“It’s Cold in Here”: First-Generation Students at American Research Universities

Abstract

Using data from the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey, Snyder and Trost analyzed perceptions of campus climate for first-generation college students whose parents had little or no higher education experience. Overall, first-generation students found the campus climate at research universities less welcoming than did their continuing-generation peers. First-generation students were more likely to state that the campus climate did not value, support, welcome, or represent their personal background. These differences between first-generation students and students whose family have greater experience with higher education demonstrate that colleges and universities continue to support the dominant class-centric culture and status quo. The authors challenge institutions to pay attention to their first-generation college students and begin to dismantle the systems that limit positive experiences for first-generation students attending research universities.