First Generation Students and Post-Undergraduate Aspirations

Morgan Teressa Carlton

doi:10.1177/2158244015618433

Abstract

Equal access to education is a growing concern throughout the nation. With an increasing amount of programs aimed to support the underrepresented populations on college campuses, first generation college students have grown to be a target population of particular interest. This study examined the relationships between first generation college seniors and applications to graduate or professional programs. The goal of this study was to determine if first generation students are pursuing advanced degrees at lower rates than non-first generation students and if so, attempt to uncover factors contributing to that evidence. Data were gathered from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman data set, and variables were analyzed using a binary logistic regression. The results of the study indicate that first generation students are significantly less likely to pursue an advanced degree, even when controlling for race, gender, family income, and cumulative grade point average, suggesting a distinctive impact of first generation status on post-undergraduate aspirations. However, after controlling for the impact of self-reported undergraduate loans, the effect of first generation status was no longer significant. The findings in this study provide an important new perspective in the field of sociology.

Highlights

Much research has been done on first generation college students and their undergraduate experience (Gardner & Holley, 2011)
School application before adding the control variables. This regression shows that first generation students are significantly less likely to apply to graduate or professional school programs (β = −.370, p = .001)
This model shows that first generation students are 69.1% as likely to apply to graduate or professional school programs as nonfirst generation students

Summary

Introduction

Much research has been done on first generation college students and their undergraduate experience (Gardner & Holley, 2011). Very little research has been conducted on the impact of first generation college student status on post-undergraduate aspirations. The Washington Post claims that “the college degree has become the new high school degree” (Rampell, 2014). This suggests that a bachelor’s degree is no longer as valuable as it has been in years past, and higher demands are being placed on college students to pursue degrees beyond undergraduate education. With an increase in the amount of schooling required for the workforce comes an increase in financial investments, higher stakes, increased competiveness, and overall higher demands for students (McCarron, 2012)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion