Exploring the Experiences of Foster Students of Color and Sense of Belonging

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Student Support, Sense of Belonging, and Mental Health Outcomes in Education Contexts (Table 6)

Abstract

Every year, 23,000 young adults age out of the foster care system, with many aspiring to obtain a college degree (Kinarsky, 2017). Yet only 10% are successful in obtaining a bachelor's degree (Wolanin, 2005). Significantly, failure to graduate college can have lasting impacts, particularly in the stratification of opportunities and social mobility. While a growing body of research has contributed to our understanding of the unique obstacles this group faces in college, viewing the foster community as a racially homogenous student population is both inaccurate and problematic. Thus, this qualitative study aims to specifically explore the experiences of foster students of Color at an R1 4-year public university and the role, if any, of foster-student campus support programs.

Author

• Cassi Grace Colangelo, University of California - Los Angeles