Undocumented students have lead a vibrant and successful movement to promote awareness and demand institutional resources to support educational equity regardless of immigration status. They have been joined by dedicated student affairs professionals, faculty, and institutional stakeholders who have advocated for their inclusion. This project aims to help support these efforts with rigorous data that will inform stakeholders within educational institutions on how to best provide resource that meet the needs of undocumented students.
We have conducted a series of research studies as part of the larger project. You can read about each below.
UNDOCUMENTED UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIeNCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
The first study explored undergraduate student experiences at the University of California (UC) system. During the 2015-2016 school year, we conducted focus groups and interviews with 154 UC undocumented undergraduate students to explore student’s experiences on their UC campus and their use of campus resources. We administered an online survey in Spring 2016 and collected responses from 508 undocumented undergraduate students across all nine UC undergraduate campuses. We surveyed approximately fifteen percent of each campus’ estimated undocumented student population.
UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH
Motivated by survey data that established undocumented students’ mental health strain, we conducted a second study at one University of California campus. We interviewed 30 undocumented students from March to July 2017 about their overall mental health, stress, formal and informal coping strategies, and the impact on their educational experiences.
UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES
Motivated by survey data that established undocumented students’ academic struggles, we conducted a third study at one University of California campus. We interviewed 30 undocumented students from March to July 2017 about their academic experiences, including overall academic performance and the use of academic support services.
This study was extended to a California State University campus and two university campuses in another state to compare experiences across institutional types and state policy contexts.
CSU and uc undocumented students: Exploring federal policy and institutional context
In collaboration with the UC Collaborative to Promote Immigrant and Student Equity, a fourth study surveyed UC and CSU undocumented students from March to June 2020. By comparing across institutional contexts, we assess the extent to which educational settings matter for undocumented college students’ educational and well-being outcomes. We also aim to understand how undocumented students’ education and well-being has shifted under increasingly exclusionary federal policies and identify if and how educational institutional resources can reduce the consequences of illegality and promote fuller immigrant incorporation.
A sub-study explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on undocumented students.
Funding for these studies has been provided by grants from the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California Consortium on Social Science and Law, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives, University of California Office of the President, and grant programs at UC Irvine (CORCL, Office of Inclusive Excellence, School of Social Sciences, and Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program), CSU Channel Islands (Vice President for Student Affairs Office), CSU Fresno (Kremen School of Education & Human Development 2019/2020 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Award), CSU Los Angeles (College of Education), and CSU Sacramento (Taskforce for the Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice).