More Than Meets the Eye: Underpinnings of Power in College Admissions and Productions of Marginality

• In Event: 29.063 - College Knowledge to College Action: (Re)Shaping College Information, Access, and Opportunity in San Antonio

Abstract

A common assumption is that students have a high degree of choice over the institution they apply to and enroll at. However, for underrepresented minorities like Latinas/os, college-choice is highly contingent on the procurement of capital through financial, social and cultural resources (Coleman, 1988; Lareau & Cox, 2011; McDonough, 1997; Perna & Titus, 2005; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Further exacerbating the issue is that access to college knowledge is not easily obtained for Latinas/os because they often attend underfunded high schools with limited opportunities for advanced coursework, or college preparation services, and are often the first in their families to attend college (Contreras, 2011; Gándara & Contreras, 2010; Nuñez, Hoover, Pickett, Stuart-Carruthers, & Vazquez, 2013). Compounding low levels of Latina/o college knowledge is the contemporary admissions recruitment process that is rife with competition, and heavy use of static metrics (e.g. SAT/ACT scores, class rank) assessing not only the quality of the student but also the high school (Steinberg, 2002; Toor, 2001; Weis, Cipollone & Jenkins, 2014). In the attempt to attract the “best” students, this suggests that institutional admissions strategies operate in ways that disproportionately reward White students attending affluent high schools, and devalues recruiting Latinas/os attending low-income high schools (Brown & Tannock, 2009). This is especially problematic when research examining the college-choice of less-privileged students shows that interaction with a college admissions representative influences a student’s application and enrollment decisions (Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999). Therefore, these narrowed recruitment strategies can severely compromise the college-choice process for Latina/o students by making them, and the high schools they attend, look less appealing to recruiters. Despite this, research has not delved into the specifics of power relationships Latina/o students experience when they encounter recruitment and admissions processes that favor privileged students. This study draws on Bourdieu’s (1986) social reproduction theory, and specifically the concept of field, to examine the college admissions and recruitment process as experienced by Latina/o students and parents. In particular, this study highlights how higher education institutions’ power over the admissions and recruitment process reproduces inequality in college access opportunities for Latina/o students.

Author

• Vanessa Ann Sansone, The University of Texas - San Antonio