Student Perceptions as Structural Indicators of Stratified Postsecondary Access

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Reconceptualizing Measurement, Classification, and Validity in Critical Quantitative Work

Abstract

This study uses Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Structural Theories of Schooling to reinterpret student perception data as structural testimony. Leveraging the NLSY97, it examines how adolescent perceptions of school climate, peer norms, and environmental risk predict stratified postsecondary access by 2002. Findings reveal that school climate and peer norms increase odds of full-time college enrollment, while structural risk significantly suppresses access, particularly for Black students. Interaction terms illustrate how race, ethnicity, and gender shape these pathways. By repurposing large-scale federal data, the study challenges dominant quantitative paradigms and affirms the epistemic validity of student-reported conditions as evidence of systemic harm. It contributes to critical quantitative methods by reframing measurement as a site of justice and power.

Author

• Catherina Villafuerte, University of Connecticut