An Ecological Perspective of Early Factors That Impact Academic Success of High-Achieving Undocumented Latino Students

• In Event: High-Achieving Latinx Students: Navigating Successful Pathways at Elite Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Recent attention in research (e.g., Pérez, 2011), in politics (National Conference on the Legislatures, 2019), and in the media (Patler & González, 2015) has focused on challenges that undocumented students face in attending college. However, there is a dearth of research on the experiences of undocumented students who successfully navigate through higher education, and even less on the early factors they attribute to that success.

This study contributes to the literature on undocumented youth by discussing: 1) the impact of immigration policies and immigration status on the early socialization of high-achieving undocumented Latino students; 2) the role of family and school contexts support these students’ academic achievement, and; 3) the ways in which these students reconcile their status throughout their academic trajectory. It applies Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) ecological model of human development as a framework to examine the ways in which specific systems impact the development of high-achieving undocumented Latino students’ achievement and success.

This qualitative study included 41 high-achieving undocumented Latino students who matriculated into highly selective private liberal arts colleges or research universities after passage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals legislation policy in 2012. Data were collected through in-depth structured interviews, conducted from May through August of 2016. Data were coded to create a list of themes (Boyatzis, 1998) that emerged within and across participants’ interviews, using Dedoose, a cloud-based qualitative and mixed methods research tool.

The findings indicate several unique qualities of the participating students. Unlike most undocumented students who learn of their status later in adolescence (Abrego, 2006), 63% of participants reported always knowing their undocumented status and an additional 24% learned it by middle school. Participants understood that their status placed them at risk, not only in terms of possible deportation, but also in terms of their family’s employment status, their healthcare, and barriers to their academic path. A full 80% of participants attributed their achievement to an early recognition of their academic potential, with 63% tracked into GATE in elementary school. However, family was the primary motivation behind 54% of participants’ success, and 76% discussed that their families prioritized their education. In fact, most participants identified academics as a priority throughout their entire life.

These findings suggest that participants had an early understanding of the impact of their undocumented status but drew on factors from the contexts surrounding them (family and school) to achieve despite these barriers. This is in contrast to existing literature on undocumented youth that places the discovery of status as a defining and detrimental moment in the lives of this population (Pérez, 2011).

This study is unique because it presents an asset-based lens of undocumented Latino achievement, presents data from the first cohort of undocumented students who transitioned to college after the implementation of the DACA program, focuses on early factors that facilitate success for participants, and analyzes the experience of undocumented youth who attended highly-selective private colleges. Key implications for both scholars and practitioners, particularly in relation to developing school-family-community partnerships, are discussed.

Author

• Gloria Itzel Montiel, Claremont Graduate University