Multicultural diversity in the Spanish public university: An ethnographic case study of Latin American, Latino, and Afro-Latin American students

Abstract

This article presents the preliminary findings of an ethnographic study about the presence and experiences of students of Latin American origin in Spanish universities. Our aim is to better understand the self-identification and ethnoracial formation processes observed in university-level students. We first reviewed the statistics on students with non-Spanish nationalities enrolled in public Spanish universities. We then analyze how the self-identification processes of Latin American, Latino, and Afro-Latin American students take place in public Spanish universities. We use an ethnographic approach that includes in-depth interviews and participant observation over a period of 9 months. We identified relevant identity markers such as accents and linguistic expressions, cultural practices, and color, as well as the coping and resistance strategies that these students developed to navigate these spaces when facing discrimination, racism, and othering.