Cecilia Rios-Aguilar

Funds of Knowledge for the Poor and Forms of Capital for the Rich? A Capital Approach to Examining Funds of Knowledge.

Educational researchers have assumed that the concept of funds of knowledge is related to specific forms of capital. However, scholars have not examined if and how these theoretical frameworks can complement each other when attempting to understand educational opportunity for under-represented students. In this article, we argue that a funds of knowledge approach should also be studied from a capital perspective. We claim that bridging funds of knowledge and capital has the potential to advance theory and to yield new insights and understandings of students’ educational opportunities and experiences. Finally, we provide a discussion of key processes — (mis)recognition, transmission, conversion, and activation/mobilization — to which educational researchers need to pay closer attention when attempting to understand the attainment of goals in under-represented students’ lives.

Beyond Getting In and Fitting In: An Examination of Social Networks and Professionally Relevant Social Capital Among Latina/o University Students

Social network analyses, combined with qualitative analyses, are examined to understand key components of the college trajectories of 261 Latina/o students. Their social network ties reveal variation in extensity and the relevance. Most ties facilitate social capital relevant to getting into college, fewer engage social capital relevant to strategizing success in college, and even fewer provide social capital benefits useful for planning career/professional trajectories.

Social Media, Higher Education, and Community Colleges: A Research Synthesis and Implications for the Study of Two-Year Institutions

The boundaries between on-line and “real-world” communities are rapidly deteriorating, particularly for the generation of young people whose lives are pervaded by social media. For this generation, social media exchanges are a primary means of communication, social engagement, information seeking, and possibly, a central component of their identity and community-building. Given these realities, postsecondary educators should begin to seriously explore the potential to intentionally and strategically harness the power of these revolutionary transformations in technology use to better serve the needs of students to enhance their success. Therefore, this review of books, academic journals, higher education news, research reports, individual blogs and other online media on the use of social media technology (SMT) in higher education provides a baseline sense of current uses nationally, providing a descriptive overview of the social media phenomenon. Additionally, the review clarifies how colleges and college students use SMT and also challenges assumptions in two areas: how institutions can best exploit social media’s features and its impact on student outcomes. The review further provides a foundation to develop conceptual frameworks that would better capture the role and impact of SMT among colleges and college students, and community colleges in particular.

“How Much Economic Value Does My Credential Have?” Reformulating Tinto’s Model to Study Students’ Persistence in Community Colleges

Community colleges play a key role in educating the large number of non-traditional, low-income, and under-prepared students who have entered higher education in the past several decades. Despite increased access, community colleges are struggling to graduate students. Most, if not all, strategies provided by scholars to improve college completion rates assume increased student engagement will enhance persistence and success. Existing theories of persistence overlook the dynamic influence of job markets for the students community colleges serve. Using National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, this article draws on Tinto’s theory of persistence and proposes a new framework that acknowledges the role of job opportunities and of work–family–schooling quandaries in community college students’ choices about persistence. Our model builds on the following relevant notions: (a) human capital theory, (b) social integration, and (c) socio-academic integration. Our model has important implications for leaders who aim to better align students’ college experiences with their desired careers and available jobs.

Causal Effects of Maternal Time-Investment on Children's Cognitive Outcomes

Many social scientists hypothesize that the time mothers spend with their children is crucial for children’s cognitive development. Unlike most studies that investigate maternal employment effects on children, we estimate direct casual effects of time-diary measured maternal time using the CDS – PSID dataset. Considering maternal time allocation endogenous, the effect of an increase of maternal time associated with a rise in childcare prime (IV estimate) is an order of magnitude larger than OLS estimates for Applied Problems and Word-Letter identification tests. Evidence also shows that the effect is larger for children living college educated mothers and in two-parent household. JEL codes: D1, J13, C36.

Generación 1.5: A Cultural Historical Agenda for Research at the 2-Year College

In this article, we employ a cultural historical theoretical framework to extend understandings of how widespread 2-year college placement policies concerning English remediation potentially locate and retain U.S.-educated Latino adolescents at the margins of higher education through well-intentioned yet deficit-driven postsecondary cultural practices. We conclude with a research agenda for examining established institutional practices and alternatives in regard to 2-year college support for nontraditional students’ access to and success in the opportunity structures of higher education.

English Learners and their transition to postsecondary education

In this review, we aim to bridge the established scholarship on English Learners (ELs) in K-12 schooling with the comparatively emergent research in current higher education literature, to address how ELs navigate the transition from K-12 schooling to postsecondary education in the U.S. Our objectives are to: (1) advance terminology for describing these students in higher education, (2) provide an understanding of political and legal developments shaping their academic preparation in the K-12 system that have consequences for their success in higher education, (3) identify key themes in the literature on these students once they arrive in higher education, (4) highlight promising theoretical perspectives to guide future research, and (5) advance higher education policy and practice implications. Our primary findings are that precollege and college academic experiences, financial considerations, sociocultural experiences, and cultural and linguistic assets influence EL students’ transitions from high school to college. Based on these findings, we advance theoretical perspectives that emphasize: (1) addressing the multiple social and historical contexts that shape ELs’ educational trajectories, (2) taking into account the multiple social identities associated with EL status, (3) recognizing the resources that support these students (including the assets they bring to education), and (4) challenging deficit ways of framing EL students.

Career Capital and the Community College

Wanting to elucidate the relationship between student success and employment outcomes, the authors of this study sought to devise a methodology to (a) measure the alignment between the educational/community college experience and potential careers and (b) explore factors that may inform the alignment between college and career. Data were collected on 84 students at a southern community college using the College and Career Capital Survey. Descriptive analyses showed that the majority of the sample was White, female, and worked, and more than half aspired to earn at least a baccalaureate degree. Survey items and responses were used to formulate the College-Career Alignment Index. A stepwise backward regression, used to eliminate noncontributing variables, accounted for 27.4% of the variance and showed the following to be statistically significant in predicting college-career alignment: working full- or part-time, gender (female), relying on institutional networks for information, confidence in finding employment in a desired career field, and enrollment in developmental courses. Based on the findings of this exploratory study, the authors suggest that community colleges consider the value of employment opportunities while in college and the institutions role in providing information about careers as potential avenues to improve college-career alignment. In addition, they propose next steps to expand the study and further explore factors related to career capital.

Community (in) Colleges: The Relationship Between Online Network Involvement and Academic Outcomes at a Community College

Objective: This study explores the relationship between online social network involvement and academic outcomes among community college students. Prior theory hypothesizes that socio-academic moments are especially important for the integration of students into community colleges and that integration is related to academic outcomes. Online social networks offer a forum for socio-academic contact and integration on 2-year campuses. Is involvement with online social networks positively related to academic outcomes? Method: This study draws on institutional and online network data. We qualitatively code text from the network (N = 8,749) to examine the extent of socio-academic interaction. Using logistic and multiple regression, we examine the relationships between socio-academic exchanges, other forms of online network involvement, and student academic outcomes in a large sample of students (N = 27,040). Results: Participation in socio-academic exchange is associated with higher grade point average. In addition, the prior academic outcomes of a student’s online friends are predictive of the student’s own outcomes after joining the network, suggesting the possibility of peer effects. Other network behaviors are not significantly related to the academic outcomes we study. Contributions: This study is the first to consider online social networks as a forum for socio-academic integration at a community college. Our study fills a gap in the research literature with respect to understanding the socio-academic integration of community college students and the potential of social media to foster integration. Through our findings, this study offers strategic ways for practitioners to think about implementing social media to benefit students academically.

Treat a Cop Like They Are God: Exploring the Relevance and Utility of Funds of Gang Knowledge Among Latino Male Students

Latinos represent 20% of the more than 1 million gang-associated youth in the United States. This study explores how gang associated Latino males use their funds of gang knowledge to navigate their...