scholarly journals From First to First: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color First-Generation Faculty and Administrator Narratives of Intersectional Marginality and Mattering as Communal Praxis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 773
Author(s):  
Rican Vue
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
First Generation ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Faculty And Administrators

While the education of first-generation students (FGS) has garnered the attention of scholars, educators, and policy makers, there is limited dialogue on how first-generation faculty and administrators (FGF/A)—that is, first-generation students who went on to become faculty and/or administrators—experience higher education and are engaged in enhancing equity, inclusion, and justice. Intersectional approaches, which illuminate the nexus of race, gender, and class in education, are necessary for appreciating the complexity of FGF/A experiences and liberatory practices taking shape in higher education. Narrative analysis examining nine Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) FGF/A oral histories reveal how stories of mattering and intersectional marginality are sites of communal praxis that aim to dislodge systems of power, including racism, classism, and patriarchy. This praxis involves validating the complexity of students’ academic and social lives and engaging vulnerability. The discussion encourages reflection of how communal praxis can be cultivated toward transforming the linked conditions of faculty and students.

scholarly journals Shape-shifting and pushing against the odds: staff perceptions of the experiences of first generation students in South Africa and the UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Forsyth ◽  
Claire Hamshire ◽  
Danny Fontaine-Rainen ◽  
Leza Soldaat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Staff Perceptions ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
University Life ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe principles of diversity and inclusion are valued across the higher education sector, but the ways in which these principles are translated into pedagogic practice are not always evident. Students who are first in their family to attend university continue to report barriers to full participation in university life. They are more likely to leave their studies early, and to achieve lower grades in their final qualifications, than students whose families have previous experience of higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a mismatch between staff perceptions and students’ experiences might be a possible contributor to these disparities. The study explored and compared staff discourses about the experiences of first generation students at two universities, one in the United Kingdom (UK), and the other in South Africa (SA). One-to-one interviews were carried out with 40 staff members (20 at each institution) to explore their views about first generation students. The results showed that staff were well aware of challenges faced by first generation students; however, they were unsure of their roles in relation to shaping an inclusive environment, and tended not to consider how to use the assets that they believed first generation students bring with them to higher education. This paper explores these staff discourses; and considers proposals for challenging commonly-voiced assumptions about students and university life in a broader context of diversity and inclusive teaching practice.

scholarly journals First-generation students’ information literacy in everyday contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Darren Ilett
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Funds Of Knowledge ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Deficit Thinking ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
The Us

Historically, much of the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature on first-generation students (FGS) framed them using deficit thinking, emphasising what they lacked to be successful in higher education. In contrast, recent scholarship has turned to asset-based pedagogies, shifting the focus onto the strengths that FGS bring to college. Further, LIS research on FGS has examined how students engage with information solely in academic contexts, such as completing research papers or navigating higher education procedures. The current study contributes to the discussion of asset-based pedagogies by using a funds of knowledge approach to explore the ways in which FGS at a mid-sized university in the US engage with information, and it expands the scope of inquiry to several everyday contexts, including students’ households, workplaces, and communities. The findings reveal a variety of funds of knowledge concerning participants’ information literacy (IL) and lay the foundation for IL instruction that meets FGS where they are, thus serving them more equitably.

Work Hard

2020 ◽  
pp. 72-96
Author(s):  
Janel E. Benson ◽  
Elizabeth M. Lee
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
High Status ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Summer Bridge ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Campus Engagement ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Faculty Relationships

Chapter 4 describes first-generation students in a Work Hard geography. These academically engaged students made not only classes and homework central to their daily lives, but their friendships and social lives also were often rooted in either academic work and/or nonathletic extracurricular interests. Work Hard students report close faculty relationships and strong friendships, often with those from similar demographic backgrounds, but they are also lonely outside those spheres, avoiding the high-status social hubs of campus. Most students in this geography came through Summer Bridge, and much of their campus engagement is in reaction to the racism, classism, and sexism they feel and observe on campus. They have created friendship communities that provide affirmation and support and crafted geographies that link their social, extracurricular, and academic priorities. The overlap of these spaces provides a buffer but does not connect these students to wealthier peers.

scholarly journals The Big Read Collaboration between Kingston University, the University of Wolverhampton, Edge Hill University, and the University of the West of Scotland, 2018–2019

LOGOS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-65
Author(s):  
Alison Baverstock ◽  
Jackie Steinitz ◽  
Tanuja Shelar ◽  
Kelly Squires ◽  
Nazira Karodia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
The West ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
The University

This paper outlines the experience of four universities that collaborated on a pre-arrival shared reading project, the Big Read, in 2018/2019. They did so primarily to promote student engagement and retention and also to ease the transition into higher education, particularly for first-generation students, to promote staff connectedness, and to provide a USP (unique selling point) for their institution. The paper covers all the associated processes, from isolating the respective aims of the collaborators to the choosing and sharing of a single agreed title. In analysing the outcomes, recommendations are made for future cross-institutional projects of this kind.

scholarly journals Xan Arch and Isaac Gilman. Academic Library Services for First Generation Students. New York, NY: Libraries Unlimited, 2020. 149p. Paper.

2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
New York ◽  
White Students ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Library Services ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Actual Problem ◽  
The Social

Xan Arch and Isaac Gilman create a necessary, at times difficult to discuss, piece of writing that should be used by academic libraries across the nation. Academic Library Services for First Generation Students brings forth the question of how to address best librarian practices for first-generation students. They argue that current practices cater to middle-class white students. The academic setting is shaped in such a way that first-generation students are viewed as needing “assistance” when the actual problem lies within the institution and its support systems. This book’s structure facilitates a rich understanding of the problems within these institutions while also offering concrete examples for academic libraries that want to do better. The book begins by describing the social context of first-generation students in higher education generally and then addresses academic libraries in particular. It finishes with examples of how to adapt institutions to better support these students.

Multisphere

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-115
Author(s):  
Janel E. Benson ◽  
Elizabeth M. Lee
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
High Status ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Extracurricular Involvement ◽  
The Way

Chapter 5 focuses on Multisphere students who incorporated elements from both Work Hard and Play Hard geographies, balancing serious academic work, strong extracurricular involvement, and social lives in high-status venues. Most Multisphere students arrived on campus through targeted orientation programs. While these led to early and lasting friendships, Multisphere respondents’ campus acclimation processes are distinguished by a pattern of branching out, locating strong peer ties in varied social locations. The way that students in this geography float among different spheres, able to be comfortable and successful in each, makes this the most fluid of the campus geographies. There are few first-generation students in this geography, and the authors think of them in some ways as being both outliers and examples of what is possible for first-generation students.

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