Exploring Undergraduate Research Experiences for Latinx College Students From Farmworker Families

Undergraduate research programs are beneficial to students beyond the practical research experience students gain. Participants in undergraduate research experiences have shown enhanced comprehension of the research process, increased confidence, and greater awareness of higher education opportunities (Russell et al., 2007). Through mentorship from faculty and peers, participating students can feel a stronger connection with a science community (Eagan et al., 2013). According to Stanford et al. (2017), participating in these programs increases students’ persistence and retention. The benefits afforded by undergraduate research programs are particularly important when considering the continued underrepresentation of minoritized students, including Latinx students who are underrepresented at every stage of the educational pipeline (Sólorzano et al., 2005). Research opportunities—in addition to culturally relevant programming, mentorship, professional development, and college funding—have been found to contribute to Latinx students’ understanding, confidence, and awareness of research in college (Russell et al., 2007). While programs such as the Migrant Education Program and the College Assistance Migrant Program exist to support students from migrant farmworker families through their K–12 education and as they transition to college (Mendez & Bauman, 2018; Núñez, 2009, 2017), these programs usually do not include a research component.

Applying the rightful presence framework (Calabrese Barton & Tan, 2020), we suggest that undergraduate research programs should seek to expand their focus from simple access and inclusion of Latinx students from farmworker families to their rightful presence in these spaces. Originally developed for classroom instruction, the rightful presence framework proposes three tenets that can inform undergraduate research experiences, particularly those related to farm-worker research. These include the ideas that (a) political struggle (e.g., the food and farm-worker justice movement) is linked to learning and belonging in the research community; (b) intersections with injustice should be made visible, be oriented toward social change, and amplify learners’ experiences (e.g., lived experience with agricultural injustice can be connected with action research); and (c) disruption of the traditional expert-learner power relationships (e.g., student-driven approaches) is essential for social transformation. In this study, we used the rightful presence framework to inform an exploration of the college and research experiences of Latinx students from farmworker families with the goal of strengthening the design of undergraduate research programs. This study was guided by the following research question: What insights do students from farmworker families have to inform the creation of undergraduate research programs?

METHOD

A qualitative interview study was designed to answer the research question. Participants were eight undergraduate students and two recent college graduates in North Carolina from families with farm work or agricultural processing experience. Four identified as male, six as female, and all identified as Hispanic, Latinx, or Mexican American. Students were identified through organizations that work with students from farmworker families and recruited via email and social media. Participants received a $20 gift card.

The first author interviewed participants by phone in English from March 25 to June 17, 2020, using a semi-structured interview guide (Amaresh et al., 2020). The interview guide explored experiences in college and with research (e.g., Could you describe your experience in college so far? Have you had any opportunities to conduct research in college?), provided a description of a hypothetical research program, followed by questions to elicit students’ perceived facilitators and barriers to research participation (e.g., What did you find difficult about starting or getting involved with research? What factors interest you the most about research?), and asked students to consider desired features of a hypothetical research program (e.g., What resources would you need in order to participate in a program like this?). All the interviews were recorded and transcribed using a smooth verbatim protocol. Interviews lasted an average of 23 minutes. The research team held weekly debriefing sessions to assess whether new information learned in that week’s interviews added to our understanding.

We imported the completed transcripts into QSR’s NVivo software (Version 12) for analysis. Two authors used inductive and deductive thematic coding to identify themes present across participants’ experiences that could inform an undergraduate research program (Creswell & Poth, 2017). First, the first author developed a preliminary codebook based on an iterative review of the transcripts and conducted preliminary open coding. Second, the first and last authors reviewed the transcripts and themes. Both analysts then conducted axial coding to identify connections between initial themes and reduce the number of themes. This resulted in three overarching themes. Participants were not able to provide feedback on the results, but we did present preliminary themes to community partners and researchers for feedback. To maintain participant confidentiality, we used pseudonyms when attributing quotations. Regarding positionality, the first author is an Indian American cisgender female-identified undergraduate student trained in qualitative interviewing techniques, and the second analyst is a white cisgender male-identified researcher who works with community partners in farmworker health.

RESULTS

Through analysis of the interview transcripts, we identified three themes to guide the development of programs to promote research experience among students from farmworker families: (a) consideration of students’ lived experiences, including recognition of the context of students’ experiences often as first-generation students in primarily white institutions; (b) the importance of providing mentorship and resources, highlighting the value of networks of resources and experience in navigating college; and (c) inclusion of targeted marketing and outreach efforts that address potential barriers to hearing about opportunities.

Consider Students’ Lived Experiences

When designing a research program specifically for students from farmworker families, participants thought it was important to keep in mind the background of those students—specifically, their family life, immigration status, financial situation, and (often) lack of experience with how to navigate college. Some students discussed how their legal status affected their lives growing up. For example, Oscar described, “I am a DACA recipient, even though I’ve been here for 14–plus years, and even though I’ve been paying taxes . . . I’m still required to pay out-of-state tuition.” Although we did not ask directly, four participants self-identified as the first members of their families to attend college, and all attended primarily white institutions. Participants voiced challenges experienced as one of the very few students from a different cultural or ethnic background. Luis noted,

I go to a predominantly white school, and my experience there has been quite a bumpy ride because I am a first-generation college student [. . .] the diversity in the school is very, very minimal. So, it’s been hard to maintain my cultural roots.

Regarding his university, he also noted, “We are not diverse. We say we’re not racist, but I feel like we are.” Jacqueline described feeling isolated:

I felt I couldn’t connect with anybody on campus. I had such a hard time forming friendships or really connecting with the clubs that I did take a part in [. . .] People who come from my background, I think it’s just feeling like, ‘Oh, well nobody is really going to understand what it’s like to grow up having this background.’

Participants described their identities in terms of their legal status, as first-generation college students, and by their cultural backgrounds. They also expressed their feelings of isolation on primarily white college campuses. Finally, they emphasized the importance of acknowledging these identities and diverse representation in a research program for students from farmworker families.

Provide Mentorship and Resources

Participants highlighted that advice from mentors or peers, especially students who have already navigated the college experience and may be from similar backgrounds, would be necessary when participating in research programs. Josefina described the gap in mentorship from the time of college application, admission, and throughout her undergraduate experience:

Applying for college was a little bit stressful because I didn’t really have a lot of guidance. I’m a first-generation college student . . . some things were uncertain, like when it came to financial aid. And we did reach out to our guidance counselors in high school, but they weren’t as helpful [. . .] Going in, you don’t really have an idea because it’s like you’re the first person of your family going to college, and it’s like, well what I am supposed to do?

A lack of representation among faculty made it difficult for students to have mentors who would have had similar experiences and could offer relevant advice, as Luis described: “If I had questions, I couldn’t call home. I had nobody I was really comfortable talking to.” He also mentioned a temporary resource provided for students:

We got what we call an immigrant coordinator. . . . The purpose of the immigrant coordinator is to help immigrants feel comfortable in school, helping them out, finding resources [. . .] I think that was a valid response that we really needed at my school because we’re a predominantly white school. . . . We also need more professors of color.

In responding to questions about their college experiences and requisite resources for engaging in an undergraduate research program, participants noted the need for peer and faculty mentors from similar cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Students identified mentorship as necessary for participating in undergraduate research programs and for navigating college more broadly.

Include Targeted Marketing and Outreach Efforts

All participants expressed interest in participating in an undergraduate research program. A recurring theme was that research opportunities specifically for students from farmworker families should be well advertised and made accessible so students would be able to get involved. For example, Beatriz said, “I would definitely say to reach out to [. . .] people from my background.” Josefina also suggested that communication about the program should be targeted: “Whenever students are applying and there’s a checkmark that says, ‘migrant or seasonal farm-workers student,’ and that information could go directly to them.” Claudia specified that a research program for students from farmworker families should “[u]se different ways of recruiting people. Social media as well . . .” Ismael emphasized that “[m]aking [the program] something that the university sees and really advocates for” would be important. Participants explained that for students from farmworker families to become aware of undergraduate research programs, these programs needed to employ targeted and nontraditional outreach strategies.

DISCUSSION

Our findings inform the development of undergraduate research programs for Latinx students from farmworker families to support students’ rightful presence in research. An undergraduate research program for Latinx students from farmworker families has the potential to disrupt normative practices of knowledge production and belonging by actively challenging unjust systems. First, and closely tied to the second tenet of Calabrese Barton and Tan’s (2020) framework, programs should consider and amplify students’ experiences as farmworkers, immigrants, and first-generation students. Participants in this study expressed feelings of isolation and not belonging; they also encountered racism. Although students did not directly link these feelings with research experiences, undergraduate research programs represent an opportunity to acknowledge students’ realities and replace perceived (at best) tolerated presence with rightful presence. Students’ lived experiences should drive programs’ research questions, hypotheses, ethics, methods, and dissemination.

Second, programs should include advice from peers who have successfully navigated college and mentors representing students’ identities and experiences. Noting a lack of existing peer and mentor support, study participants identified this kind of support as a requisite component of an undergraduate research program. In alignment with the rightful presence framework and specifically its third tenet, peers and mentors in research programs can assist in making injustices visible, highlighting possibilities for change, and bringing expertise to destabilize the traditional researcher–student power dynamic. Programs must recognize systemic injustices that have limited representation among faculty and students and actively work toward including and valuing their contributions to knowledge production.

Third, programs should have targeted marketing and outreach efforts to reach Latinx students from farmworker families. Such efforts to build awareness of opportunities are critical, as our participants all expressed interest in research experiences. Students’ financial and immigration status, lack of familiarity with research as first-generation college students, and paucity of mentors to recommend relevant programs may contribute to reduced awareness of research opportunities. Participants suggested nontraditional recruitment methods, including direct contact with each student designated as coming from a farmworker family and the use of social media. As part of the collective disruption associated with rightful presence, a targeted outreach effort considers how programs are advertised, who is portrayed as a researcher, and whose knowledge is valued.

Our findings complement existing research specifically on the experiences of Latinx students from farmworker families (e.g., Araujo, 2011; Gámez et al., 2017; Mendez & Bauman, 2018; Núñez, 2009). Other researchers have similarly identified the importance of recognizing lived experiences (Reyes III, 2009), making structural barriers visible and connecting these with lived experiences (Núñez, 2017), and the role of mentors in success (Estepp et al., 2017; Gámez et al., 2017). Through this study, we extend the rightful presence framework (Calabrese Barton & Tan, 2020) from its origins in secondary classroom education to show its potential value in the development of postsecondary programming to work toward educational justice.

We recognize that great diversity exists within Latinx and agricultural communities. Our participants, therefore, might not reflect the experiences of non-Latinx farmworker students, non-farmworker Latinx students, or students attending Hispanic-serving institutions or community colleges. Additionally, while the rightful presence framework highlights the value of connecting lived experience with research training, research programs should be mindful that students from farmworker families may have varied interests well beyond farm-worker health and well-being.

Latinx students from farmworker families experience profound barriers to educational attainment, and they are underrepresented at every stage of the educational pipeline. This reality is ultimately reflected in the lack of diversity of the faculty who engage in research on the farmworker population and interact with students from farmworker families on college campuses. This study identified three key areas of consideration for research experiences that may reduce barriers to educational attainment and promote participation in the research work-force among students from farmworker families. It is our hope that these can be leveraged into undergraduate research programs that have the potential to disrupt and challenge normative practices of research and have an impact on farmworkers and educational justice.