Gavilan College counselor earns doctorate, studies how to help Latino students succeed

Drawing on her own experience as a first-generation immigrant and first-generation college student, Blanca Arteaga has made it her goal to help Latino students succeed in education.

On May 25, the Gilroy resident and Gavilan College counselor will graduate with a doctorate in educational leadership from San Francisco State University, and Arteaga hopes her degree will help her be an even better advocate for the student population that she serves.

Raised by a single mom, Arteaga came to the U.S. from Mexico with her mother when she was seven. Going to college was unheard of in her family – her parents did not complete high school -- but Arteaga enrolled at Gilroy's Gavilan College. The support she received from a counselor at the college inspired Arteaga to make a career out of helping other first-generation college students. She earned a bachelor's and master's degree from San Jose State University and worked as a high school and community college counselor before joining the staff team at Gavilan College, where she provides counseling to students with social, economic, and educational challenges.

Arteaga was drawn to SF State's educational doctorate because of its focus on social justice and equity. In her workplace, she saw that more research was needed on what helps first-generation community college students succeed. For her doctoral dissertation, Arteaga used a California Community College as her research site. She studied first-generation, low income, Latino students and their perspectives and experiences of college counseling. She has already shared her findings with colleagues, will present it at professional conferences and hopes to publish it in the future. Arteaga lives in Gilroy with her husband and four-year-old daughter.