The Latinx population in the United States has drastically increased over the last twenty years. During the same period, the number of first-generation Latinx students enrolling in higher education post-recession has also increased by as much as 1.5 million students. The expansion of the Latinx student population in Oregon has mirrored the…

Nationwide, Latinx students access dual enrollment (completing college coursework while still enrolled in high school) at lower rates than their white peers. Research on dual enrollment programs is limited and what does exist does not account for rural Latinx students' experiences. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to…

Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study describes how the phenomenon of hope is experienced by six first-generation college students at South Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), how student affairs contributed to that hope, and how these students understood the spaces on a college campus relative to their…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of community college faculty and the impact of those perceptions on the academic success of African American and Hispanic students. Within the context of the achievement gap, finding out how colleges can better serve disadvantaged students supported the aims of this study. This…

Doctoral students face unique challenges that require dedicated support services to help them successfully complete their studies and graduate. With the proper resources to help lessen these challenges, doctoral students take a shorter time to complete their degree and are less likely to drop out before completing. The purpose of this study was to…

Improving community college transfer pathways in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is an urgent educational equity issue in the United States. While there is abundant literature documenting the challenges community college transfer students face in their pursuit of a STEM bachelor's degree, there is limited research on the…

Limited research currently exists on the lived experiences of Latina/o students with dis/abilities within secondary and postsecondary education. While the number of Latina/o students with dis/abilities enrolling in college has continued to rise, their graduation rates are still lower than those of their counterparts without dis/abilities.…

Situated at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), this postcritical ethnographic and photovoice study sought to explore how Latinx students define and practice civic engagement. Theoretically framed by Latino Cultural Citizenship (LCC), the study explored how current Latinx student civic engagement practices inform a Hispanic-Serving Institutions'…

Over the last several decades, nontraditional students have increasingly enrolled in postsecondary institutions (Ellis, 2019). This diverse population has altered perceptions of the traditional college student. Nontraditional students drive higher education institutions to reexamine their mission, purpose, sources of support, and delivery…

Although the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasing, children are less likely to be identified with ASD in schools compared to clinical settings. Moreover, Latino children are less likely to receive an identification of educational autism than non-Latino peers. This research explores the identification of educational ASD and…

A student's sense of understanding is extremely important as it relates to school inclusion, connectedness, and overall success. However African American and Latino students, who are subjected to higher rates of school removal than other student populations, are placed in alternative settings, and as a result, experience difficulty reintegrating…

The research related to the immigrant paradox tells a story of immigrant students experiencing a decline in positive outcomes including academic achievement (Garcia Coll & Marks, 2012; Suarez-Orozco, Rhodes, et al., 2009). Researchers in the field have recommended interventions related to CASEL's SEL framework to remove barriers andincrease…

Current student success measures have been shown to be necessary, but insufficient, often masking the successes of specific student populations by virtue of their 4-year institutional centricity, aggregate calculation, and reflection of hegemonic definitions of student success. For far too long, academics and policymakers have valued what they…

The problem addressed in this study was that higher education administrators of HSIs face leadership and cultural challenges when preparing for regional accreditation reaffirmation. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to gather the perceptions of higher education administrators through their experiences and stories in a…

This dissertation examines how education and migration policies negatively shape access to and opportunities within post-secondary education for Latinx students in mixed-status families. To do so, I develop the concept of deficit policies, or policies that presume deficits in the targeted population and then produce those deficits. Engaging a…