“How do I get in?”: A university readiness program as a site of authentic care for immigrant youth

• In Event: Youth-Centered Education Through Youth Perspectives on Wellbeing and Futures

Proposal

Objective: This study explores how Aspire, a college and university readiness program for immigrant-origin secondary students in a small urban school district in northern New England, USA, served a growing population of diverse immigrant-origin students and families in the 2023-2024 school year. This presentation answers the research question: How does this program contribute to a caring context of reception for immigrant students and their families in a new destination city?

Theoretical framing: This study is grounded in theories of immigrant integration that highlight the salience of nested contexts of reception in shaping immigrants’ experiences (Golash-Boza & Valdez, 2018; Portes & Rumbaut, 2014), as well as theories of care in educational settings (Noddings, 1984; Rolón-Dow, 2005). As regular points of contact with the state, public schools are central influences on the experiences of immigrant-origin youth and their families (Brezicha & Hopkins, 2016; Lowenhaupt et al., 2021). Authentically caring relationships with educators disrupt inequalities faced by immigrant-origin youth by promoting a sense of belonging, valuing young people’s community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), and expanding their access to educational opportunities (DeNicolo et al., 2017).

Methods and data: In this critical ethnographic case study, I spent one year working in student-facing roles within the school district, including four months (one semester) of working full-time as an Aspire mentor at “Baxter High School,” a public school serving grades 9 through 12. By working as a university preparation mentor to over 60 immigrant students and balancing dual identities as a researcher and practitioner, I developed a deep understanding of the caring role Aspire plays as an educational space dedicated to helping immigrant-origin youth access higher education and develop a sense of belonging. During this period of intensive participant observation, I took field notes, collected written artifacts, and wrote reflective memos.

Findings: For immigrant-origin students, Aspire plays an essential role in creating a caring context of reception by embracing students’ non-dominant social and cultural capital; connecting students with resources within and outside the school; seeking resources for students who are undocumented or awaiting pending asylum decisions; and maintaining a space for self-expression and cultural exchange. In a newly diversifying context like northern New England, relatively few newcomer immigrant parents have the dominant cultural, social, and academic capital needed to help their children navigate the complex, idiosyncratic, and inequitable higher education system of the United States. Aspire staff - many of whom are, like myself, young university graduates with immigrant backgrounds - are in a unique position to meet students where they are and support them in meeting their goals.

Implications and conclusions: This study highlights the importance of authentically caring educators in creating and improving caring contexts of reception and post-secondary outcomes for immigrant youth. Findings from this study can inform research, policy, and practice in other newly diversifying school districts serving growing immigrant populations in the Global North.

Author

• Edom Tesfa, Brown University