ADDRESSING DISPARITY
First-of-its-kind cross-border education study helps identify growing binational population .
BY ANTHONY KING
SAN DIEGO ’ S BORDER REGION represents a frontier not just between countries , but one of opportunity . For students on both sides of the border with higher education on the horizon , one would think the cultural interface and borderland proximity would be an advantage , but geographic , economic and migrational factors make for educational obstacles in that area .
UC San Diego has partnered with universities in Tijuana to survey approximately 6,500 high school students in the cross-border region to better understand student engagement , aspirations and how the migration of young people between countries creates both risks and opportunities .
The lead takeaway ? These students are most definitely binational .
Seventy-five percent of students in one subset say they have friends and family on both sides of the border and nearly
30 percent identify as both Mexican and American . What ’ s more , approximately 70 percent in this group can speak English and Spanish , giving them necessary cultural skills that will help them excel once they graduate and either enter the workforce or seek higher education .
“ These students are especially well suited to participate in the binational economy because of their cross-border cultural fluency , and supporting their educational success should be a major regional workforce development priority ,” says Melissa Floca , interim director of the Center for U . S . -Mexican Studies at UC San Diego ’ s School of Global Policy and Strategy .
The survey also provides insight into the students ’ professional trajectories and aspirations to live , study and work on both sides of the border . Yet while a whopping 93 percent say it is important to go to college , almost half — 45 percent — think they might have to leave school before they want to because of financial considerations . Researchers believe this study has the potential to sway policymakers in California and Baja California to respond to the specific needs of the shared student population .
Complete findings will be released in the report “ The Students We Share : A Cross-Border Workforce Development Priority ,” supported by the University of California ’ s Mexico Initiative .
Floca and co-research lead Patricia Gandara of UCLA ’ s Civil Rights Project say the flow of young people back and forth across the border for schooling can derail those unable to adapt to pressures caused by migration . “ We ought to be investing in these kids , rather than letting them fall through the cracks ,” Gandara says .
14 TRITON | FALL 2016