Description
Open enrollment postsecondary institutions serve as a primary pathway to higher education for many, including people who are formerly incarcerated. Still, over 95% of justice-impacted students do not obtain a college degree (Couloute, 2018). Therefore, additional research is needed among this underrepresented group to support their journey through completion in higher education. This study aims to provide insights on the community cultural wealth that justice-impacted students bring to the education environment. The goal of this study was to construct a community cultural wealth framework around justice-impacted students that can be used as an institutional guide for policymakers, educational leaders and associates, and faculty to support the academic success of system-impacted students. Findings suggest that in one proposed dimension, one component in the community cultural wealth of justice-impacted students, although weak, is positively associated with educational persistence. More specifically, there was a weak significant positive association between ‘Interest in scientific and medical discoveries, technologies, and environmental issues’ and education years completed. However, these findings should be viewed with caution due to the limitations of this study. Perhaps this research serves more as a call to action for institutional leaders to collect and release robust quantitative data sets on the anti-deficit cultural and social factors of students impacted by the criminal justice system. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.
