Analysis of the success itineraries of migrant students and trans students who reached university studies, from an inclusive educational perspective

Abstract

In this article we present the results of an investigation about the conditions of the educational environment that fostered the access to higher education, from a sample of students belonging to groups that usually present a higher risk of failure and discrimination. To be more specific, the analysis was focused on the groups of migrant students and trans students.

Research in this field evidences the difficulties that these individuals usually have to face out in their educational careers, but they don’t stop describing successful itineraries and analyzing the factors that foster them. We start from the hypothesis that it is possible to identify favorable conditions in the formal educational environment, whose analysis can help to improve attention strategies for diversities and, in general, the organization of educational institutions.

A qualitative research approach was adopted, based on the life stories from a sample of 12 university students (8 migrants and 4 trans), using biographical interviews and discussion groups to gather the information. Considering that these students completed successful itineraries that allowed them to gain access to university, they were asked to recall their educational experiences to identify factors that helped them in the formal educational environment.

The data obtained show, however, a greater incidence of personal and family variables in the successful academic itineraries analyzed, revealing, at the same time, the limited results achieved by the measures and strategies to attend to diversity.