First-Generation Students in Visual Composition: The Centrality of Race, Rootedness, and Relationship

Abstract

This study focuses on how first-generation college students understand their first-generation identity in relation to their other multiple identities. Through photovoice methodology, students demonstrate the meaning making of being first-generation college students related to their other social identities. This study discusses four themes: (a) centrality of race and ethnicity, (b) rootedness, (c) grounding in community, and (d) negotiating multiple identities. This study discusses future implications for how practice and research should consider the first-generation identity alongside other social identities.