“To Trust in My Root and to Take That to Go Forward”: Supporting College Access for Immigrant Youth in the Global City

Abstract

Increasing numbers of immigrant youth are coming of age within global cities that are characterized by growing inequalities and few opportunities for social mobility. These youth face numerous educational obstacles that complicate college and labor market access. This article draws from an ethnographic study of public high schools serving low-income, recently arrived immigrant students and explores how the schools provide students with the academic skills and social capital to support college going. It considers how the schools attempt to create new understandings and expectations of the educational possibilities available to low income immigrant students, thus creating a social imaginary that resists the racialized hierarchies of the global city. [immigrant students, Englishlanguage learners, college access, social capital, globalization] 282

A case study of long-term engagement and identity-in-practice: Insights into the STEM pathways of four underrepresented youths

“…That positioning of youth was instrumental and supportive of their development of an insider identity to college and college‐going culture (Jaffe‐Walter & Lee, ). The youth were given opportunities to develop an affinity with college and a sense of belonging (Carlone et al, ).…”

“…Students also need to be engaged in reflective work about science and potential science careers, and have opportunities to question, but also develop, their potential identities in science (Carlone & Johnson, ; Gonsalves, Rahm, & Carvalho, ; Rahm, ; Tan & Calabrese Barton, ). Yet, college‐bound students also need opportunities to develop the kind of capital needed to navigate college and the political and economical realities tied to college that are interrelated in complex ways with an education in science (Archer, ; Archer et al, ; Calabrese Barton et al, ; Jaffe‐Walter & Lee, ; Kozoll & Osborne, ). And even then, broader social and economic inequities may still pose serious threats to success (Rodriguez et al, ).…”

R&D

“…Like PDK at www. facebook.com/pdkintl of students who are accepted and enroll in two-and four-year colleges (Jaffe-Walter & Lee, 2011). While the statistics are clearly impressive, the real quality of the education offered by the Internationals is connected to the academic opportunities they provide and the messages they give immigrant youth about who they are and what they can be.…”

Cultivating Capital: Latino Newcomer Young Men in a U.S. Urban High School

“…Researchers have argued that working‐class and poor immigrant students have limited access to social and cultural capital that would support their attainment and achievement (McDonough ; Stanton‐Salazar ). While highly educated immigrants can access economic resources and social networks, working‐class and poor immigrants often do not have the social and cultural capital necessary to navigate an increasingly competitive school system (Jaffe‐Walter and Lee ; Louie ). These challenges are heightened when immigrant youth and families are unfamiliar with the language and structure of U.S. schools (Horvat et al.…”