Books
Gender, Race, and Class in the Lives of Today’s Teachers: Educators at Intersections w/ Lata Murti (Springer Press)
See what other scholars are saying about our book:
“From autoethnographies to pláticas, testimonios and in-depth interviews, this qualitatively rich volume offers powerful and timely insights about the experiences of teachers who are too often overlooked. ” -Gilda Ochoa, Professor of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies
“This illuminating book centers educators’ intersectional subjectivities and lived experiences, bringing to life the radical possibilities of transformative education. It is a much needed resource for anyone invested in understanding and advancing education as a catalyst for equity and social justice.” -Lorena Garcia, Associate Professor of Sociology & Latin American and Latino Studies
Latina Teachers: Creating Careers and Guarding Culture (NYU Press)
*2018 Winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship Book Award from the Race, Gender and Class Section of the American Sociological Association
*2018 Distinguished Contribution to Research Book Award from the Latina/o Sociology Section of the ASA, Honorable Mention
See what other scholars are saying about my book:
“Glenda Flores has crafted a milestone study on Latinas in the classroom. Interrogating familiar cultural practices as assets not deficits and Latino parents as allies not obstacles, Professor Flores brings out the ‘difference’ Latina teachers make in racially diverse schools. Moving well beyond a dialectic of European American teacher and Latino student, she deals with the everyday challenges of diversity with white, Latino, African American, and Asian students, parents, educators, and administrators and the types of coalitions and tensions that evolve along interracial lines. Timely, astute, and heartfelt, Latina Teachers is essential reading.”-Vicki L. Ruiz, Distinguished Professor of History and Chicano/Latino Studies
“Vividly detailed, offering stimulating ethnography and insightful analysis of the quiet but important transformations today underway in the classrooms of Latina teachers. Glenda Flores does not shy away from acknowledging the multiple challenges facing Latino children in U.S. schools, but her focus on Chicana/Latina teachers shines light on the unique contributions and doors that these teachers are opening for Latino children. This book makes significant contributions to the sociology of work, race/ethnicity and occupations, and it is a must read for anyone interested in understanding an asset perspective of Latino education.”-Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Professor of Sociology
Selected Publications
Flores, G.M., Bañuelos, M. & Harris, P.R. 2023. “What Are You Doing Here?”: Examining Minoritized Undergraduate Student Experiences in STEM at a Minority Serving Institution. Journal for STEM Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-023-00103-y
This paper was made possible by an HSI-NSF grant where the lead researcher was tasked with capturing the student voice in order to informal pedagogical practices that faculty should consider to make STEM courses more inclusive. Through focus group and journal entry data, four main themes emerged that Latina/o and Black students enrolled in biological sciences, engineering, physical sciences and computer science deem important to their success.
Flores, G.M., Bañuelos, M.2021. “Gendered Deference: Perceptions of Authority and Competence Among Latina/o Physicians in Medical Institutions.” Gender & Society, 35: 110-135.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette, Emir Estrada, Edward Flores and Glenda M. Flores. 2020. “Latinx Millenials: Enduring Issues and New Challenges” Sociological Perspectives, https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121420914297
Flores, G.M. 2020. Latina/x Doctoras [Doctors]: Negotiating Knowledge Production in Science.” In A. Saraswati, B. Shaw and H. Rellihan (2nd Eds.), Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches, Oxford University Press.
Flores,G.M. 2018. “Pursuing Medicina [Medicine]: Latina Physicians and Parental Messages on Gendered Career Choices.” Sex Roles, 81: 59-73.
My new line of research grows out of my extensive work with Latina teachers in Southern California, as many of them had originally aspired to enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. In this manuscript, I examine the gendered pathways into the medical profession of Latina origin physicians in California and focus on parental messages, in particular messages from fathers, in encouraging their daughters to seek out nontraditional fields.
Flores, G.M. 2011.“Racialized Tokens: Latina Teachers Negotiating, Surviving and Thriving in a White Woman’s Profession.” Qualitative Sociology, 34: 313-335.
*Winner of the Cristina Maria Riegos Distinguished Paper Award from the ASA Section on Latina/o Sociology
*Winner of the Race, Gender, Class Distinguished Paper Award from the ASA
My first line of research on Latina teachers’ workplace experiences began with this paper. My population of study included the daughters of working-class, Latino immigrants that make inroads into a traditionally, white, middle class, and feminized job. I focused on Latinas in Southern California, specifically Santa Ana, a predominantly Mexican immigrant city in Orange County. The article compares the experiences of Latina teachers working at one school where the majority of teachers are of Latina origin to another school where they are a distinct numerical minority. Tying Latina/o Sociology to intersectionality and organizations, I coined the term “racialized tokens” to illustrate how race/ethnicity, gender, and class combine to shape their workplaces experiences. I found that teachers who worked in school contexts where they were numerical minorities were forced to minimize expressions of Latino culture and experienced social exclusion and extra workloads. This article is one of the few studies to examine “tokenism” in the context of a feminized profession, and it highlights an important consequence of exclusion for Latina professionals: self-segregation.
“The Social Dynamics Channeling Latina College Graduates into the Teaching Profession.” Gender, Work and Organization, 21: 491-515. (w/ Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo)
This paper illuminates the social forces that channel and propel college-educated Latinas into teaching, the top occupational niche for this college-educated cohort. This research relies on interviews with 40 Latina teachers in three immigrant and racial/ethnic minority school districts in California (Santa Ana, Compton and Rosemead), secondary statistical data compiled from the Current Population Survey, and an analysis of regional trends to identify and explain the factors shaping Latina pathways to the teaching profession. The analysis identifies four key factors: 1) filial obligation to “give back” in Latino working class families; 2) the perception of teaching as an occupation less marked by the class and racial discrimination found in other professions; 3) growth of Latino student populations and subsequent job demand; and 4) family social networks that connect them to school-based jobs. The findings underscore that Latina college graduates navigate their educational and career choices with collectively-informed agency and strong obligations to help their poorer family members financially.
“Controlling Images of Space: Latina Teachers and Racial Positioning in Multiracial Schools.” City and Community, 14: 410-432.
Inspired by Black feminist sociologist, Patricia Hill Collins, in this paper I coin the term controlling images of space to illustrate how school district space is crucial to racial positioning in multiracial schools. In this article, I apply controlling images to geographic territories—in this case, the communities, school districts, and educational spaces that Latina teachers serve. This article is one of the first studies to examine how the connotations that respondents hold of neighborhoods, and the meanings they attach to them, frame perceptions of local racial formations. These symbolic constructions of a city ultimately have real daily consequences for the people that live there.
“Discovering a Hidden Privilege: Ethnography in Multiracial Organizations as an Outsider Within.” Ethnography, 17: 190-212.
This paper illuminates how the intersection of race, gender, class background, age and occupational prestige influence social interactions with men and women respondents of various racial/ethnic backgrounds in the teaching profession with scholars of color in the process of data collection.I recontextualize the ways in which racial privilege is conceived and how it works in the formation of relationships vital to ethnographic work. I identify a hidden privilege for Latina professionals, but argue that unlike white or male privilege, granted consciously and unconsciously, the hidden privilege appears fleeting. The paper shows how I was accorded a hidden privilege that I rarely experience in day-to-day micro-level interactions. This work contributes to qualitative ethnographic work and methodologies in two key ways. First, the paper uses an “outsider-within” epistemology to understand the nuances of racial “privilege.” The article engages the long-standing debates over academic “insiders” and “outsiders” by noting that within multiracial majority-minority schools, I held both social locations. Second, the manuscript provides a more nuanced understanding of social interactions in the field by illustrating how age and the prestige accorded to a doctoral degree ultimately gave the ethnographer access to daily interactions between students, families and all teachers.
“Latino/as in the Hard Sciences: Increasing Latina/o Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Related Fields” Latino Studies, 9: 327-335.
This paper provides an overview of the structural and cultural hurdles that Latinos encounter as they try to enter STEM related fields. Mainly, the emphasis on standardized testing, in particular English competency, has taken precedent over other STEM related course in many public urban schools across the nation.