
Research on the college-to-career transition for students of color often focuses on the barriers advanced undergraduates and alumni face in achieving career goals-depicting historically marginalized students as homogenous and disempowered. New asset-based theories and survey instruments offer an opportunity to measure the strengths students of color gain from their families, cultures, communities, and experiences. Drawing from social network and Community Cultural Wealth data, collected as part of the Networks and Cultural Assets Project, this talk examines how students use their cultural assets and interpersonal relationships to navigate college, form career aspirations, develop professional identities, and maintain pride in their communities of origin.