What Institutions Can Learn From the Navigational Capital of Minoritized Students

ABSTRACT Minoritized students — low-income, first-generation students of color — leverage skills when navigating higher education. Yet, institutions often misrecognize this navigational capital, rendering it invaluable and missing an opportunity to learn from students. We explored how 16 first-year minoritized students — who participated in a counterspace aimed to affirm their experiences — translated their navigational capital into feedback for institutional change. Through surveys, students reported that institutional practices perpetuated misrecognition by privileging Whiteness; endorsing deficit assumptions about students’ abilities; and making campus resources inaccessible. Activating their navigational capital, students offered concrete advice for how institutions can better recognize and support their lived experiences.