https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g Kayli Victoria Lord---Thesis Defense 2021 en-us 2021-03-29 21:38:44 UTC 2025-10-17 15:35:47 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f4d9.png k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1365970625 1. Are there factors that serve as barriers and facilitators for SEFC in their completion of a bachelor's degree? 

2. What motivates and dissuades SEFC from utilizing campus support programs?

3. Are the specific obstacles affecting SEFC’s ability to attend class and complete assignments?

4. Are there sensitive class topics that motivate or dissuade SEFC to attend class? 

5. Are there supports and services that are not currently available to SEFC that they feel they need to successfully complete their degree? 

6. Are there additional academic challenges SEFC have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic? ]]> 2021-03-29 22:28:33 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1365970625 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384955049 Less than 3% of YEFC (youth who have experienced foster care) and who have emancipated out of the system receive a college degree, compared to 24% of the entire population (Walsh, 2021).

Even more, SEFC were less than half as likely to obtain a degree in six years compared to low income and first-generation students (12% vs. 28%) (Okpych & Courtney, 2018) 

Approximately 30,000 SEFC emancipate out of the foster care system each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau, 2010).

For SEFC who emancipate out of the system, a college degree is often one of the only safety nets they have available. 

The current literature indicates grades are lower for SEFC nationally, but does not address why (Watt, Norton & Jones, 2013). 

I plan to address this in my thesis and understand the experience of SEFC in their academics. ]]> 2021-04-05 23:00:45 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384955049 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384955944
As a student who experienced foster care (SEFC) myself, I struggled through many hurdles in my academic journey.

I wanted to understand the journey through higher education for other SEFC, specifically when it comes to academic success.

I plan to include my personal narrative in my thesis as I think it is important as a researcher to be open, honest and vulnerable of ties you have with the community you are researching and advocating for. ]]> 2021-04-05 23:01:23 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384955944 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384956600 Dworsky & Perez

Jeffrey Arnett's Emerging Adulthood and his critics

Samuels and Price's Survivalist Self-Reliance

Dennis Saleebey's Strengths Perspective

Avant's Ecological Systems Lens

Taking into account context with Mimi Nichter

Okypch and Courtney 

When anthropology and sociology intersect--

]]> 2021-04-05 23:01:55 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384956600 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384956952 Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus" and "social capital"
Iris Young's "Five Faces of Oppression"]]> 2021-04-05 23:02:12 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384956952 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384957615 My research is unique in that I will be asking SEFC how long they spent in the system, and hope to use qualitative research to show how this impacts SEFC academically. Not much is known on the gradient of SEFC experiences that have contributed to college and their journey in higher education.  

SEFC are not a homogenous group of people, and all have different backgrounds and years spent in the foster care system. 

I will be asking if there has been any mentorship in their life and how college became a feasible opportunity for them, hopefully contributing to understanding how SEFC become involved in college and how this impacts their academic success.

I will recruit from members of FACES at Texas State University primarily.

My data collection methods will include interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. 

I plan to interview twenty traditional undergraduate students (those who are aged 18-25) that have experienced foster care. 

I will be using Discourse analysis and Content analysis to code for themes and will be taking detailed notes durring each interview, focus group and observation. ]]> 2021-04-05 23:02:38 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384957615 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384965058 Sociologists Toni Watt and Christine Norton founded the FACES program eleven years ago (and it is fantastic).

Mentors and advocates provide support to SEFC through FACES in a variety of ways.

This program is dedicated to helping SEFC achieve their academic and personal goals in various ways. 

They provide food, emergency funding, employment, opportunities for SEFC to build community and so much more. 

This is where I primarily plan to recruit from!

]]> 2021-04-05 23:08:20 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1384965058 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414468264 Charles Loring Brace and the orphan trains
The history of institutionalized care in Texas
Ongoing episodes that explore aspects of the foster care system]]> 2021-04-14 00:46:03 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414468264 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414662304 McCoy, H., McMillen, J. C., & Spitznagel, E. L. (2008). Older Youth Leaving the Foster Care System: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

Walsh, A. (2021, February 24). College Affordability Challenges Facing Youth with Experience in Foster Care. The Century Foundation. 

Watt, Toni Terling et al. "Designing a Campus Support Program for Foster Care Alumni: Preliminary Evidence for a Strengths Framework." Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 35, no. 9, 2013, pp. 1408-1417, doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.06.002. 

]]> 2021-04-14 01:59:40 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414662304 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414714926 I aim to understand the holistic perspective of SEFC and what they need to be academically successful when operating under the five faces of oppression and Bourdieu's habitus.

Not only do SEFC often internalize inadequacy from their own biological and foster families, but they are also excluded in mainstream university culture from lack of knowledge of resources and connections.

 I intend to utilize these theoretical lenses and apply them when doing qualitative research in my journey to understand SEFC’s academic facilitators and barriers. ]]> 2021-04-14 02:21:01 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414714926 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414771365 2021-04-14 02:43:46 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414771365 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414798419 2021-04-14 02:55:29 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1414798419 k_l217 https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1418695877 2021-04-14 22:33:42 UTC https://padlet.com/k_l217/r2lgertzma26mw5g/wish/1418695877