Join us for a dissertation presentation by Linda Simões Cocchiola on Tuesday, May 14, at 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Title: Once Upon a Time: Stories About Generation 1.5 Immigrants’ Experiences with Cultural Wealth in the Transition from High School to Public State Universities
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This qualitative study examined the stories of generation 1.5 immigrants’ experiences with cultural wealth in the transition from high school to public state universities. This study employed narrative inquiry design and consisted of in-depth interviews with 8 full-time undergraduates enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs in public state universities in the Northeast. This study of ethnically diverse immigrants who arrived in the States as children or adolescents consisted of two 1-hour private interviews. Community cultural wealth (CCW) (Yosso, 2005) provided the main conceptual framework for this study. The college choice process (CCP) (Hossler & Gallagher, 1987) provided a secondary, structural framework.
The results of this asset-centered study revealed that participants transitioned to a public state university supported by a unique cache of cultural wealth. Participants applied the six CCW capitals originating in their non-dominant communities—aspirational, familial, linguistic, navigational, resistant, and social capital (Yosso, 2005). However, their stories also revealed other forms of cultural wealth originating in their experiences growing up in two languages, places, and cultures. The data analysis suggested three emerging forms of capital specific to generation 1.5: a) agentic capital, b) capital braiding, and c) immigrant capital. This study contributes to the research on the assets generation 1.5 immigrants bring to the transition from high school to college and the research on public state universities, which have a historic mission of diversity and access. Additional research on the transition experiences and intersecting identities unique to generation 1.5 are needed to better inform supports for transition to college across all levels of public education.
Linda Simões Cocchiola is a community college professor in the Northeast. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Government from the University of Hartford and a Master of Science in Bilingual and Multicultural Education/TESOL from Southern Connecticut State University.