Immigrant-origin college students (those who have immigrated to the US themselves and children of immigrants) are a growing population. Currently, a third of all college-age young people in the US are first- or second-generation immigrants (Rumbaut & Komaie, 2010).
As immigrant-origin students come of age, they become keenly aware of the social and cultural reflections of themselves in the “social mirror” (Suarez-Orozco, 2004). With xenophobia, racism and discrimination on the rise, especially as directed towards immigrant groups in the US (Chavez, 2008), it is critical to understand how these students develop within contexts that give them complicated messages about how to belong.
Utilizing a strengths-based perspective, we will explore the ways in which immigrant-origin youth respond to such discrimination and how this might impact their developmental experiences. Drawing on a number of mixed-methods studies of immigrant-origin college students, this presentation will highlight the contributions of immigrant-origin youth to their families and communities as well as the ways in which they conceptualize and engage in resistance to social inequality.
The audio of this discussion is available below: