Unpacking Grit & Community Cultural Wealth: Examining the Academic Success of Undocumented Latinx Students in Higher Education

Abstract

Background: In the U.S. higher education system, only 220,000 and 225,000 undocumented students are enrolled across two-year and four-year institutions, representing 2% of all students (Casas et al., 2021). This relatively low number is attributed to the several challenges that undocumented students face in their matriculation and enrollment due to their immigration status. In a politically hostile and unstable environment for undocumented immigrants, students face legal, financial, societal, institutional, and systemic challenges. Undocumented Latinx students endure these challenges even more so because they often come from low-income socioeconomic backgrounds, which makes them more vulnerable to academic failure (Casas et al., 2021). Despite these challenges, however, undocumented Latinx students persevere in their quest for academic success. Purpose: This study examines the experiences of undocumented Latinx college students, particularly the challenges that they faced throughout their educational journeys. Through the lens of grit (Duckworth, 2016) and Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), the study also examines the students' grit in pursuing higher education and how they leveraged their cultural wealth to achieve this feat and academic success. Research Questions: The questions that guided this study were: 1) What systemic, societal, and institutional challenges do undocumented Latinx students face in pursuing higher education? 2) What factors influence grit, and how do they affect the educational success of undocumented Latinx students in higher education? 3)How does Community Cultural Wealth shape the grit of undocumented Latinx students in higher education? Methods: Three undocumented college students and a formerly DACAmented student were identified for the study through snowball sampling. The students were enrolled in a public four-year institution in the U.S. Northeast pseudonymously named Wesley University. Using semi-structured interviews, participants were asked questions to understand their challenges and how they leveraged their grit and Community Cultural Wealth to overcome them and find academic success. Their responses were recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify key themes and findings using the Dedoose software system. Findings: Several themes emerged from the interviews, which provided more insight into the students’ challenges and grit. Participant data revealed that their definition of academic success is more than just excellent grades and GPA; it is about accomplishing goals, purpose, and social capital. As the students navigated through higher education, they faced several systematic, societal, and institutional challenges because of their immigration status. Respectively, these challenges included but were not limited to difficulty in finding employment opportunities, questioning the American dream, and working with higher education staff who are not adequately prepared to work with undocumented students. Considering these challenges, the participants persevered in college because of their grit, which manifested differently for each participant. The participants then used their Community Cultural Community to find success, as their cultural wealth provided them with the aspirational, navigational, familial, linguistic, resistance, and social tools needed to excel. Conclusion: The findings suggest that undocumented Latinx students are motivated to excel in college because of something greater than themselves: giving back to their families and others in need who look like them and share the same experiences. This research can help higher education staff determine how to best support their undocumented Latinx students by leveraging their grit and cultural wealth, which dictate their purpose.