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Chapter 4 - The Role of Family Histories in Students of Immigrant Origin’s Aspirations and College Decision-making Process

from Part I - Beginnings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Leslie Patricia Luqueño
Edited by
Blake R. Silver  and
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Blake R. Silver
Affiliation:
George Mason University
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Affiliation:
George Mason University
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Summary

Drawing upon interview data from a yearlong study with fourteen children of Latinx immigrants applying to college, I explore how students’ visions of their futures shape their college decision-making processes. I utilize possible selves theory as a guiding framework, which speaks to how people imagine who they may become in the future and can guide their actions (Markus & Nurius, 1986). I explore the following research questions: (1) how do children of Latinx immigrants conceive of their possible futures, both within higher education and beyond?, (2) what is the connection between student and familial pasts in the conceptualization of educational futures, and (3) how do students’ conceptualizations of the future shape their higher education decision-making? What I find is that students think about various possible versions of themselves simultaneously in their decision-making. This chapter contributes to current research on college choice/decision-making, the application of possible selves theory to postsecondary education, and increased insight on the role of immigrant origins in the construction of higher education aspirations among the children of Latinx immigrants.

Keywords

higher educationimmigrationLatinx studentspossible selves theorycollege choicequalitative methods
Type
Chapter
Information
Supporting College Students of Immigrant Origin
New Insights from Research, Policy, and Practice
 , pp. 64 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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