Supportive or Exclusive? Institutional Agents and Undocumented Latina/o College Students in the Midwest

This critical qualitative study of testimonios with undocumented Latina/o students in the Midwest explored how institutional agents impacted the level of difficulty students experienced in navigating their collegiate environments. We used social capital theory and Latino critical race theory as our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of college student development 2021-09, Vol.62 (5), p.575-590
Main Authors: Luedke, Courtney L, Corral, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Aspiration
Access to Information
Barriers
College campuses
College Graduates
College Students
Community colleges
Critical Theory
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Education policy
Educational Development
Educational Policy
Higher education
Hispanic American Students
In State Students
Knowledge
Knowledge Level
Latin American cultural groups
Minority & ethnic groups
Misconceptions
Qualitative research
Race
School Personnel
Social Capital
Stakeholders
Student Experience
Student Needs
Students
Tuition
Undocumented Immigrants
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Summary:This critical qualitative study of testimonios with undocumented Latina/o students in the Midwest explored how institutional agents impacted the level of difficulty students experienced in navigating their collegiate environments. We used social capital theory and Latino critical race theory as our analytic frameworks and employed a critical race methodology to examine and deconstruct students' interactions with institutional agents. Two types of institutional agents emerged in the data: (a) unapologetically uneducated stakeholders who were not knowledgeable of ways to support undocumented or DACAmented students (and often resisted seeking out this knowledge) and (b) supportive and knowledgeable stakeholders who often independently sought out ways to assist undocumented students within institutional contexts that were often unprepared to support them systematically. Findings revealed students often encountered institutional agents who knew very little about relevant resources and policies, leading many students to feel as if they needed to educate staff and faculty.
ISSN:0897-5264
1543-3382
1543-3382
DOI:10.1353/csd.2021.0054