Legal Vulnerability and Campus Environment: Assessing Factors that Affect the Academic Engagement of Undocumented College Students

Abstract

Prior research has established that undocumented students experience structural marginalization which compromises their access, retention, and success in higher education. Building on this work, this study turns attention to their academic engagement, an important intermediary outcome. Using survey data collected from 1,277 undocumented undergraduate students attending California 4-year public universities, we examine the extent to which legal vulnerability, campus climate, and resource use are associated with positive and negative academic engagement. Findings reveal the sustained role of campus environment, as positive perceptions of campus climate are associated with positive engagement and negative perceptions with negative engagement. Use of various campus resources tends to be associated with increased positive engagement and decreased negative engagement. Only financial legal vulnerabilities are associated with negative engagement and are not associated with positive engagement. We contend that the campus environment plays an important role in fostering undocumented students' academic engagement.

Causal explanation of academic enthusiasm based on the interaction of teachers and English language learners: Self-regulation, academic hope, and academic engagement among English language learners

“…The coefficients of the effects of academic engagement on academic enthusiasm were significant. The results of this study were aligned with the research of Ng et al (2022) and Valadez et al (2021). Academic enthusiasm leads to effective class and school activities participation, greater harmony with the school culture, and a good relationship with teachers and other students.…”

“…Academic engagement has been expressed as a basic principle in academic progress, the rate, and speed of completing education, and behaviors with a lower risk factor ( Perkmann et al, 2021 ). In general, academic engagement refers to an emotional and positive state of mind characterized by characteristics such as high levels of energy-interest and being immersed in activities so that a person does not notice the passage of time ( Valadez et al, 2021 ). Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003) also proposed three dimensions for academic engagement: Behavioral engagement is the visible behaviors of students in dealing with homework (which includes the components of homework effort, persistence in homework, and asking for help from others; cognitive engagement is a variety of processing processes used by learners for learning and includes the components of using cognitive and metacognitive strategies.…”

Evaluating the effectiveness of UndocuAlly trainings: A case example in the state of New York

“…Addressing this is a crucial step in shifting the campus reputation into one that is “undocu‐friendly.” When campuses are known for being undocu‐friendly it can help guide a student's college selection (Suarez‐Orozco et al., 2015). Perceptions of the campus can also influence undocumented student campus engagement (Valadez et al., 2021).…”

“…Prior research on the experiences of undocumented students’ pursuit of higher education has detailed the myriad barriers students encounter (for a review, see Bjorklund, 2018). Too often, undocumented students encounter a negative campus climate (Suarez‐Orozco et al., 2015; Valadez et al., 2021). An examination of new survey data from immigrant student respondents indicated the negative impacts of an unwelcoming campus climate, such as lower levels of mental health and higher levels of anxiety, while a more welcoming campus climate was associated with higher positive mental health and lower levels of anxiety (Cadenas et al., 2022).…”

Social media addiction relationship with academic engagement in university students: The mediator role of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety

“…Academic engagement emerges as a pivotal factor in evaluating student well-being. Numerous scientific studies delve into this matter from diverse perspectives, encompassing institutional factors, individual aspects, basic psychological needs, legal vulnerability, higher education absenteeism, and university students' employability [ [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] ].…”