Alborotapueblos /Disrupting Villages and Making Good Trouble to Advance Equity for Women and Latinas in Academia

Abstract This work is a testimonio (testimony) describing the experiences and efforts of two women working to advance equity and inclusion at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). We offer this testimonio to elucidate the gains and challenges of advocacy work as Latinas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Our story also attests to the power and empowerment that emerge when women validate each other. This testimonio is about how we were moved to act for institutional change when we saw a void. Advocating for change to elevate women and Latinas somehow feels subversive—like alborotapueblos (disrupting villages)—when countering the hegemonic status quo of academia. Without institutional infrastructure for inclusion, the hard work of strategizing to achieve equity and implementing and sustaining equitable practices is taken up by women willing to make good, necessary trouble despite the risks related to their retention in academia.