This national case study examines the educational experiences of twenty-one women that self-identified as low-income or working-class Chicanas or Native American women pursuing professoriate degrees in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Forestry, and Education. The case study includes forty-two qualitative "testimonio" interviews that…

What factors lead working adults to initially enroll in graduate programs? Is the undergraduate degree no longer enough to sustain a rewarding career? Little is known as to why this segment of graduate students are building careers and pursuing advanced degrees simultaneously. Traditional institutions of higher learning have primarily focused on…