Moving Beyond "Anxious Calls": College Access Professionals Conceptualizing Their Capacity to Partner With Families

• In Event: It Takes a Community: The Role of Families, Counselors, Professionals, and Programs

Abstract

Based on the experiences and perspectives of 20 college access professionals (CAPs), this qualitative interview-based study explores CAPs’ capacity to partner with families in their work with underrepresented students’ college-going goals. Specifically, I argue that CAPs’ institutional or job context is a determinant factor of their relationship with families: if and how their schools, programs, or organizations value family engagement impacts their professional efficacy and capacity to partner with families. Findings suggest that CAPs are limited in their professional development to partner with families but have the desire to do so. Thus, this study offers the opportunity to expand family-school-student partnerships for student success within a college-going context, reciprocating the positive results evidenced in other K-12 settings.

Author

• Stephany Cuevas, Chapman University
  Presenting Author