How Latine students rely on relationships with peers, mentors, families, and communities to succeed in college and graduate school

Contrary to conventional narratives, successful transitions from college to graduate school to a university professorship emerge not from isolated instances of knowledge, skill, determination, and grit but from networks of mutual support, shared vulnerability, and communal resilience. In Community, We Can draws on the stories of nearly one hundred undergraduates to explore how Latine students depend on relationships with peers, mentors, families, and communities to navigate college and prepare for graduate school. The authors provide evidence-based data and analysis to show that a focus on individual effort ignores not only how inequities shape opportunity but also how much students lean on one another. It also places the burden of success entirely on the individual rather than asking institutions to share responsibility for students’ academic futures.

In Community, We Can shows that shared resources, mutual accountability, and collaborative problem-solving, as practiced by these students, can transform higher education, benefiting academia as a whole rather than just exceptional individuals.