ABSTRACT
Alessandra Bazo Vienrich describes her experiences in academia as an undocumented Latina graduate student. She reflects on the fear she experienced that her research on undocumented Latinx youth would “out” her as an undocumented immigrant, as well as the pressure her professors placed on her to find more mainstream research interests. Ultimately, she decided to reveal her immigration status to her fellow grad students and professors, for both personal and professional reasons: “I realized that my fear of revealing my undocumented immigration status to my professors, advisors, and fellow graduate students didn’t come from a place of fear for my safety, but from a place of fear of being further doubted, further questioned, and having to work even harder to prove myself in academia.” She concludes by offering strategies to other undocumented grad students and junior scholars to navigate these concerns regarding identity, authenticity, safety, support, and legitimacy in academia.
