Category: Publications

Cultural stress is experienced by undocumented students when they encounter discrimination in higher education and society. In response, undocumented students engage in critical consciousness, while simultaneously experiencing psychological distress. A conceptual model is introduced to describe the links between cultural stress, critical consciousness development, and psychological distress. Method: One hundred seventy-one undocumented college students were …

Read more “Critical consciousness among undocumented immigrant college students: Responding to cultural stress and psychological distress”

A plethora of challenges prevents immigrant students, particularly undocumented students, from succeeding in college at the same rate as U.S. citizens. This study drew on national data to operationalize a model based on the undocufriendly campus framework (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2015). A total of 501 immigrant students, including 114 with precarious immigration statuses, completed measures …

Read more “Immigrant students’ mental health and intent to persist in college: The role of undocufriendly campus climate”

With an urgency to leverage existing and emerging policy reforms to improve student outcomes by centering educational equity, this manuscript explores the critical role of policy implementation in higher education – specifically in community colleges. In doing so, we explore historical and contemporary approaches to higher education, highlighting how policy implementation often serves as an …

Read more “Humanizing policy implementation in higher education through an equity-centered approach”

There are an estimated 427,000 undocumented college students enrolled in higher education. Undocumented college students encounter unique challenges associated with their precarious immigration status that impacts their psychological well-being. In this article, we contextualize the mental health of undocumented college students and the role of college mental health services and professionals in supporting college students’ …

Read more “UndocuCare: Strategies for mental health services that affirm undocumented college students’ psychological needs”

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine how gender shapes women’s college-going behaviors in an urban district attempting to remedy racial and economic inequities in college access. Using case study methodology, we examined the experiences of 22 racially diverse women students and 18 institutional agents at three high schools—one magnet and two nonmagnet. …

Read more “The influence of gender on women’s college-going behaviors in an urban school context”

This study examined the moderating role of immigration status on the relationship between anxiety and intent to persist among 469 immigrant college students. Additionally, we examined whether depression mediated the relationship between anxiety and intent to persist. Results showed that anxiety predicted increased intent to persist and increased anxiety predicted increased depression. However, depression did …

Read more “Immigration status, mental health, and intent to persist among immigrant college students”

Undocumented college students account for over 427,000 students (approximately 2%) enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities. The growing body of research on undocumented college students confirms that their well-being is negatively impacted by their immigration status and that many of these students suffer from psychosocial challenges. In this systematic review, we examine the peer-reviewed research …

Read more “Undocumented college students’ psychosocial well-being: A systematic review”

Educational professionals would benefit from learning more about how the college choice process affects undocumented students’ health. In this study, we analyzed the experiences of undocumented students using the racial battle fatigue concept and identified psychological responses of intensified stress, a threatened sense of belonging, and increased uncertaintiesassociated with their future. We found seven behavioral …

Read more ““When I would hurt”: Undocumented students’ responses to obstacles faced during the college choice process”

Prior research demonstrates the important role that financial considerations play in prospective students’ decision making when applying to and enrolling in graduate school. Racially/ethnically minoritized students, in particular, face persistent chal- lenges during the graduate application and enrollment process. Capitalizing on a natural experiment, we identify the effects of introducing a PhD fellowship on the …

Read more “If you fund them, will they come? Examining the role of a graduate fellowship in Ph.D. applications and enrollment”

The higher education policy implementation landscape has substantially shaped postsecondary education opportunities for undocumented youth, who are already negatively affected by discriminatory public policies, and institutional agents, who are often unprepared to address their needs. Guided by Bressers’s contextual interaction theory that identifies the role of contexts, actor characteristics, and social interactions among implementers in …

Read more “Examining the undocumented college student policy implementation environment through a contextual interaction theory lens”