Professor Carola Suárez-Orozco and Professor Robert Teranishi, co-directors of the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, & Education (IGE) at UCLA, guided three doctoral students in leading an intensive 12- week “UndocuScholars Summer Research Institute” for UCLA undergraduates. Dalal Katsiaficas (Human Development and Psychology), Cynthia Alcantar (Social Science and Comparative Education), and Edwin Hernandez (Social Science and Comparative Education) worked with UCLA undergraduate students in gathering data for IGE’s UndocuScholars project, which was established in 2013. The Academic Advancement Program, IGE, and the Bruin Resource Center at UCLA worked in collaboration on this project.
The objectives of the UndocuScholars Summer Research Institute were to familiarize undergraduates with research literature and methods, including formulating research questions, participatory action design, structured interviews, and qualitative coding analysis. Each of the undergraduate students reviewed preliminary findings from a national study conducted by the UndocuScholars project, and created research meaningful research questions for subjects on the UCLA campus and for the wider undocumented community. Collecting data from 17 UndocuScholars at UCLA, the undergrads produced a scholarly research paper, a policy brief making recommendations to improve the experiences of undocumented students at UCLA, and a short film for the UndocuScholars website. In addition, each will be submitting a conference proposal to present at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) in November.
“The mentoring that Dalal, Cynthia, and Edwin exemplified was unlike anything I have witnessed in all my years in education,” says Professor Suárez-Orozco. “The mastery the four emerging Summer Scholars gained in this intensive summer programming was a testament to the collective dedication of all the participants in the Summer Research Institute. The UndocuScholars Summer Research Institute serves both as a model for mentorship across generations as well as for Participatory Action Research.”
Alcantar worked as a researcher on a project titled Research on Immigrants in College, a study on the educational experiences of immigrant students in public colleges, with Suárez-Orozco and Teranishi when both professors were at New York University previous to arriving at UCLA. She says that the idea behind the UndocuScholars Undergraduate Summer Research Institute came from Angela Chen from the Undocumented Student Programs through the Bruin Resource Center, and Alice Ho and Cyndi Bendezu from the Academic Advancement Program (AAP).
“They came to us with the idea to provide a graduate and research prep program for undocumented students, something that was needed at UCLA,” says Alcantar. “They thought [IGE] would be a great site to do a program like this since we have the national study of UndocuScholars and a research team of allies.”
After 120 hours of hands-on training, each undergraduate researcher presented their independent research project at the first-ever UndocuScholars Summer Research Symposium held at UCLA in Moore Hall on Sept. 10. The presentations were “Undocumented Students and Mental Health” by Maria Nava Gutierrez; “Every DREAM Counts: How Educational and Employment Policies Affect the Engagement of Undocumented Students at UCLA” by Zyshia Williams; “Undocumented College Students: Support Structures to Attain a College Degree” by Erick N. Samayoa; and “Undocutrauma: Findings from Students’ Family Expectations & Conceptualizations of Success” by Oscar G. Rodriguez Texis.
“This is a great model for pre-doctoral research training, but more importantly, for engaging emerging scholars in issues that are very meaningful to them and important for the national dialogue about the undocumented student experience in higher education,” says Professor Teranishi. “We hope to work with other UC campuses – and other campuses generally – to encourage the replication of this innovative program.”
In working on her dissertation, Katsiaficas, who is also an IGE research associate, has found that immigrant-origin students take on significant family, financial, and community responsibilities. She says that the UndocuScholars Summer Institute gave her the opportunity to design and implement curriculum for undergraduates to not only gain vital research skills but to make positive changes for undocumented students in the UCLA community.
“I have always known how powerful a tool research can be, but being able to share that with junior scholars has been incredible,” she says. “Each of the undergraduate researcher’s findings gives important insight to the thoughts, feelings, stresses and successes in undocumented students lives. What made this project so special was that we grounded it in the larger national project findings, but designed the overarching study questions with the needs of the community in mind. It has been an incredible opportunity for me to mentor UndocuScholar undergraduate researchers through designing their questions and to empirically investigate the answers. More so, harnessing the power of knowledge to affect positive change on campus and hopefully more broadly has made for a truly meaningful experience.”
Hernandez says that he hopes the findings of the UndocScholars Summer Institute “will challenge those misconceptions about the growing population of undocumented students, and institutions need to be aware of their experiences to create better practices and support systems that will aid them in their educational trajectories.”
The UndocuScholars Research Project at IGE is a national study focused on the college experiences of undocumented undergraduate students. Undocumented college students aged 18-30 from a variety of college settings are surveyed for their perspectives and experiences within their families, campuses, and communities. The goals of the national project are to expand knowledge about the range of UndocuScholars’ experiences in order to challenge false assumptions and damaging misperceptions and to use this knowledge to better inform on-campus practice and service as well as local and national policy.
The UndocuScholars Advisory Board is comprised of students, faculty, and organizations across the United States that are committed to improving the lives of undocumented students nationwide, including United We Dream, Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education Los Angeles, Educators for Fair Consideration, Immigrant Youth Justice League- Chicago, Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast, and New York State Leadership.
Professor Suárez-Orozco says that the unprecedented work of UndocuScholars represents the standard of groundbreaking research at UCLA Ed & IS, and aligns with the Graduate School’s commitment to equity in education for all.
“With this study we are seeking to capture UndocuScholar perspectives and experiences and provide information to colleges on how to better serve them on campus,” she says. “An estimated 200 to 225,000 college students are American in every way but on paper, and are mightily swimming up stream to reach the elusive American dream. They have much to teach us about grit and the meaning of hope under the most adverse of circumstances. We want to make those who are invisible, visible.”
Above: Professor Carola Suárez-Orozco, co-director, Institute for Immigration, Globalization, & Education, speaks in Moore Hall to UCLA undergrads who completed the UndocuScholars Summer Research Institute.
L-R: Erick N. Samayoa (’15, B.A., Sociology/Chicano & Chicana Studies); Zyshia Williams (’14, B.A., International Development Studies/Accounting); Oscar G. Rodriguez Texis {’15, B.A., Gender Studies & Spanish), and Maria Nava Gutierrez (’16, Gender Studies/Chicano & Chicana Studies).
Courtesy of Edwin Hernandez