ABSTRACT
This research examines the impact of parental deportation on Latino/a adolescents’ postsecondary aspirations. Based on interviews with students, their families, and site observations, the study finds that for some adolescents who held college aspirations prior to the deportation, this type of abrupt parental removal negatively affects their perception of safety and stability in their home and school environments (i.e., microsystem) (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Where this vulnerability is not countered with emotional, economic, and institutional support, it can hinder their development of the social capital (Coleman, 1988; Stanton-Salazar, 2001) that would be conducive to their higher educational aspirations.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Luis Fernando Macías
Luis Fernando Macías is a doctoral candidate in Multicultural and Equity Studies in Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. His research interests include issues of immigration such as immigrant youth’s access to post secondary education as well as investigating and theorizing racial formations and Latinidad in the contemporary midwestern United States.
Bruce Anthony Collet
Bruce Anthony Collet, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Policy in the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University. His research focus concerns migration, religion, and schooling within liberal democratic states.