UC Davis

While postsecondary enrollment for Latinx students has increased over time, they still encounter significant challenges and barriers that affect their success and bachelor's degree attainment. Understanding these challenges and identifying the resources and support systems that can support Latinx students is crucial for fostering successful Latinx college transitions into and through postsecondary education. My dissertation, comprised of three papers, delves into various dimensions of Latinx college transitions. The first paper explores the cultivation of transfer receptivity for undocumented Latinx community college transfer students, aiming to support their post-transfer experiences at 4-year institutions. The second paper highlights the critical role of parents in supporting Latinx students' college aspirations and decisions, particularly in the context of the challenges posed by COVID-19. Lastly, the third paper investigates the impact of geography on Latinx community college transfer opportunities, mapping out the nuanced ways in which location may influence these transitions.

The first paper employs the Transfer Receptive Culture (TRC) framework to identify the support and resources available for undocumented and DACAmented Latinx community college transfer students at their receiving 4-year institutions. This paper identifies four key themes: students received insufficient financial support, there was a need for intentional academic transition support for undocumented students, the significance of undocumented student centers, and the need for culturally competent mental health services. These findings underscore the importance of adapting the TRC framework to include the unique needs of undocumented and DACAmented community college transfer students. Furthermore, it calls on institutions to implement a transfer receptive culture equitably—one that acknowledges and responds to the diverse intersectional identities of undocumented Latinx community college transfer students.

The second paper utilizes the Community Cultural Wealth framework to illustrate how Latinx parents drew on various forms of capital, such as aspirational, familial, and navigational capital, to support their children’s college application, choice, and transition during the pandemic. Latinx parents played a critical role in their children’s college decisions by maintaining high college aspirations for their children amidst COVID-19 concerns, entrusting their children with their college choice decisions despite sometimes conflicting with their own, and supporting their children in their college transition through consejos and encouragement. This study emphasizes the importance of cultivating genuine and culturally and linguistically relevant partnerships between institutions and Latinx parents to better support outreach, recruitment, and success of Latinx students. The third paper uses a Critical Race Spatial Analysis and geospatial methods approach to examine and visualize spatial transfer inequities by examining how structural factors (i.e., bachelor’s degree attainment rates, unemployment and poverty rates, and proximity to a 4-year institution) may impact transfer outcomes for Latinx students across city, suburban, and rural locales in California. Findings indicate differences in Latinx transfer outcomes across geography, with higher transfer outcomes observed in bay/coastal areas and areas closer to 4-year public colleges. Most rural community colleges across the state were located farther from 4-year public colleges, emphasizing the challenges that rural Latinx students may face when considering transfer opportunities. Findings also highlight the spatial variability in transfer outcomes in California’s San Joaquin Valley, a region that has historically experienced disinvestment, exclusion, and segregation that has impacted access to educational opportunities in these communities. This study provides insights into how rural contexts and geography may influence transfer outcomes for Latinx community college students, underscoring the importance of policies and practices that address spatial inequities that impact transfer opportunities for Latinx students.

Collectively, these three papers contribute insights to the ongoing discourse on higher education access and equity for Latinx students. Findings from this dissertation can inform programs, practices, and policies that aim to support Latinx students’ postsecondary success. These findings underscore the importance of adopting intersectional approaches that seek to transform systems that recognize the unique needs and experiences of Latinx students and their families.