‘Ni de aquí ni from there’. Navigating between contexts: counter‐narratives of undocumented Mexican students in the United States

Abstract

Research has documented the ways in which students of Mexican origin are not succeeding academically in the same proportion as the rest of the US population. This process of educational failure occurs in the context of overt and more subtle forms of racism experienced throughout their schooling and everyday lives. Undocumented Mexican students face even harsher educational challenges as they experience life in a post‐September 11^th environment of heightened xenophobic US nativism. The purpose of this three‐year study was to acknowledge the counter‐stories and learn from the counter‐life‐histories of undocumented college graduates of Mexican origin as they navigate across and between historical, socioeconomic, political and cultural boundaries, barriers and contexts. The research is grounded in the experiences, voices and perspectives of six individuals who graduated from a community college in Arizona. The study utilizes critical race theory (CRT) as an interpretive approach to both situate and challenge ahistorical, decontextualized, and one‐dimensional explanations of Mexican‐American underachievement and adopts a life history methodology to engage comprehensively with the perceptions of the interviewees.

Keywords:

• undocumented Mexican students
• critical race theory
• counter‐stories
• racism