First-Generation Indonesian Undergraduates’ Persistence: A Phenomenological Study

In 2013, the tuition reform was undertaken in Indonesian higher education and, in turn, has facilitated the growing enrollments of undergraduates from lower-income families. Most of them are the first in their families to go to college. The increasing presence of first-generation students at campus requires sufficient understanding and necessary support from college personnel to allow them to succeed in their degree pursuit. Hence, by using social capital as the framework, this study attempted to dismantle the experiences of persistence of first-generation Indonesian undergraduates. The participants of this study were Indonesians who have earned a bachelor’s degree within the last five years and had neither parent has attended college. This study employed a phenomenological method to obtain the substance of how first-generation undergraduates in Indonesia interpret, process, and experience their persistence in college. The data collection was undertaken by use of two methods: questionnaire and interview. For data analysis, the study performed a set of analysis steps consisting of epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and structural/textual descriptions synthesis. Based on the analyzed interviews, there were six themes identified regarding support sources of persistence of Indonesian undergraduates: a) family; b) faculty and staff; c) friends; d) pre-college information; e) self-motivation; and f) financial aid. From the findings of this study, to enhance Indonesian undergraduates’ success in remaining in and then graduating from college, institutions need to do as follows: building a learning community, organizing a first-year program, facilitating student-faculty relations, and offering essentially academic support.

Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Student resistance in the language/literacy classroom has been an important focus of research in TESOL and applied linguistics. This article examines resistance by two adult-arrival immigrant students in a developmental literacy classroom, drawing from a larger ethnographic case study focused on students’ transition into community college. The students’ behaviours seemed puzzling or self-defeating to some college personnel, but when viewed through the theoretical framework of identity work, they can be read as attempts to counteract institutional marginalization. Findings from this analysis illustrate how an understanding of the histories, identities, and investments of adult immigrant learners can help educators respond to “difficult” moments in the classroom and beyond. This study has several implications for higher education practitioners: First, we must question our initial assumptions about student behaviours, so that we interpret those behaviours accurately. Second, we must be explicit about the norms of the academic culture, so that students can more effectively enact their desired identities and display symbolic capital in college courses. Finally, we must build curricula, policies, and pedagogies that are more inclusive and relevant for adult immigrant learners. These findings add to scholarly conversations about immigrant students’ funds of knowledge and agency enactment within postsecondary education. La résistance des étudiants dans la salle de classe de langue ou de littératie est devenue un point focal de la recherche en TESOL et en linguistique appliquée. Cet article examine la résistance de deux étudiants immigrants adultes récemment arrivés dans une classe de développement de la littératie, en s’appuyant sur une étude de cas ethnographique plus large qui se concentre sur la transition des étudiants vers un collège communautaire. Aux yeux de certains membres du personnel du collège, le comportement des étudiants semblait déroutant ou semblait nuire à leur réussite; cependant, quand on utilisait la perspective du cadre de travail identitaire, le comportement peut se comprendre comme des tentatives de contrecarrer la marginalisation institutionnelle. Les résultats de cette analyse illustrent comment la compréhension des histoires, des identités et des investissements des étudiants immigrants adultes peut aider les éducateurs à répondre aux moments « difficiles » dans la salle de classe et au-delà. Cette étude a plusieurs implications pour les praticiens de l’enseignement supérieur. Premièrement, nous devons remettre en question nos suppositions premières à propos du comportement des étudiants de façon à l’interpréter correctement. Deuxièmement, nous devons expliquer clairement les normes de la culture universitaire, afin que les étudiants puissent entrer plus efficacement dans leur identité recherchée et montrer leur capital symbolique dans les cours collégiaux. Pour conclure, nous devons créer des programmes, des politiques et des pédagogies qui soient plus inclusives et plus pertinentes pour les apprenants immigrants adultes. Ces résultats s’ajoutent aux conversations universitaires sur le fonds de connaissances des étudiants immigrants et leur capacité d’agir au sein de l’enseignement postsecondaire.

Reliability of self-employment intentions instrument among international students in Indonesian university

This paper examines the validation instrument used to measure the psychometric status of the self-employment intentions. Self-employment intentions are crucial to identify the university students in order to confirm their decision making. They are a questionnaire to measure graduation in university to start choice on their careers. This instrument is composed of 11 items and was carried out to 115 international students studying in one Indonesian higher education. There were 49 male and 66 female respondents involved in this study. The Cronbach’s Alpha value was .94 which strongly suggest that the instrument has an excellent reliability. This study points out that self-employment intentions are suitable to be used by college personnel and counselors to examine and identify self-employment intentions among international students in Indonesian higher education. Implications for future study will also be discussed.

“We’re Serious About Our Education”: A Collective Testimonio From College-Going Latinas to College Personnel

Upon transition to higher education, Latinas face obstacles including cultural stereotypes, limited financial resources, racist campus climates, family responsibilities, being first generation college students, and cultural incongruities. Despite obstacles, Latinas exhibit college aspirations and goals. This article centers Latinas’ messages directed at college personnel in the form of a collective testimonio. Their messages are important for higher education professionals to consider when working with Latinas. Implications for practice, teaching, and future research are shared.

Retention of Rural Latina College Students, Engaging Strategic Leadership

The purpose of this study is to understand how the contextual complexities between Chicana feminist theory help leaders of higher education understand Latina retention in rural colleges and what Latina women encounter in their college experience. Despite the vast amounts of research that is known about the barriers they face in urban colleges (AACC, 2012; Biswas, 2005; ETS, 2007; NWLC, 2012; Payne & Fogerty, 2007), little is known about how a rural context affects the barriers and what works for Latinas that attend rural colleges. The purpose of the chapter is to learn from the literature review and from personal testimonials of what works and what these barriers to retention are and how administrators, and college personnel can better assist this population which will help Latinas succeed in rural colleges. This research is significant as a growing number of first generation Latina women are seeking a college education (Excelencia, 2010; McPhail, 2011; Santiago & Callen, 2010). This will have implications in the future of their lives and the future of higher education institutional policy, and not the least the future economic success of Latinas and how they view themselves as part of a positive college going experience (Cavazos, Johnson, & Sparrow, 2010; Gloria & Castellanos, 2012).