" Work of the heart”

Abstract

Many postsecondary students in the United States exist at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, such as race, socioeconomic status, (dis)ability, and legal status. Amidst a tumultuous sociopolitical context, a number of higher education institutions in the United States established Undocumented Student Resource Centers (USRCs), identity-centered student services that provide specialized support for students who hold marginalized legal identities (Ballerini & Feldblum, 2021; Castrellón, 2021; Cisneros & Valdivia, 2018; Cisneros et al., 2021; Gomez & Pérez Huber, 2021; Tapia-Fuselier, 2021). This study, which focuses on the professional employees at USRCs, is ultimately in service of students who are united by their marginalized legal statuses—those who are undocumented, those who are DACA recipients, and those who belong to mixed-status families. This issue is addressed through the following primary research questions: 1) What are the lived experiences of the professional employees who work at USRCs?; 1a) What personal factors inform their experiences in their role?; 2) What are the experiences of USRC professionals when they encounter systemic factors, ranging from the centered to the marginalized? While there is existing literature that recognizes the ways in which USRCs benefit their students, less is known about the experiences of the professional employees who work in USRCs (Cisneros et al., 2021; Tapia-Fuselier, 2021). This hermeneutic phenomenological (van Manen, 1990) study sought to address this gap by examining the experiences of the professional employees of USRCs. Three intersecting frameworks were used to conduct this research: Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), Tierney's (1988) framework of Organization, and Critical Systems Thinking (Cordoba & Midgley, 2008; Jackson, 2001; Midgley, 1992; Midgley et al., 1998; Rajagopalan & Midgley, 2015; Raza, 2021; Ulrich, 1983, 1988). The sample consisted of 6 professional employees from 2- and 4-year higher education institutions across the United States. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle (Dibley et al., 2020; van Manen, 1990). The findings indicate that the professional employees of USRCs bring untold assets and forms of wealth to their work, including their commitment to joy and their employment of aspirational, familial, and navigational capital. Systemic factors within their organization and beyond create barriers to their work, resulting in mentally and emotionally exhausting experiences, overburdened work environments, and instances where their identities and offices are marginalized by their tumultuous sociopolitical context. Implications for higher education practice, research, and theory are offered.