A Multilevel, Agent-Centered Analysis of Intersectionality in a Hispanic-Serving Institution: The Case of College Internship

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

The article analyzes how intersectionality shapes Latinx students’ access to college internships at a university in the Texas border region. Using Núñez’s multilevel model, it examines how agents’ perceptions, social categories, embodied practices, and contextual forces jointly influence opportunities. Inductive thematic, correlational, and social-network analyses are applied to survey (n=192) and focus group (n=12) data. Findings show intersections among gender, major, socioeconomic status, and race with organizational and labor-market factors, along with recommendations to disrupt inequality and guide future research.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Access for Latinx Students

Research context and problem statement

The multilevel model and analytic approach

Findings on intersecting factors

Recommendations and future research directions

AERA Open January-December 2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584221102162 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2022. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) A Multilevel, Agent-Centered Analysis of Intersectionality in a Hispanic-Serving Institution: The Case of College Internship Access for Latinx Students Matthew T. Hora Matthew Wolfgram University of Wisconsin-Madison Adrian H. Huerta University of Southern California Changhee Lee Anita Gopal University of Wisconsin-Madison Internships are widely viewed as “door openers” to opportunity, yet students without ample financial, social, and institutional supports are often excluded from these experiences. This exclusion is especially problematic for Latinx students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions, for whom an internship could be transformative. In this article, we elaborate upon Núñez’s (2014) multilevel model of intersectionality to highlight how agents’perceptions, social categories, embodied practices, and broader contextual forces interrelate to shape Latinx students’access to internship opportunities at a university in the border region of Texas. Using inductive thematic, correlational, and social-network analysis techniques to analyze survey (n = 192) and focus group (n = 12) data, we find that gender, academic major, socioeconomic status, and race intersect with organizational (e.g., insufficient information) and contextual (e.g., labor markets) factors to shape students’ access and perceptions. We provide recommendations for disrupting systemic inequalities in internship access and culturally appropriate programming and ideas for future research. Keywords: career development, cultural analysis, descriptive analysis, focus group interviews, higher education, Hispanic, identity, in-depth interviewing, Latino/a, mixed methods, social justice, work As part of their college experience, students are increasingly encouraged to pursue an internship so that they can explore their career interests, develop new professional networks, and gain experience in the modern workplace. This advocacy for internships is supported by a growing body of interdisciplinary research demonstrating their positive impactson academic achievement (Parker et al., 2016), development of new professional identities (Dailey, 2016), and postgraduate employment outcomes, such as 14% more interview callbacks for interns versus students without an internship (Nunley et al., 2016) . Consequently, internships are considered a “high-impact practice (HIP)” that students should pursue while in college (Kuh, 2008), with some observerseven calling for colleges and universities to make them a core requirement for graduation (Busteed & Auter, 2017) . Coupled with growing pressure on higher education to cultivate students’“employability,” or their job prospects (Tomlinson & Holmes, 2016), the status of internships as an HIP is making them a central feature of institutional strategies for enhancing college students’ success in the early 21st century. But the advocacy behind internships and other forms of work-based learning (WBL) is not without its problems, particularly for historically marginalized institutions and students. The heightened attention on students’ employability and WBL is especially pronounced at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), where social mobility is often one of the central goals for institutional leadership and the Latinx 1 students who predominantly attend them (Martinez & Santiago, 2020). However, although many Latinx college students certainly appreciate the value of a college degree as a tool for mobility and financial stability for themselves and their families (Gándara,1995), some remain unaware of the (in)formal processes and resources needed to pursue career opportunities, such as inte

FAQs

Why focus on internship access for Latinx students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions?

Internships are often viewed as opportunity “door openers,” but students lacking financial, social, and institutional supports can be excluded. The article highlights how this exclusion is especially impactful for Latinx students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, where internship access can be transformative.

What framework and methods does the article use to study intersectionality?

The study applies Núñez’s multilevel model of intersectionality and uses inductive thematic, correlational, and social-network analysis. It analyzes survey data (n=192) and focus group data (n=12) to examine how multiple levels interact.

Which factors are found to shape students’ internship access and perceptions?

The findings indicate that gender, academic major, socioeconomic status, and race intersect with organizational factors (such as insufficient information) and contextual factors (such as labor markets). These intersections jointly shape access and perceptions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam