scholarly journals First-Generation College Students’ Integration into Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. p11
Author(s):  
Colleen Farrell-Felici ◽  
Sunddip Panesar-Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Instrumental Case Study ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Program Policy ◽  
Comprehensive Programs ◽  
College Educators

First-generation college students face many challenges transitioning into school. This research included details relating to the difficulties facing the scholars and how college educators can address the needs. Understanding the concerns of first-generation college students is critical for the implementation of comprehensive programs to provide support for first-generation students. Appropriate support is not being put in place, and the problem is college educators do not understand first-generation college students’ burdens. An insufficient exploration of the issues surrounding institutional structures within the higher education community to support this population represents a gap in the literature. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to explore the perspectives of the first-generation students and university representatives regarding the necessary interventions designed for learning. Research questions helped to identify the viewpoints of the scholars and set the foundation for all-inclusive plans. 26 participants were interviewed, 15 of whom were included in four small focus groups and 17 of whom participated in in-depth interviews. Program policy documents were reviewed as well. The analysis involved coding the information for themes and interpretations, which findings suggest providing a more collaborative system with comprehensive support for first-generation college students. Best practices for transformational changes were linked to maintaining sustainable relationships and integrating cultural competence for the learners.

When Race and Class Collide: Classism and Social-Emotional Experiences of First-Generation College Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 152102512199548
Author(s):  
Patton O. Garriott ◽  
Shao-Jung “Stella” Ko ◽  
Sandra Bertram Grant ◽  
Mackenzie Jessen ◽  
Blake A. Allan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Social Status ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Subjective Social Status ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
First Generation College

Scholarship devoted to first-generation college students has increased rapidly over the past decade, with studies demonstrating first-generation students are systematically disadvantaged compared to their continuing-generation peers. Recently, scholars have critiqued the treatment of first-generation students as a monolith and encouraged complicating their experiences using intersectionality as an analytic tool. This study examined the association between institutional classism and students’ social-emotional experiences in higher education, and how these relations vary based on sociorace, first-generation college student status, and subjective social status. In a sample ( N = 742) of college students from two four-year public institutions, results showed that the strength of the association between institutional classism and social-emotional experiences varied at different intersections of first-generation status, sociorace, and subjective social status. These findings demonstrate the importance of contextualizing first-generation students’ experiences and have implications for efforts to retain first-generation students in higher education.

A critical approach to academic, community, and family literacies of first-generation college students in Latin America

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lina M. Trigos-Carrillo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Latin America ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Community Cultural Wealth ◽  
Cultural Wealth ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Generation College

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] In this study, I investigated the social practices related to reading and writing of first-generation college students and their families and communities in Latin America from a critical sociocultural perspective (Lewis, Enciso and Moje, 2007). This embedded multiple-case study was conducted in Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Using an ethnographic perspective of data collection (Bernard, 2011; Lillis and Scott, 2007) and the constant comparative method (Heath and Street, 2008), situational analysis (Clarke, 2005), and within and cross-case analysis (Yin, 2014), I analyzed specific literacy events (Heath, 1982) and literacy practices (Street, 2003) in social context. First, I argue that access to the academic discourse and culture is one of the main barriers first-generation college students faced, although they constructed strong social support systems and engaged in rich literacy practices that involved critical action and thinking. Second, I found that, in contrast to the common belief that socially and economically nonmainstream college students were deficient in literacy, these students and their families possessed a literacy capital and engaged in complex and varied literacy practices. Using their literacy capital, first-generation college students and their families and communities procured the preservation of cultural identity, resisted the effects of cultural globalization, served the role of literacy sponsors, and reacted critically to the sociopolitical context. These literacy practices constituted a community cultural wealth for the families and communities of first-generation college students. I argue that a positive approach towards first-generation college students' identities and their community cultural wealth is necessary in curriculum, instruction, and policy if universities are truly committed to provide access to higher education to students from diverse backgrounds. Finally, I investigated first-generation university women's gender identities, discourses, and roles as they navigated the social worlds of the public university and their local communities in Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica. While dominant discourses and roles associated with women reproduced the machismo culture in the region, these group of first-generation university women contested, challenged, and resisted those roles, discourses, and identities. From a Latin American feminist perspective, I argue that bonds of solidarity and communal relations are values that resist the negative effects of global capitalism in marginalized bodies. In particular, public universities, women's supporters, emancipatory discourses, and situated critical literacies played a critical role in improving gender equality in higher education in Latin America. This study contributes to a better understanding of the literacy practices in situated social contexts and informs the ways in which more equitable college instruction, policy, and practices can be developed and promoted.

Communicative Resilience of First-Generation College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina M Scharp ◽  
Tiffany R Wang ◽  
Brooke H Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Online Education ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Education Administrators

Abstract As U.S. higher education institutions closed their campuses and transitioned to online education due to the high risk for COVID-19 transmission, first-generation college students (FGS) were particularly susceptible to multiple stressors. Findings from a sample of 44 participants reveal seven resilience triggers, four resilience processes, and three relationships between resilience processes and triggers. Based on these findings, we advance the communication theory of resilience by establishing the ways triggers can be structural, emergent, and overlapping and by theorizing resilience processes as both enduring and time-bound/contingent. We also employ a new qualitative method, thematic co-occurrence analysis, to illuminate the relationships between the resilience triggers and processes. Practical applications for higher education administrators, teaching instructors, and student support professionals are described.

Talking ‘Bout My Generation: Defining “First-Generation College Students” in Higher Education Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Robert K. Toutkoushian ◽  
Robert A. Stollberg ◽  
Kelly A. Slaton
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
College Entrance ◽  
College Entrance Exam ◽  
Entrance Exam ◽  
First Generation College Student ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
College Educated

Background/Context There have been numerous studies conducted in the higher education literature to determine whether parental education is related to the academic plans and success of their children. Within this literature, particular emphasis is often given to children who are “first-generation college students.” However, researchers and policy makers have not reached agreement on what constitutes a first-generation college student and whether the definition affects the findings from their studies. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this study, we examined whether the way in which first-generation college status was defined affected its association with the likelihood of a student going to college. We used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:02), which is a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 10th-grade students in 2002 who were followed up in 2004, 2006, and 2012. Research Design We used binary and multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine how first-generation college status, as well as other personal, family, and school characteristics, were associated with whether a student took a college entrance exam, applied to college, and enrolled in college. For this study, we constructed eight different definitions of a first-generation college student. The definitions varied with regard to the level of education needed for a parent to be considered “college educated” and the number of parents meeting the education criteria. Conclusions/Recommendations Our results showed that the connection between first-generation college status and these three outcomes varied depending on how first-generation college status was defined. In general, we found larger deficits for first-generation college students when neither parent was college educated and when college educated was defined as earning a bachelor's degree or higher. First-generation college students faced the largest deficits for enrolling in college, and smaller (but often significant) deficits for taking a college entrance exam and applying to college. The results imply that researchers should be very specific about how they are defining first-generation college status and should determine whether their findings are sensitive to how the variable was defined.

Staying Close or Going Away: How Distance to College Impacts the Educational Attainment and Academic Performance of First-generation College Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alma Nidia Garza ◽  
Andrew S. Fullerton
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Bachelor's Degrees

It is widely documented that first-generation college students attain bachelor’s degrees at lower rates than their peers. First-generation students also consistently prioritize distance to college in their school decision-making process. How distance impacts their educational performance, however, is an issue that has not received sufficient research attention. This study uses the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) to investigate whether the distance between the permanent residence of first-generation students enrolled in four-year degree programs and their attending college impacts their educational attainment and grade point average (GPA). We find that first-generation students who attend colleges at a greater distance from home are more likely to graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree. We do not find strong support for the relationship between distance and a student’s GPA in most years of enrollment. We discuss the way college accessibility reinforces inequality within higher education along with the theoretical implications of our findings.

scholarly journals Information Seeking Anxiety and Preferred Information Sources of First-Generation College Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24
Author(s):  
Josefine Smith ◽  
Stacy Brinkman
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Generational Status ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Parental Experience ◽  
First Generation College

Objective – To determine whether information seeking anxieties and preferred information sources differ between first-generation college students and their continuing-generation peers. Methods – An online survey was disseminated at two public college campuses. A total of 490 respondents were included in the results. Independent variables included institution, year in college, and generational status. Instead of using a binary variable, this study used three groups for the independent variable of generational status, with two first-generation groups and one continuing-generation group based on parental experience with college. Dependent variables included 4 measures of information seeking anxiety and 22 measures of preferred information sources. Responses were analyzed using SPSS. One-way independent ANOVA tests were used to compare groups by generational status, and two- and three-way factorial ANOVA tests were conducted to explore interaction effects of generational status with institution and year in college. Results – No significant differences in overall information seeking anxiety were found between students whose parents had differing levels of experience with college. However, when exploring the specific variable of experiencing anxiety about “navigating the system in college,” a two-way interaction involving generational status and year in school was found, with first-generation students with the least direct experience with college reporting higher levels of anxiety at different years in college than their peers. Two categories of first-generation students were found to consult with their parents far less than continuing-generation peers. The study also found that institutional or generational differences may also influence whether students ask for information from their peers, librarians, tutoring centers, professors, or advisors. Conclusion – This study is one of the first to directly compare the information seeking preferences and anxieties of first-generation and continuing-generation students using a non-binary approach. While previous research suggests that first-generation students experience heightened anxiety about information seeking, this study found no significant overall differences between students based on their generational status. The study reinforced previous research about first-generation college students relying less on their parents than their continuing-generation peers. However, this study complicates previous research about first-generation students and their utilization of peers, librarians, tutoring centers, professors, or advisors as information sources, and suggests that institutional context plays an important role in shaping first-generation information seeking.

scholarly journals First generation college students and non-first-generation college students: Perceptions of belonging

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Costello ◽  
Amy Ballin ◽  
Miriam Rosalyn Diamond ◽  
Lan Gao
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
First Generation College

Background and objective: First generation college students (FGS), are emerging as an important demographic group for colleges and universities. Having a ‘sense of belonging’ or belonging is important to the success of all college students, especially for the retention of students who may be at risk of not completing their academic degree. The purpose of this study is to analyze differences between first generation and non-first-generation college students based on a mattering survey.Methods: Two hundred and thirty undergraduate students in one New England College participated in a study designed to uncover differences between FGS and non-first-generation college students based on responses to a mattering survey. The study utilized a questionnaire designed to capture students’ opinions on mattering. Open questions were included to inform and enrich the data.Results: First-generation student perceived a greater number of obstacles in their college experience than non-first-generation students. Obstacles to academic success for first generation students included lack of time to study due to work and family responsibilities, financial struggles, and unhelpful faculty relationships. Facilitators were helpful faculty and peer relationships. Lack of mental health support was cited as a barrier to both cohorts of students.Conclusions: Having a sense of belonging or mattering can help the student feel a connection to the college. This may aid the student in persisting towards graduation. Persistence toward graduation is important for all students including nursing students.

The impact of peer mentoring on the mentors

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Connolly
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Content Type ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of first generation peer mentoring experiences on retention, grade point average and students’ perception of their academic and leadership development. Design/methodology/approach This study utilized a mixed methods approach. Focus groups and interviews were utilized to determine the reported leadership experiences of the mentors. Descriptive statistics were used to compare grade point averages and retention rates. Findings The study found peer mentors in residential life perceived an increase in leadership skills; including role modeling, time management, personal confidence, and problem solving. The peers were challenged in their roles, and perceived these challenges to help them to grow as leaders. When compared to their peers, the peer mentors experienced increased retention and similar grade point averages. The results indicated that peer mentoring experiences can be beneficial for the mentors who are first generation college students, even experiences that are particularly challenging. Research limitations/implications The biggest limitation to this study is the fact that this was a small sample, without a control group. A further limitation is that it was difficult to get students to participate in the study. Future research might examine peer mentoring experiences of first generation students on larger campuses or on multiple campuses to allow for a control group of first generation peers without a peer mentoring experience. Practical implications The results indicated that peer mentoring experiences can be beneficial for the mentors who are first generation college students, even experiences that are particularly challenging. Social implications Due to the potential for their success, these types of experiences should be expanded for first generation students, a group that is at a higher risk for drop out. Special attention should be paid to ongoing training in peer mentoring experiences, given the level of commitment by the mentors. Originality/value While other studies have examined the impact of peer mentoring on those that have been mentored, and a few have examined the impact of the experience on the mentors themselves this study extends the research by looking at first generation college students. This is valuable because first generation students continue to lag in their success in college and practical research on what can improve the student experience for this group is necessary.

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