EDAD 522: Undocumented Students in Higher Ed - Qualitative Research Project

Year 1 / Summer 2021 / Wednesday, July 21, 2021

DESCRIPTION

For EDAD 522 - College Students’ Characteristics and Cultures (led by Dr. Michelle M. Garcia and Dr. Alisia Kirkwood), we were tasked with creating and conducting a Qualitative Research Study. Our team - Lorena Castellanos, Hedrick Flores, Itzel Marin, Connie Oh - decided to look into the experiences of undocumented students in higher education. Alongside the research report, we created a poster for presentation and a code book with our interview analysis. Our final paper was due on July 21, 2021.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Student will be able to apply qualitative research methods and critical race theory to create a qualitative research project on undocumented student experiences.

2. Student will be able to prepare and present their findings through an academic research paper, professional poster, and executive-style handout.

3. Student will be able to interpret student narratives to make recommendations on how to better support undocumented students.

LEARNING DOMAINS

• Education

• Social Justice & Advocacy

• Assessment & Evaluation

REFLECTION

In Spring 2021, Lorena Castellanos, Hedrick Flores, Itzel Marin, and I were put in a team to work on a Literature Review assignment. Our job was to cover the relevant literature on a student population that we would be interested in doing a qualitative research project for the Summer 2021 semester. As a group, we agreed to look into undocumented students and their experiences in higher education. This is a topic that I am particularly passionate about. In my current role at Orange Coast College, I work very closely with undocumented students as the Undocumented Students Program for OCC is run out of our office. Additionally, as an immigrant, working-class, first-generation student who had challenges with my immigration status during my college years, I can empathize a lot with some of the challenges undocumented students face. I have the privilege of being a documented immigrant, and I have always felt a desire to uplift undocumented students and put in the extra work for their success. Working Lorena, Hedrick, and Itzel was a breeze. Our smooth communication, accountability for each other, and genuine interest in the subject and each other's success made it easy to work on the Literature Review.

For Summer 2021, we now faced the daunting challenge of creating an interview protocol, interviewing 10 students, coding their interviews, and putting our research into a presentable paper and poster format in less than 8 weeks. However, our team was a well-oiled machine. We practiced open communication. When we committed to meeting times and action items, we came ready with our items done. We showed grace yet accountability to each other as a team. Most importantly, all of us were genuinely committed to the work of uplifting undocumented student voices. I could not have asked for a better team, and I believe that our teamwork shows in the quality of our work.

We were able to recruit 10 undergraduate undocumented students relatively quickly through our existing professional and peer networks. When drafting interview questions, conducting interviews, and coding the responses, we always kept in mind the lecture that Dr. Garcia gave to us about qualitative research methods. Dr. Garcia emphasized that qualitative research utilizes "inductive analysis" - we go from broad observations to narrow down to theories. We kept this in mind and applied this approach to our research. We did our coding in pairs and then reviewed ALL our codes as an entire team to make sure that we were truly on the same page about our observations/codes. We always checked each other as teammates to ensure that our own preconceived notions about undocumented students' experiences weren't seeping into our coding. We also applied Critical Race Theory to our research. Critical Race Theory emphasizes the importance of critical race counterstorytelling in exposing the ways that racism operates and the lived experiences of people of color (Yosso, 2006). We saw the student's words as powerful race counterstorytelling and tried to approach our analysis with a critical race lens.

After interviewing all 10 students and coding our work, we began to see key themes arise. We began to see the layers of challenges that undocumented students faced. In particular, we saw the financial struggles and lack of access to financial resources as a huge theme in the stories. Linked to that theme, undocumented students emphasized that they are excluded from opportunities that other students get to enjoy, including scholarships, financial aid, jobs, internships, study abroad or travel programs, and more. Based on this data, our team recommended that educators should advocate for more financial resources that should not be limited based on immigration status, such as scholarships and basic needs resources. It is also crucial for staff and faculty to be aware of the available resources to guide students to these properly and see gaps where further advocacy is needed.

While a good chunk of our project focused on the barriers and challenges, we also saw immense strength and resilience in the narratives of these students. All of the students we interviewed were resilient and resourceful. They were deeply aware that they had limited opportunities, so they truly took advantage of the resources they did have access to and created a community. Students actively advocated for themselves and their peers throughout their educational experience. While these students have incredible strengths, our team recommended that educators should take on the burden of building community. Staff and faculty can serve as mentors, advisors, and allies for undocumented students by hosting events and programming. Educators should also advocate for racial climate surveys to know how negative messages about the undocumented community show up on our campuses. Lastly, educators must continuously condemn harmful rhetoric about undocumented students. We must uplift, empower, and listen to our undocumented students.

At the end, we created a 20-page research paper with a full code book, a poster, and an executive-style handout. I am extremely proud of the work we did as a team. But most importantly, I feel honored to have been able to hear these stories from 10 incredible students. Their narratives were truly a testament to their strength and ability to resist harmful societal messages about their status. I feel like this project was a genuine energizer for me (despite many late nights), and I look forward to centering student narratives in my work moving forward.

REFERENCES

Yosso, T. J. (2006). Critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. Routledge.