First-in-Family students’ roots and routes into higher education: Familial dynamics as drivers for breaking intergenerational cycles of educational attainment

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This study fills significant gaps in knowledge around how familial dynamics shape First-in-Family students’ educational pathways, inform how they engage with the higher education setting, and drive them to break intergenerational cycles of educational attainment. Twenty-seven interviews with First-in-Family students in four public universities in Austria revealed three drivers: aligning with familial expectations, leaving one’s social milieu and emancipation from familial orientations. The paper argues that these drivers inform not only the why but also the how they organise their social contacts during their university education (e.g. different forms of engagement and connection to their family milieu and community outside of university). The findings suggest that we need to take these subjective dimensions into account if we aim to improve targeted support and to enhance the quality of learning experiences for all higher education students. Furthermore, we need to acknowledge that a growing diversity in the student population might also mean a greater diversity in the reasons to pursue a higher education, which should be accompanied with critical reflections on how the needs of these students can be met in the post-pandemic university to foster student retention and success.