HOW PARENTAL SACRIFICE FUELS LATINX SUCCESS

WITH UNWAVERING SUPPORT AND A THIRST FOR INFORMATION, FAMILIES CARVE OUT CREATIVE PATHS TO COLLEGE, PROFESSOR STEPHANY CUEVAS FINDS.

Stephany Cuevas launched a research project seeking answers to a simple question: How do undocumented Latinx parents help their children get to college?

Little did she know that the pursuit would put thousands of miles on her SUV and sit her down at dinner tables to sample some of the best homemade tamales, traditional sweet breads and tree-ripened fruit in all of California.

“I always tell my students that if they ever want to be fed during their data collection, just interview families,” Cuevas said with a smile.

Cuevas, Ed.D., assistant professor in Chapman University’s Attallah College of Educational Studies, learned from dozens of interviews with undocumented Latinx parents that they build supportive communities and thirst for the knowledge that can make college dreams come true. Even as they encounter hurdles and worry that their children’s undocumented status will throw up extra roadblocks, they continue to promote a culture of academic achievement.

“The parents kept telling me things like, ‘I didn’t know how to support them. I didn’t have the finances. But I can always motivate my students – I can always remind them of why they are where they are,’” said Cuevas, who teaches in Attallah College’s Integrated Educational Studies program.

The Chapman professor ramped up her research as a thesis project during her studies at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her findings have been published as a book –“Apoyo Sacrificial, Sacrificial Support: How Undocumented Latinx Parents Get Their Children to College,” from Teachers College Press.

What’s more, in the 2022 work “Everyone Wins!” (Scholastic), which Cuevas co-authored with four other education colleagues, she makes the evidence-based case that family engagement benefits teachers and communities as much as students.

Research And Relationships Help Build A Foundation For Breakthroughs

A first-generation college graduate, Cuevas brings personal experience and a perspective of allyship to her research. She grew up in Los Angeles, where she developed a love for education. She became a college advisor in the Oakland Unified School District while also leading a summer bridge program at UC Berkeley, where she earned her undergraduate degree.

In the early 2010s, she was one of the few bilingual college advisors at her Oakland school.

“Spanish-speaking parents swamped me with questions,” Cuevas said. “They were like, ‘We don’t know the system, but we want to help our children get to college. Can you help us?’ So I started doing bilingual workshops, and I started developing relationships with the parents.”

Those mothers and fathers came to trust Cuevas, sharing their fears that their children wouldn’t qualify for financial aid or any other benefits because they were undocumented.

“This was in 2012, when DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was announced, so we were able to say, ‘Hey, undocumented students can go to college, it’s just harder.’”

Meeting Families To Gather Data Along With Stories Of Success

As her information allayed some fears, Cuevas also uncovered gaps in the system. Her knowledge base grew as she asked questions the parents told her they had never been asked before.

“I wanted to design a study that looked for stories of success,” Cuevas said. “At the core was a commitment to developing relational trust. I did the interviews in Spanish, and I didn’t push a protocol but let the stories come up naturally.”

“She said, ‘Look, my daughter got into college, so my sacrifice was worth it,’” Cuevas said. “That’s one of the themes that came out in my study – this idea of sacrifice. Parents really saw access to higher education as an opportunity for upward social mobility.”

Lessons Of Support Serve Future Educators

As a college advisor, Cuevas was disheartened by some of what she learned, because she knew that scholarships and free college-prep courses were available.

“If these courses were better publicized or more counselors were sharing this information, parents wouldn’t have to go the pain route,” she said.

Parents of undocumented students shared a range of insights, including that they equate speaking with a teacher to talking with a government official. One said, “I understand that if I go to a parent-teacher conference, it doesn’t mean that I’m walking into an Immigration Office, but that’s the feeling I get,” Cuevas related.

Some stories were heart wrenching. One mom was living paycheck to paycheck, but she wanted her daughter to benefit from a pricey college-prep program. So she quit taking her bloodpressure medicine and used that money to pay for the program.

Cuevas works to dispel misconceptions, such as that Latinx parents don’t want to get involved in school activities. Sometimes all it takes for parents to volunteer is to hold an event at a time that accommodates those who work multiple jobs, Cuevas said.

“One of the biggest barriers is a lack of communication between families and educators,” she noted. “Creating those lines of communication takes time, which of course is in short supply. But if educators can make that commitment, we now know it can be fruitful for all parties involved.”

BY DENNIS ARP

When mothers and daughters talk, Michelle Miller-Day listens.

Stories shared with her during two decades of research fill Miller-Day’s two books, infuse a podcast (“Hello Mother, Hello Daughter”) she cohosts, and even inspired her to write a play. Still, the Chapman University professor remains eager to peel back even more layers of the mother-daughter dynamic.

“It’s always evolving,” says Miller-Day, Ph.D., a professor of communication studies in the Chapman School of Communication. “Motherdaughter communication takes many forms and spans lifetimes.”

In her Chapman classroom, students learn how intellectual study of communication theory can help inform personal relationships, including “how they can gain personal insights into their own communication behaviors with their moms,” she said.

“Ultimately, I want my students to realize that like all relationships, these take work, and the students contribute to the relationship as much as their moms do.”

As students share insights about their own motherdaughter relationships, it helps Miller-Day piece together the tapestry of her anecdotal research.

Professor Michelle Miller-Day leads a discussion with students in her class “Mother-Daughter Communication.”

Research Began When She Was A Student

Miller-Day’s interest in mother-daughter communication dates to ethnographic research she did as a student and which ended up being her doctoral dissertation. Insights from motherdaughter interviews also became fodder for her play “Two of Me,” about intergenerational communication and not repeating the mothering mistakes we experience as children. For four years, the play was staged in Phoenix on and around Mother’s Day.

For a chapter in one of her books, Miller-Day interviewed more than 100 women about the turning points in their relationships. Her book “Constructing Motherhood and Daughterhood Across the Lifespan” is now the textbook for her class.

Relational stories from research mix with everyday tips during the podcast Miller-Day co-hosts with Baylor University Professor Allison Alford. “Hello Mother, Hello Daughter” is available on Spotify, Apple and other platforms.

So how have those relational stories changed over the years? Well, for one thing, when MillerDay started her research, she didn’t hear tales of smartphone apps that allow mothers to track the whereabouts of their daughters 24-7.

One student shared that she didn’t know such an app was on her phone until one day her mom pulled up alongside her car and admonished her for being somewhere Mom didn’t think she should be.

“So many trust issues,” Miller-Day says.

As her research continues, Miller-Day highlights some other findings of note:

ƒ Social media is an important source of support for many daughters, especially on Mother’s Day. Even those whose moms have passed away find community in sharing that they continue to maintain a relationship with their mothers. “I started this work before my mom and dad had passed away. I totally understand this perspective now,” Miller-Day says.

ƒ In our culture, we use the term “mothering” when what we really mean is “daughtering,” Miller-Day notes. As daughters increasingly are called on to care for aging parents, they deserve to have that role recognized and respected as distinctive from the care mothers provide to infant and adolescent daughters.

ƒ Students these days talk about the shaming they experience if they say that they don’t want to be a parent. “It seems to be socially acceptable to shame someone for this, which amazes me,” Miller-Day says. “This warrants more research.”

But even as times change and communication issues evolve, core truths endure, the professor says. For instance, bonds grow stronger when daughters and mothers communicate at a level that defies cellphone tracking.