Firstborn daughters in Latinx households traditionally tend to have more responsibilities than their siblings. Early on, they find themselves taking the role of a third parental figure in their homes due to external factors such as culture, gender dynamics, and pressure from their parents. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect that remote learning has on firstborn daughters in Latinx homes. We will interview a dozen girls ages 13-18 who fall into this description, along with a group of students in the same age range who are not firstborn Latinx daughters. We will compare the interviews from both groups to analyze whether culture, gender roles, and birth order affect students' success during a pandemic, in which students are forced to learn from home. Students' success will be measured through self-reported end-of-the-year grades and grade point average. We expect there to be a significant difference in learning experiences from both groups and predict that the group of firstborn daughters will struggle more academically than the comparative group due to the responsibilities and expectations that come with their identity. The findings of this study will serve as implications to better understand the impact of cultural and gendered complexities on firstborn Latina students' success during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Latinos are the most undereducated population in the United States (Irizarry, 2017; Paris & Alim, 2017). An analysis of research using a Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) lens, permits educators and scholars to find effective ways to utilize Latinx students’ experiential knowledge as the capstone for learning, while centralizing their experiences as a form of pedagogical practices. LatCrit illuminates the intersectionality of Latinx students' multidimensional identities that are all respectively unique, yet interconnected. The intersectionality of racism, classism, as well as gender roles are combined with their individual experiences (Bernal, 2002). The research explores the possibilities of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris, 2012) and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 2017), through the lens of LatCrit theory to the forefront of more educative practices with Latinx students. It predicts that Latinx students will perform better, have a more cohesive educational experience when schools embrace the cultural practices, experiences, and input of Latinx students. I predict using LatCrit theory as this works the theoretical frame that Latinx students will be academically more successful.The purpose of this research is to provide deeper analysis and examination of how Latinx students learn in public educational settings through the Latino Critical Race Theory lens and evaluating how Latinx students incorporate their culture within the classroom when given permission to do so. This research will allow us to take a theoretical and contextual look into how Latinx education could be modified for the success of Latinx students.

In this paper, using testimonials from over 40 in-depth interviews with Latinx students, we argue that the hidden curriculum at UCSD creates barriers to academic success for a growing Latinx population. We argue that these barriers take the form of two main practices: faculty and institutional. Faculty practices that create barriers for Latinx students include a lack of openness or friendliness, as well as an exclusive curriculum that limits student's ability to utilize professors as a resource. An example of faculty creating efforts to overcome this barrier is when they go the extra mile to create a more welcoming environment within their classes and offer more office hours. While these efforts have been present, students still emphasized the need for greater diversity within faculty and curriculum to increase feelings of inclusion. Institutional practices which create barriers for Latinx students include holding expectations of college prep or readiness, exclusion through limits on program availability or resources, and large student to faculty ratios. Examples of Latinx students overcoming this barrier entailed student's use or participation in programs such as CASP, TRIO, and OASIS. In conclusion, as UCSD reaches HSI status, it becomes increasingly necessary to evaluate the level of academic inclusion Latinx students experience. Through evaluating in-depth interviews we found UCSD creates barriers both at the individual faculty level and at the larger institutional level. Overcoming these barriers requires greater investment in faculty diversity and programs which support Latinx student success.