Womxn of Color Navigating Cultural Chaos: Shifting the Narrative from Deficit to Asset

Everything you need is already within you! This article encourages Womxn of Color (WoC) to recognize and utilize their cultural wealth for career advancement. Culture and gender are critical in shaping WoC identities (Nguyen, 2012). Therefore, navigating cultural differences and, in some cases, assimilating into the dominant western culture can be overwhelming. These burdens manifesting through systemic barriers and lack of adequate support systems can result in what I term cultural chaos.

Higher education institutions are historically designed without considering the cultural wealth of People of Color (PoC) (Poon et al., 2016), which is accentuated for WoC. Research is constantly developing to better understand WoC experiences in academia (Mainah & Perkins, 2015). However, majority of this literature adopts a deficit lens, especially in conversations about leadership responsibilities (e.g., see Poon et al., 2016). This deficit thinking model can leave WoC feeling responsible for the bias they face by overlooking microaggressions and lack of career progression (Takamine et al., 2023).

This article uses a combination of my personal experiences and Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth Model to shift the deficit-based narrative about WoC in higher education to an asset-based approach. The model comprises of six capitals representing ways of building resilience and overcoming adversity: aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial, and resistant.

Aspirational Capital

Yosso (2005) defines aspirational capital as the ability to dream despite perceived and actual roadblocks. Being an international student and a WoC, I experienced cultural chaos at the outset of my doctoral journey in the U.S. Keeping my why central to my goals and drawing on the strengths inculcated in me during my upbringing in a veteran household helped me build resilience. As an aspiring scholar practitioner, I continued to strive for community engagement and chose to get involved in NASPA. I was appointed the co-graduate student representative on the Region III board, presented at the annual NASPA conference and other regional and state conferences. Additionally, I was a recipient of the Womxn’s Issues Professional Development Access Grant awarded by the Womxn in Student Affairs Knowledge Community. These opportunities have bolstered my confidence in the relatability and value addition of my narratives.

Prompt: What hopes and dreams motivate you?

Navigational Capital

This capital underscores the ability to navigate institutions by being strategic and resilient (Yosso, 2005). Given my intersectional identities of being an international student, a WoC, an adult learner, and a parent; I experienced imposter syndrome. My persistence, application of critical thinking skills, intentional networking, and a high adaptability quotient helped me move from survival mode to thriving in the spaces around me. Additionally, my Clifton strengths of Woo (winning others over) and Communication empowered me to believe in myself and find pathways to traverse difficult situations.

Prompt: How do your skills and abilities help you navigate professional spaces? 

Social Capital

Social capital goes hand-in-glove with navigational capital and refers to the social networks that communities of color rely on for personal, academic, and professional pursuits (Yosso, 2005). Being a religious minority, I struggled with community-building. However, leaning on my strength of inclusivity, grounding myself in self-care activities, and being intentional about building my social capital helped reduce cultural chaos in significant ways. I picked courses that connected me to other South Asians and womxn, joined student and staff organizations that gave me access to mentors with shared lived experiences, and engaged with The Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community at NASPA, all of which facilitated growth of my social capital.

Prompt: What groups make up your social capital and how do you rely on them?

Linguistic Capital

This capital encompasses bilingual skills, storytelling abilities, multimodal communication expertise, and the ability to connect with a wide range of audiences (Yosso, 2005). I continue to depend on my intersectional identities as a means of establishing connections with international students, other WoC, parents, adult learners, student affairs professionals, etc. Additionally, my fluency in Hindi, Punjabi, and English have enhanced my ability to connect with diverse audiences. Furthermore, presenting at conferences, communicating with multiple stakeholders across departments, and holding a leadership position at NASPA has contributed to unique lived experiences and a stronger resilience.

Prompt: In what ways are your communication skills your strengths?

Familial Capital

The cultural and ancestral wisdom that instills a sense of community within and beyond family is referred to as familial capital (Yosso, 2005). This shared cultural knowledge represents concepts of care and survival leading to an increased awareness of emotions, morals, education, and professional goals (Lopez, 2003). I experienced cultural chaos while navigating the clash between the collectivist background of my South Asian roots and the individualistic predisposition of western culture. However, recognizing the strengths of my collectivist identity helped me overcome this issue. For example, applying the tenets of my religion like ‘Vand Shhako’, which means to share the fruits of one’s labor with others before oneself, to my professional role facilitated blending of the two cultures.

Prompt: How do you employ familial capital to overcome the clash of identities/cultures you experience? 

Resistant Capital

This capital signifies the skills nurtured by challenging the status quo against racism, sexism, and oppressive systems, especially for WoC, who are inculcating community cultural wealth into their children by establishing transformative values (Yosso, 2005). I have cultivated this capital by building resilience and engaging in self-care activities. I refer to The Resilience Tree Model (Sobers, 2021) that underscores the importance of grounding oneself in their roots, branches, fruits, and environment. Therefore, I continue to channel my energy towards embracing and growing through my cultural roots, seeking mentorship, giving back to the profession, acknowledging and taking ownership of my achievements, and surrounding myself with my cheerleaders and advocates.

Prompt: How do you advocate for yourself and your needs?

Conclusion

Supporting feminist values with a strength-based approach can increase access, promote inclusivity, and aid in eliminating obstacles for WoC (Alvarez & Lazzari, 2016). Higher education institutions can increase support and empower WoC and those supervising them by implementing innovative ways to celebrate the cultural assets and strengths they possess.

 

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Savneet Bains (she/her/hers) is a South Asian woman, international student from India, adult learner, and a parent. She is a PhD candidate in the Program of Higher Education Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a Graduate Research Assistant in the College of Education and an Assistant Instructor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. With over nine years of experience in academia, entrepreneurship, and corporate settings, Savneet aims to create inclusive and equitable environments for all Womxn of Color navigating academia. She previously worked as a high school Career Counselor and the Graduate Assistant for Living and Learning Communities & Academic Initiatives at UT Austin. As a racial and religious minority, Savneet focuses on building her cultural capital in pursuit of her passion for lifelong learning, with her research focusing on the lived experiences of South Asian womxn in higher education leadership.