The lives of undocumented immigrants in the United States and the challenges they face was the focus of the annual Education in Equity Dialogue on Nov. 7, at Cal State San Bernardino, organized by the university’s Doctorate in Educational Leadership program.

“Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Navigating Uncertain Futures,” was presented by Roberto Gonzales, a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the author of “Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America,” which was available for purchase at the lecture.

The vivid ethnography by Gonzales explored why highly educated undocumented youth share similar work and life outcomes with their less-educated peers, despite the fact that higher education is touted as the path to integration and success in America.

Mining the results of an extraordinary 12-year study that followed 150 undocumented young adults in Los Angeles, “Lives in Limbo” exposes the failures of a system that integrates children into K-12 schools but ultimately denies them the rewards of their labor.

Gonzales received his B.A. from Colorado College, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Irvine.

Gonzales is at the forefront of research on the factors that promote and impede immigrant and undocumented students in the United States. His research is featured in top social science journals and supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation.