Navigating Socioeducational Spaces: Bridging the Gap Between Undocumented Youth Needs and Challenges and Institutional Support

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Meeting the Needs of Immigrant Students

Abstract

This symposium highlights the educational challenges and social perceptions of undocumented students throughout the K-16 educational pipeline and proposes best practices that can assist administrators and counselors when working with this student population. Using qualitative methods as well as varied theoretical perspectives, paper findings suggest that social ideologies such as racism and nativism influence the educational and life trajectories of undocumented youth. Moreover, school administrators and staff affirm the need for formal preparation when working with this population. Becoming aware that undocumented students attend our nation’s schools, colleges, and universities is not enough. Therefore, these papers expand the theoretical and practical repertoire of educational research and contribute invaluable information on a population that continues to be understudied.

Authors

• Ana Karina Soltero Lopez, University of California - Los Angeles

• Norma Rosa Salazar-Ibarra, California State University - Long Beach

• Angela C. Chen, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jaime Del Razo, Brown University