3-023 - Underrepresented: Factors that Encourage and Undermine Educational Pathways For Racial/Ethnic Minority and Low-Income Students

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Students from racial/ethnic minority and/or low socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college, have been historically underrepresented in higher education. Despite substantial barriers and daily challenges that many of these students face, a record number are continuing to strive for and achieve upward social mobility by pursuing greater educational attainment. The papers in this symposium contribute to available literature on this topic by examining factors that encourage or undermine historically underrepresented students’ preparation for and ultimate success in secondary and postsecondary education. To accomplish this aim, four unique studies utilized an array of methods, including qualitative, quantitative longitudinal, and experimental approaches. The studies also span a range of periods in the education process, from the transition to high school through the college experience itself, which are all critical for understanding how historically underrepresented students prepare for and succeed in pathways to and through college. Importantly, these studies highlight theoretically-informed, developmentally-relevant constructs that have received relatively less attention in extant empirical literature, including racial/ethnic diversity of school settings, cultural processes that influence college decision-making, perceived threats to racial/ethnic identity on college campuses, and modifiable beliefs about opportunities for social mobility. Together, the papers will contribute to our understanding of factors that motivate and discourage underrepresented students, while also identifying avenues for intervention and policy change to reduce inequalities in education. This symposium exemplifies two areas of emphasis for SRCD 2017: 1) poverty, inequality and developmental science, and 2) behavioral science and public policy.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Michael R Sladek, Arizona State University

Individual Presentations

• Middle School Predictors of Participation in Organized After-School Activities and Academic Adjustment in Ninth Grade - Presenting Author: Daisy E. Camacho-Thompson, University of California, Los Angeles; Casey Knifsend, California State University, Sacramento; Jaana Juvonen, University of California, Los Angeles; Sandra Graham, UCLA

• Cultural Influences on Latino High School Students’ College-Going Pathways - Presenting Author: Emily C Jenchura, Arizona State University; Michael R Sladek, Arizona State University; Leah D. Doane, Arizona State University; Nancy A Gonzales, Arizona State University

• Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Ethnic Threat and Latino College Student Success - Presenting Author: Tissyana Camacho, University of Michigan; Deborah Rivas-Drake, University of Michigan

• Perceptions of Socioeconomic Mobility Influence Academic Persistence and Performance among Low-Socioeconomic Status Students - Presenting Author: Alexander Browman, Northwestern University; Mesmin Destin, Northwestern University; Kathleen L Carswell, Northwestern University