Disrupted Education?: A Latent Profile Analysis of Immigration-Related Distractions and Academic Engagement among Undocumented College Students

Abstract

Prior research has established that legal vulnerability disrupts undocumented students educational experiences. Building on this work, we examine the process through which undocumented immigration status may disrupt academic performance through students' behavioral engagement in their coursework. Drawing on a survey of nearly 1,300 undocumented college students in California, we use latent profile analysis to identify student profiles based on their experiences of immigration-related distractions. We then assess the role of self and family demographics on profile membership, and the relationship between immigration-related distraction profiles and students' educational engagement outcomes. We identify five distraction profiles that indicate a wide variation in frequency of immigration-related distractions and suggest that immigration-related distractions result from both students' own and their parents immigration-related issues. These distractions are consequential, as those students who are in more frequently distracted profiles are more likely to report negative behavioral engagement outcomes. Ultimately, we argue that academic distractions and behavioral disengagement are key ways in which legal vulnerability disrupts the academic success of undocumented students.

COVID on Campus: Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Undocumented College Students

“…Importantly, undocumented students can have varying perceptions of their legal vulnerability due to their own individual and contextual circumstances (Enriquez & Millán, 2021). Such variation in perceived legal vulnerability can foster different levels of immigration-related distractions, which have been shown to be associated with negative academic behavioral engagement (Chavarria et al, in press; Enriquez et al, 2019). Undocumented students also report higher rates of discrimination than their peers with permanent legal status or immigrant visas (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2021) and substantial microaggressions (Muñoz & Vigil, 2018).…”

Immigration-Related Discrimination and Mental Health among Latino Undocumented Students and U.S. Citizen Students with Undocumented Parents: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

“…This was because they believed that their parents were less likely to occupy social and spatial locations that would insulate them from deportation threats ( Enriquez and Millán 2021 ). Another study of Californian undocumented college students found that students’ own and their family members’ immigration status both created immigration-related distractions that prompted academic disengagement, such as missing or being distracted in class, losing study hours, and doing poorly on an exam ( Chavarria et al 2021 ). These studies suggest that immigration status is lived by the family unit, with undocumented parents’ heightened risks sometimes overshadowing the consequences of their children’s undocumented status.…”