A Biographical-Narrative Inquiry to the Transitions of Latin American Immigrant Students: A Collective Case Study in the Context of Chilean Higher Education

Abstract

Chile has positioned itself as an important receiving nation of immigrants in Latin America, which is evidenced by the emergence of foreign students in both universities and professional institutes. The main objective of this article is to understand the inclusion-exclusion factors of a group of Latin American students immersed in Chile’s higher education system. The authors used a biographical-narrative inquiry to conduct eight in-depth interviews and a participatory group methodology in Chile’s Valparaíso Region. The findings show that factors such as the presence of an influential adult figure, institutional welcoming mechanisms, access to work, and expectations of timely graduation and future residence all play a significant role in the educational transitions of these immigrant students who have experienced cultural and spatial changes. The study concludes that these types of elements translate into key protective factors in the successful educational transitions of this group of young immigrants, who have developed the journey from school to the university world.