Date of Award

7-2-2024

Access Restriction

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate in Education

Department

Education

School or College

School of Education

First Advisor

William Perez

Abstract

This dissertation shed light on the need for higher education institutions to design support systems for undocumented students inside and outside of the classroom, especially when they apply to or attend prestigious universities. In addition, this study highlighted how I survived higher education, my home, and U.S. society through my multiple identities. The goal was to use my life experiences to show how powerful it is to be an undocumented student and how such students continue to influence laws, policies, and institutional change to make higher education more accessible and attainable. This study added to the literature on subaltern undocumented student survival by telling the stories of my undocumented educational journey while illuminating my identities as a Latino, gay, first-generation, low-income student. Undocumented students struggle not only with institutional oppression, xenophobia, poverty, racism, legal discrimination, and harsh immigration policies but also with a society that does not view them as equals. To better understand this phenomenon, this insightful autoethnographic was guided by the following questions: (1) What survival strategies did I use during my undergraduate studies that prepared me to persevere and pursue a doctoral degree? (2) How can my intersectionality experiences as an undocumented, gay, low-income, first-generation Latino contribute to our research and literature and the work of higher education faculty, staff, and administrators? The application of supporting undocumented students inside and outside of the classroom revealed the following main themes: (1) mi identidad gay me enseñó sobre persistencia, (2) mi identidad Latino me enseñó sobre crecimiento, and (3) mi identidad indocumentada y pobre me enseñó sobre florecimiento. This dissertation offers recommendations to meet better the needs of graduate undocumented students with diverse identities.

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