Abriendo Puertas, Cerrando Heridas (Opening doors, closing wounds)

Latinas/os Finding Work-Life Balance in Academia

By:
Frank Hernandez, University of Texas of the Permian Basin
Elizabeth Murakami-Ramalho, University of Texas at San Antonio
Gloria M. Rodriguez, UC Davis

A volume in the series: Work-Life Balance. Editor(s): Joanne M. Marshall, Iowa State University. Jeffrey S. Brooks, Curtin University. Bonnie Fusarelli, North Carolina State University. Latish C. Reed, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. George Theoharis, Syracuse University.

Published 2015

Abriendo Puertas, Cerrando Heridas (Opening Doors, Closing Wounds): Latinas/os Finding Work-Life Balance in Academia is the newest book in the series on balancing work and life in the academy from Information Age Publishing. This volume focuses on the experiences of Latina/o students, professors, and staff/administrators in higher education and documents their testimonios of achieving a sense of balance between their personal and professional lives. In the face of many challenges they are scattered across the country, are often working in isolation of each other and must find ways to develop their own networks, support structures, and spaces where they can share their wisdom, strategize, and forge alliances to ensure collective

The book focuses on Latinas/os in colleges of education, since many of them carry the important mission to prepare new teachers, and research new pedagogies that have the power of improving and transforming education. Following the format of the work-life balance book series, this volume contains autoethnographical testimonios in its methodological approach. This volume addresses three very important guiding questions (1) What are the existing structures that isolate/discriminate against Latinas/os in higher education? (2) How can Latinas/os disrupt these to achieve work-life balance? And, (3) Based on their experiences, what are the transformative ideologies regarding Latinas/os seeking work-life balance?

CONTENTS
Foreword, Gerardo Lopez. Introduction: Abriendo Puertas, Cerrando Heridas (Opening Doors, Closing Wounds), Frank Hernandez and Elizabeth Murakami. PART I: PERSONAL IDENTITY AND IDEOLOGIES. “Why Did He Think I Was the Custodian or the Maintenance Person?” The Challenges of Balancing Love, Life, and Work, Frank Hernandez. Maestrita, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo. On the Tenure Trek to Equanimity: ¡Oh, Cúan Lejos LLegarás!, Vonzell Agosto. Being a Latina in the South: Being “The Other” of “The Others” in the Academic World, Paula Guerra. Everything I Needed to Know to Succeed in Academia I Learned as a Migrant Worker: An Autoethnographic Account, Raymond V. Padilla. Of and With: Stories of Belonging and Forging Multiple Latino/a Identities in Four Voices. Mónica Byrne-Jiménez, Adriana Villavicencio, Rosa Rivera-McCutchen, and Chris Torres. Finding and Defining Yourself in the Company of Others, Israel Aguilar, Juan Nino, and Dessynie Edwards. Testimonio for Living and Learning in Academia: Caring for Mind, Body, and Soul, Susan Hernandez and Leslie Gonzales. PART II: HIGHER EDUCATION STRUCTURES. Introduction to Part II: Work–Life Balance within Higher Education Structures, Gloria M. Rodriguez. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club: Latino Administrators in Higher Education, Jesse Perez Mendez. Creating Work–Life Balance in Academia: Family, Community, and Self-Care, Lilliana Patricia Saldaña, Felicia Castro-Villarreal, and Erica Sosa. Documenting the Undocumented: Sabidurías de una Chicana in Academia, Linda Prieto. Bouncing Back from a Poor Third Year Review, Sylvia Martinez. Between Two Worlds, María D. Avalos. No Soy de Aquí, Ni Soy de Allá: Making My Way Through the Tenure Process, Margarita Jimenez-Silva. Scholarship of Mind and Soul, Claudia Cervantes-Soon and Juan F. Carrillo. Nuestras Raíces Ground Us: Reflecting Comunidad and Cultura in Who We Are as Latin@ Faculty, Laura Cortez, Melissa A. Martinez, Danielle Alsandor, Aurora Chang, and Anjalé D. Welton. PART III: BUILDING PEDAGOGY AND ACADEMIC/SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR LATINA/O STUDENTS. Introduction to Part III: Higher Education and the Void of Culturally Relevant Spaces, Elizabeth T. Murakami. Advocating for Intergenerational Leadership Among Latina/o Faculty, Staff, and Students, Antonio G. Estudillo and Amanda Flores. Retention of Latina STEM Students in Texas: Exploring the Experiences That Should Be Considered, Elsa Gonzalez, Marie Valentin, Detra Johnson, Celestino Valentin Jr., Beatriz Lopez, Ariana Gonzalez, Yvonna Lincoln, and Christine Stanley. Memory and Hunger: Feeding on Remnants of the Past in a PWI, Hilario Lomeli. Flipping the Mirror: A Xicana Researcher Negotiating With the Act of Reflection, Margarita Berta-Avila. Reclaiming My Voice and Finding a Balance in Academia: A Journey Towards Advocacy, Angelica M. Tello. Latina/o Leaders in Espacios de Confianza: Creating Spaces Where Cultural Capital and Community Wealth Permeate, Fernando Valle, Sylvia Méndez-Morse, Irma Almager, and Hortensia “Meg” Cota. Epilogue, Caroline S. Turner. About the Contributors.