Abstract
With the growth in the Latinx population in the United States, research on the Latinx experience has become essential. In the United States, 2% of the population holds doctoral degrees and 0.6% of those degrees are held by Latinx (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018a). In the subcategory of Women with doctorates, Latinas hold the lowest percentage of doctorates, 7.3%, despite being the largest minority group in the United States (National Center of Education Statistics, 2016). This research examined the professional experiences of Latinas with doctorates, specifically the internal conflict of Impostor Phenomenon (IP; Clance, 1985) and the external conflict of microaggressions in the workplace. The findings suggest that 91.6% of the Latinas in this research experience moderate to intense feelings of IP. The findings also suggested that the Latinas in this research are susceptible to microaggressions based on the intersectionality of their identity, such as age, gender, and race/ethnic identity. This study uses the constructs of intersectionality, social dominance, and cultural community wealth as theoretical lenses through which to view these educated Latinas’ experience with IP, microaggressions, and the psychological and physical effects of such internal and external conflicts. The study also highlights the selfless reasons why these Latinas continue to thrive despite their experiences with IP and microaggressions. Overall, this study extends the view of Latinas with IP and microaggressions to their experience after graduate school. Recommendations for practice and future research and implications are discussed.