The Game Is to Be Told Not Sold: How Opportunity Givers View Their Role in Supporting Formerly Incarcerated Latino Males

• In Event: Institutional Agents Impact on Latino Men's Transitions Into and Through Higher Education

Abstract

Current literature revolving around the experience of Latino men in higher education who have experienced incarcerations is very narrow, focusing primarily on the individual experiences navigating higher education after incarceration(Abeyta, 2020; Hernandez, 2019). This qualitative study focused on the relationships formerly incarcerated students engaged in with institutional agents and the impact of the relationship on their educational trajectory. Utilizing institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997) as a framework, this study examines the role campus agents play in sharing knowledge and resources that create opportunities for FILS. The study expands on this framework by analyzing how these institutional agents view their role in the successful navigation of higher education. They transition from institutional agents to Opportunity Givers (O.G) (Santos, personal communication, September 28, 2020).
The data for this project is a part of a more extensive study that employed semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated Latinx students (FILS) and institutional agents who were identified as having an impact on their educational trajectory; of the FILS, ten identified as Latino men. The sample was collected through a snowball sampling method and respondent-driven sampling (Patton, 2015). The data collected was coded through in vivo coding and processed through two rounds of coding that allowed for the preliminary findings to emerge (Saldana, 2016).
Preliminary findings will highlight how institutional agents transition to O. G.’s and the factors that drive them to go above and beyond for the students they constantly engage in relationships with, which turns into mentorship. While institutional agents serve as conduits of the institution, which provide critical support to students as they navigate higher education, O.G.’s engage in a more critical role within the institution. They are driven by a more personal reason than simply that of an employee of the university or college. Often those identified in the study as mentors had a more personal reason for engaging in empowering relationships with students, transforming their education journey. Institutional agents who have transitioned to O.G.’s have experienced their own adverse experiences as they navigated to higher education and then again while navigating their personal post-secondary journeys. Mentors often identify with their students' lived experiences and what they have overcome to make it to their office. Furthermore, O.G.’s find their role as the support that they never had while navigating higher education, which would have mitigated the hardships they faced and the feelings of loneliness they often encountered. Thus having this understanding, O.G’s are knowledgeable of the critical role they play in the persistence and sense of inclusion of FILS in their educational journey. Exploring how O.G.’s view their role pushes research on institutional agents to understand their perspective and rationale to engage and support Latino men.

Authors

• Joe Louis Hernandez, Mt. San Antonio College
  Presenting Author

• Reggie Robles, Claremont Graduate University
  Presenting Author