¿Y ahora qué? Anticipated immigration status barriers and Latina/o high school students’ future expectations.

Abstract

Latina/o high school students without documentation face a challenging situation when they graduate from high school, with pathways to work and postsecondary education stymied by their immigration status. We examined the effects of anticipated barriers associated with immigration status, age, and sex on the dependent variables of vocational outcome expectations, anticipated external and internal barriers, and postsecondary schooling plans in a sample of 475 Latina/o high school students. Findings include that students anticipating immigration status problems had lower vocational outcome expectations and anticipated more external barriers to pursuing their postsecondary plans. Latina girls and older high school students anticipating immigration status problems were more likely to plan to attend 2-year rather than 4-year colleges, and less likely to plan on postsecondary education, respectively. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Academic and Career Development of Undocumented College Students: The American Dream?

“…Both participants in our study expressed concern that they would not finish their degrees or pursue graduate education because of anticipated future barriers. These findings add richness to quantitative work conducted by McWhirter et al (), who found that high school Latina/o undocumented students anticipated more barriers to pursuing college than did their U.S. citizen counterparts. Combined, these findings underscore the importance of exploring how discrimination and barriers can affect the career and academic choices of undocumented students.…”

“…For example, Ellis and Chen () found that cultural (e.g., acculturation experiences), contextual (e.g., legal and financial barriers), and personal (e.g., resilience, resourcefulness) factors influenced the career development of undocumented college students. McWhirter, Ramos, and Medina () also found that Latino(a) high school students with undocumented status demonstrated lower vocational outcome expectations and anticipated more barriers to pursing higher education compared with students with legal documentation. Undocumented college students may also encounter distinct barriers during the career development process, such as limited career opportunities and increased risk of not being able to secure a job in one's area of education and training as the result of barriers (Ortiz & Hinojosa, ).…”

Community Connectedness, Challenges, and Resilience Among Gay Latino Immigrants

“…The challenge of adjusting and adapting to a new culture may be particularly difficult for sexual minority immigrants also experiencing stressors due to their ethnic or sexual identities (Xu & Chi, 2012; McWhirter, Ramos, & Medina, 2013). At the intra-individual level, some difficulties sexual minority immigrants may face include racism-related stress and anxiety (Alamilla, Kim, & Lam, 2010; Harrell, 2000), chronic expectations of being negatively stereotyped by others (Pinel, 1999), and being hyper-vigilant to potential threats related to their sexual identity (Meyer, 1995).…”

The Role of Positive Psychology, Cultural, and Family Factors in Latina/o College Students' Vocational Outcome Expectations

“…One relevant theory to understand and contextualize outcome expectations is social cognitive career theory, which refers to the ways that personal and contextual factors influence career interests (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, ). Vocational outcome expectations refer to several potential outcomes, such as income, career satisfaction, and employment (McWhirter, Ramos, & Medina, ). Examples of vocational outcome expectations for Latina/o students include finding employment to provide and take care of family.…”