Facilitating the College Transition of Undocumented and Citizen Students of Mixed-Status Families: A Mixed Methods Study of the Role of Public High School Counselors as Social Capital Agents

<p>Undocumented and citizen students from mixed-status families (UCM students) encounter numerous obstacles when transitioning to college due to their citizenship status or that of an immediate family member. Due to the current anti-immigrant political environment, these college-going obstacles have been exacerbated. Public high school counselors play a vital role in facilitating the college transition of UCM students, yet their work remains understudied. This mixed-methods dissertation positions counselors as social capital agents, building upon and expanding social capital theory, the concept of the institutional agent, and the role of significant others from the Wisconsin Model of Status Attainment. This study explores how counselors perceive themselves as social capital agents as they support UCM students in their college aspirations and college preparation through the social capital domains of relational trust, information sharing, and instrumental support. Through deductive thematic and inductive evaluation of the interview transcripts of 19 public high school counselors and seven undergraduate UCM students and the statistical analyses of 460 qualified counselor survey responses, this study found that relational trust is the foundation for counselors supporting UCM high school students. Sharing information regarding college admissions and financial information is also key and the strongest predictor of counselors’ self-perception of their support of UCM students’ college aspirations and college preparation. This study introduces the concept of the social capital agent, a novel contribution to the theory and literature of social capital. Methodologically, this research validates a tool for measuring counselors as social capital agents, which can be used in the future to evaluate other educators, such as teachers and administrators, in this role. This study provides data to support state policies that affirm UCM students’ access to higher education, graduate counselor program curricula focusing on college-going among UCM students, and school district counselor continuing education programs to support UCM students. Most importantly, this study communicates to public high school counselors that they are not alone in their desire and efforts to support UCM students.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Education, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Educational Studies

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Kelson, Jenifer L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gwen Garrison
• Gloria Itzel Montiel

• Counseling
• Immigration
• Mixed-Methods
• Mixed-Status
• Social Capital
• Undocumented
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/998

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-2020