Abstract
One of the greatest challenges of the United States postsecondary educational system is to improve the enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of a diverse college student population (Gorski, 2010). College enrollment and college attainment has been especially difficult for minority and immigrant students who tend to lack the financial resources, social and cultural capital, and academic preparation to meet college demands (Falcon, 2015; Stephens, Hamedani, & Destin, 2014). For instance, Latinx students are not represented in higher education at levels proportional to their rate of representation in the entire population of the United States (Gorski, 2010; Martinez & Cervera, 2012). There are many obstacles that affect first-generation Latinx college students’ enrollment. In fact, family and parental involvement has been positively associated to several student outcomes, such as higher academic achievement, student willingness to undertake academic work, quantity of parent and student interaction, student grades, and aspirations for higher education (Greenwood & Hickman, 1991). Students with involved parents are much more likely to attend four-year colleges or universities than students who do not receive support from their families (Tierney & Auerbach, 2005). This study will provide insight on Latinx parent-student relationships and its effect on students’ four-year college enrollment through the documentation of Latinx parents and first-generation college students’ lived experiences.