In this presentation, I share the linguistic and cultural claiming experiences (Leonard, 2012) of women university students enrolled in a higher education program in bilingual intercultural education (EIB) in Peru. Specifically, I focus on the experiences of those students who perceive entering the university as a turning point in their linguistic trajectories (Blommaert and Backus, 2013; Walsh, 2017) towards strengthening their skills as learners and speakers of Quechua and Aymara. The results come from a qualitative diagnosis conducted in 2022, both in-person and virtually. The diagnosis was facilitated by five co-researchers, who were Quechua, Aymara, and mestiza women, including one educational trainer and four students. The diagnostic approach employed biographical, multimodal, and participatory methods (Busch, 2016; Chilisa, 2012). Among the findings, I will address the communicative practices, linguistic ideologies, emotions, knowledge, and identity stances (Walsh, 2017) that the students experience, negotiate, and manifest. These experiences sometimes strengthen their reclaiming of their native languages, while at other times, they turn into challenges in their linguistic trajectories. I will also explore how some of these experiences are influenced by their
roles as girls and women in their native communities.