Achieving the Dream: Critical Decisions Along the Graduate School Latina/o Educational Pipeline

• In Event: Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: College Readiness Along the K-Ph.D. Educational Pipeline in the Era of Anti-Affirmative Action

Abstract

The final panelist continues the symposium presentation by examining the educational experiences of undocumented college graduates and their graduate school readiness. Undocumented Latina/o students in particular continue to struggle to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and graduate from institutions of higher education (Perez-Huber & Malagon, 2007; UCLA Center for Labor, Research, and Education, 2008). Recently, Covarrubias and Lara (2013) examined the impact of citizenship status on educational attainment of people of Mexican origin and found undocumented students to be pushed-out of high school at three times the rate of U.S. born Mexican students. Despite the adversity they encountered along the K-Ph.D. educational pipeline (Olivares, 2006; Perez-Huber, 2007; Rangel, 2001) some earn their baccalaureate degrees and continue on to the graduate school of their choice, while others encounter significant barriers in accessing resources that impact their graduate school readiness.

This research paper draws on a Latina/o Critical Theory (LatCrit) in education framework (Solórzano, 1998; Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001a, b) to examine how race, immigration status, gender, and class intersect and impact the educational decisions of Latina/o undocumented college graduates. A LatCrit framework provides an understanding of race and racism and helps unmask the advantages that white and documented students largely experience within the educational system and larger U.S. society. A Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model (Yosso, 2005; 2006) is utilized to inform and help reveal the community assets and positive attributes that undocumented college graduates utilize in deciding what graduate programs and institutions to attend.

Through a qualitative research methodology this study draws from oral history interviews with 20 Latina/o undocumented graduate students attending the University of California and California State University systems. Oral history interviews conducted with the participants revealed the way immigration status shaped their graduate school readiness post-baccalaureate opportunities.

Findings for this study reveal the constraints that students’ undocumented status has on their graduate school readiness and opportunities. Though the vast majority of participants remained at their undergraduate institution for graduate studies due to economic barriers and the benefits of already established networks, several students were sufficiently prepared to attend prestigious institutions and research based graduate programs. This led some participants to venture to other institutions outside their state, while others left the country entirely in order to pursue their aspirations. A critical policy implication emerging from this paper concerns university officials’ understanding of the plight of undocumented students. While the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recently instituted by President Obama has provided greater educational opportunities for undocumented students venturing into higher education, the need for additional programs to assist undocumented students at all educational levels and ages remains. This research necessarily highlights the particular shortcomings of higher education institutions and the federal government in graduate school readiness for undocumented students through its failure to meet the needs of this growing student population.

Author

• Argelia Lara, University of California - Los Angeles