“It’s For My Science Daughters”: A Portrait of Dr. Leticia Márquez-Magaña’s [Counter]Storied Legacies for Latinas and STEM

Resumen

Dr. Leticia Márquez-Magaña is used to being “the one” and “the first.” From the first in her family to graduate from high school to the first Latina faculty member at her institution’s College of Science and Engineering, she is determined not to be the last. This qualitative study blends portraiture and counterstory methodology to discuss Dr. Márquez-Magaña’s legacy on diversifying STEM, especially for Latinas and women of color scientists, whom she calls her “science daughters.” Dr. Márquez-Magaña has spent decades resisting patriarchy and racism in STEM and academia by bringing in her Mexican American culture and muxerista values. While encountering cultural taxation, microaggressions, and the double bind of being a woman of color in a field that suppresses discussions of race and gender and feigns objectivity, she persists, determined to make STEM and academia better for future generations. By promoting femtorship and developing strong relationships with her students and their extended science families—which include custodial workers in her labs and the loved ones of her research assistants—Dr. Márquez-Magaña has paved the way for hundreds of scientists of color, especially Latinas, to not just enter STEM but to thrive within it and continue to develop the field.