First-generation College Students Research Articles

“Elder siblings assist younger ones in going to college”: the moral mission and choice of first-generation college students in rural China

“Elder siblings assist younger ones in going to college”: the moral mission and choice of first-generation college students in rural China

Professional self-concept of BSN students: A cross-sectional correlational study

BackgroundProfessional self-concept consists of one's judgments, attitudes about oneself professionally, and one's own perception as a professional. A positive professional self-concept can support students and new nurses throughout their nursing careers. ObjectiveTo describe levels of self-concept among pre-licensure undergraduate students. Participants/settingThe participants were nursing students in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in the United States. Design/methodsThis is a cross-sectional correlational study with self-report instruments, including demographics and the Professional Self-Concept of Nurses Instrument. Data (N = 103) were analyzed with SPSS/WIN 29.0. Descriptive statistics and professional self-concept scores were examined with independent t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlations. ResultsMost participants were female (n = 90), with a mean age of 20 years (SD = 1). The mean professional self-concept of nurses score was 78 (SD = 7), ranging from 27 to 108, and professional self-concept was positively correlated with receiving tutoring through the university's program, working as a tutor for nursing students or students in prerequisite classes, transferring into the nursing program, and participating in campus nursing organizations. Professional self-concept was negatively correlated with advancement in semesters of the nursing program, being a first-generation college student, having a family member who is a nurse, GPA, and having clinical-related work experience in healthcare. ConclusionsHigher levels of exposure to nursing may be related to lower professional self-concept. This is important to recognize and it may generalize to other nursing schools and health-related departments. Schools of nursing should enhance students' resilience by promoting self-concept. Our findings also shade light on self-care and the mental health of healthcare professionals.

An identity-based learning community intervention enhances the lived experience and success of first-generation college students in the biological sciences

Working-class first-generation (FG) college students are underrepresented in higher education and STEM. Using a longitudinal quasi-experiment, we tested the impacts of a living learning community (LLC) in the biological sciences on FG students in their first year of college (Semester 1: N = 243; Semester 2: N = 199), across three cohorts (2018–2019, 2019–2020 and 2020–2021). Participation in the LLC enhanced FG students’ belonging, confidence, motivation, grades, knowledge of the social relevance of biology, and reduced STEM anxiety compared to a control group of FG students not in an LLC. LLC participation also increased retention in biological science majors one-year post-intervention compared to the control FG group. Moreover, LLC participation closed the academic gap between FG students in the LLC and honors students from college-educated families in a separate honors LLC. Benefits of the LLC intervention remained stable despite the COVID-19 pandemic, when living together became impossible, producing positive effects across cohorts from pre-pandemic to in-pandemic. Our results suggest that affinity-based learning communities—with or without shared housing—in the transition to college enhance academic thriving, persistence, and reduce social class driven achievement gaps in STEM.

Understanding college success through the lens of first-generation students in China: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

BackgroundFirst-generation college students face unique challenges in navigating the higher education system, and understanding their perceptions of college success is crucial for providing appropriate support. ObjectiveThis qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions of 15 first-generation college students regarding college success and to identify the factors they consider important for achieving success in college. MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, and the data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. ResultsThis study explores the varied perceptions of success among first-generation college students (FGCS) through five themes: Academic Achievement, Personal Development, Personal Well-being, Personal Fulfillment, and Career Success. ConclusionThis study provides valuable insights into the perceptions of first-generation college students regarding college success. The identified themes shed light on the multifaceted nature of success in higher education. These findings have implications for supporting first-generation college students and developing targeted interventions to enhance their overall success and well-being.

진로준비행동과 대학 만족도, 첫 일자리 만족도의 구조적 관계: 부모 최종학력에 따른 세대 간 비교

This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of college satisfaction on the effect of career preparation behavior on first job satisfaction among college graduates, and to test for differences in this effect by the highest level of parental schooling attainment. Using data from 2019 Graduate Occupational Mobility Survey (2020), we conducted structural equation model analysis and multi-group analysis with the highest level of parental schooling for a total of 6,473 participants, and obtained the following results. First, college satisfaction fully mediated the effect of career preparation behaviors on first job satisfaction among college graduates. Differences in the relationship between college graduates’ career preparation behaviors and first job satisfaction were based on the highest level of parental schooling attainment. Specifically, college satisfaction did not mediate the effect of career preparation behaviors on first job satisfaction in the first-generation college students(FGCS) group, but fully mediated it in the continuing-generation college students(CGCS) group. In addition, the path difference between the two groups was significant only for the effect of career preparation behavior on college satisfaction. We concluded that higher education should be improved to enhance first job satisfaction in terms of career development based Labor Market Effectiveness, and empirical improvement measures and suggestions for follow-up studies were provided.

Nostalgia Promotes Positive Beliefs about College Belonging and Success among First-Generation College Students

AbstractFirst-generation college students often develop negative thoughts and expectations about whether they belong in college and whether they can be successful in college, and these negative thoughts play a major role in college retention and success. Nostalgia, a mixed but mostly positive emotional experience that involves reflecting on personally meaningful events from one’s life, has been found to promote an optimistic future orientation. We tested the applied value of nostalgia’s future-orienting capacity for fostering positive beliefs about college belonging and success among first-generation college students in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, first-generation students who reflected on a nostalgic event from their past reported more positive beliefs about their potential to discover a sense of belonging in their college community, compared to first-generation students who reflected on an ordinary event. In Experiment 2, nostalgic reflection once again increased positive expectations for belonging in first-generation college students as well as optimism for academic success. We conclude that the power of nostalgia to promote a positive future orientation may be harnessed by institutions and programs looking to encourage belonging and optimism to help first-generation college students adjust to and succeed in college.

“We Just Kind of Found Ourselves”: A Narrative Study of First-Generation College Students and Belonging in Music Education

As the field of music education explores ways to mitigate barriers for underrepresented populations along the path to becoming a music teacher, the experiences of first-generation college students (FGCSs) in music teacher education programs warrant exploration. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore the lived experiences and perspectives of music educators who were FGCSs. Networks of support and mentoring were key in both the successes and challenges that participants experienced. Belonging was not a given for participants despite shared coursework and requirements with peers. Finding peers with similar backgrounds, accessing supportive relationships with faculty, and perseverance aided participants through college. Recommendations for music teacher educators include building relationships with FGCSs in targeted and strategic ways, starting in students’ first year, providing more intensive and proactive communication and advising structures, and building faculty knowledge of campus resources that may benefit FGCSs.

PDK Connection: Organizational news about PDK International

Joni Cordell, a PDK International member from Tensed, Idaho, has volunteered as a competition judge at the association’s annual Educators Rising conference since 2018. She also endowed a PDK International scholarship, the Ladder to Opportunity Scholarship, dedicated to first-generation college students who demonstrate financial need, are English leaders, or are Dreamers — the term for undocumented youth who were brought to the US as children.

Understanding First-Generation College Students’ Help-Seeking Attitudes Using Structural Equation Modeling

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between first-generation college students’ (FGCSs’) help-seeking attitudes, public and self-stigma, social support, and perceived discrimination (N = 295). A convenience sampling was used, resulting in a total of 295 participants from face-to-face and online administration. Results of structural equation modeling indicated perceived discrimination positively predicted the level of public stigma, and a negative directional relationship was found from social support to public and self-stigma, suggesting the need for increasing support for the population. In addition, mediating effects of public and self-stigma were found. Specifically, public stigma fully mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and self-stigma, and self-stigma fully mediated the relationship between public stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Furthermore, public stigma partially mediated the relationship between social support and self-stigma, and both public and self-stigma partially mediated the relationship between social support and help-seeking attitudes. Implications for counseling professionals were discussed.

“He Was Able to Rely on Me”: Negotiating the Sibling Intragenerational Bargain among Latino First-generation College Student Families

“He Was Able to Rely on Me”: Negotiating the Sibling Intragenerational Bargain among Latino First-generation College Student Families

“Nobody Told Me”: First-Generation Music Educators’ Soundtracks to Navigating the Academy

First-generation college students (FGCSs) are the first in their families to receive a baccalaureate degree. As a result, they face multiple sociological, familial, and cultural challenges as they navigate their college and professional environments. The purpose of this study is to explore the cognitive soundtracks that FGCSs create to navigate the music academy, university culture, and their first few years of teaching. We conducted an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis with five first-generation music educators who successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in music education. We present the findings as individual soundtracks curated under a playlist titled “Nobody Told Me,” representing participants’ collective lived experiences. Findings suggest that FGCSs struggle with access to material resources, navigating hidden curricula, familial and cultural pressures, and an overarching fear of failure. Based on these findings, we present recommendations for programmatic changes and mentorship for music education programs and schools of music to better support FGCSs.

Examining changes in adolescents' high school math and science motivational beliefs and their relations to parental STEM support and STEM major choice at the intersectionality of gender and college generation status.

Drawing on the situated expectancy-value, dimensional comparison theories, and the intersectionality approach, this article examined the changes in adolescents' math and science motivational beliefs, the parental and college correlates of those beliefs, and the differences at the intersection of gender and college generation status (i.e., female and male first- and continuing-generation college students). Findings based on the nationally representative high-school longitudinal study data (N = 12,070; Mage = 14 years; 54% female students; 28% first-generation college students; and 14% Latinx, 9% Black, 10% Asian, and 57% White) suggest that although adolescents' math and science ability self-concepts declined during high school, their science interest remained stable, and their math and science utility values increased. Adolescents' motivational beliefs in ninth grade and the changes from ninth to 11th grade positively predicted whether they declared a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college major. Parents' ninth-grade STEM support was more consistently associated with adolescents' concurrent beliefs compared to the changes in their beliefs. Finally, we found that female first-generation college students, who were more likely to be Latinx and Black students, tended to have lower math and science motivational beliefs, received less parental STEM support, and were less likely to choose a STEM major than their peers. The findings of this study indicate adolescents' math and science motivational development in high school matters for their college majors and that certain understudied groups, including female first-generation college students, may experience acute marginalization in STEM and warrant further attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Promoting equity in study abroad: A focus on first-generation and students of color in the USA

Education abroad is considered a high-impact practice with short-term benefits such as intellectual development and higher retention and university graduation rates, along with more long-term benefits such as personal and professional development. Thus, it is important to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to study abroad; however, research shows that this is not the case. For example, in the United States, the majority of study abroad participants are white (68% according to Institute of International Education [IIE], 2022), and the racial and ethnic diversity of study abroad participants is well below the percentage of undergraduate students of color overall. First-generation college students also make up a small proportion of the students who study abroad, with some coming from racial and ethnic minoritized backgrounds as well. This lack of diversity in study abroad should be a major concern for institutions of higher education. To address this issue at our own university, we surveyed 137 first-generation and students of color to gather data on their interests, opinions, and reservations about study abroad. Results demonstrate that they are overwhelmingly positive about study abroad but are concerned about cost, fitting it into their degree plan, and not knowing languages other than English. Additionally, 81% reported that they did not know where to start or how to get involved in study abroad. These results suggest that a more equity-minded approach with targeted interventions is needed to increase study abroad participation among first-generation and students of color.

Structure and flexibility: systemic and explicit assignment extensions foster an inclusive learning environment

Many educators strive to create inclusive classrooms where students receive not only knowledge but also empathy from their instructors. When students face unexpected challenges due to illness, academic pressure, or exhaustion, they often seek extensions on assignments. Instructors insert their own biases when they decide who is eligible for an extension. An explicitly communicated penalty-free extension system can eliminate this bias, create an inclusive learning environment, and disinter extension requests from the hidden curriculum. Students used an “extension without penalty” system (EWP) in a large introductory biology course. Mid-semester qualitative data collection helped design an end-of-the-semester quantitative survey about students’ perceived benefits. Assignment submission data, EWP use frequency and grades were directly extracted from the learning management system. Students preferred a two-tier extension system with ideal and extension due dates. The EWP system was used by 78% of the students, but half of them only used it once. Students reported benefits in stress reduction, handling of sickness and emergencies, and improved performance in other courses. Exploratory results indicate there were additional benefits in some areas for first-generation college students. Using the extension due dates did not impact student grades. This study uses evidence to debunk common misconceptions about assignment extensions.

Revisiting College Access and Equity: Perspectives of Continuing-Generation College Students on Their First-Generation Peers

ABSTRACT Although researchers have primarily focused on the experiences of first-generation college students, it is crucial to understand the perspectives of students whose parents have also attended college. We conducted 21 individual interviews with such students to learn about their pre- and during-college perceptions of their first-generation peers. Our findings recommend that higher education professionals engage continuing-generation students in mentorship or ally programs for first-generation students, offer individualized counseling opportunities, and expand financial aid.

Examining the Early Academic Performance of Doctor of Physical Therapy Students After Holistic Review: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

A diverse health care workforce can help to address systemic health disparities. Holistic review and use of an expanded definition of underrepresented minority (URM) that includes factors beyond race and ethnicity are suggested methods to promote diversity in the physical therapist (PT) workforce and ultimately address societal health disparities. Evidence suggests that holistic review can promote PT student diversity; however, limited evidence exists that describes the academic outcomes of holistic review that consider social determinants of learning (SDOL) factors in the review process. The purpose of this study was to examine the early academic outcomes of students after a holistic review and to examine relationships between SDOL factors and academic performance. A convenience sample of 160 students admitted to a doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program from June 2020 to June 2022 was used. A secondary analysis of students' self-reported responses from their admissions application was used to categorize response data into SDOL groups. An independent-sample t-test was used to test group differences in academic performance, and regression modeling was used to test relationships between SDOL factors and academic performance. The mean 6-month DPT program grade point average (GPA) of the sample was 3.32 ± .43. Nonstatistically significant differences appeared in early DPT GPA between URM and non-URM student groups. However, after controlling for undergraduate GPA, a history of educational disadvantage was the only SDOL factor that contributed to early DPT GPA variance (2.6%), P < .05. The similar academic performance of URM and non-URM students provides support for using an expanded URM definition in holistic review. Most of the educationally disadvantaged group were first-generation college students, which was associated with lower early GPA. These results provide emerging evidence that first-generation students in DPT programs may benefit from additional academic support.

Complete Opportunists: First-Generation College Students’ Lived Experiences With High-Impact Educational Practices

ABSTRACT High-impact practices (HIPs) are well-documented experiences that deepen engagement and go beyond traditional markers of success for college students. First-generation college students may even see greater gains in participation than their continuing-generation counterparts. However, there is a gap in the literature on the lived experiences of first-generation college students and HIPs. This qualitative phenomenological study interviewed 10 first-generation college students who have lived experiences with HIPs to address this gap. Five themes emerged, as well as several barriers and successes first-generation college students had with HIPs. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

A Profile of Community College Students as Preservice Music Educators

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to provide a profile of preservice music educators who chose to attend community college and a description of factors that led to this choice. The study was framed by Perna’s college choice model and focused on participants’ experiences and the socioeconomic and educational contexts that predated their enrollment. Quantitative data were collected via a questionnaire to community college students who sought a career in music education ( N = 59). Qualitative data were gleaned from interviews with four participants. Most participants (77.97%) identified as White, 47.47% identified as female, the mean age was 21.90 years, and 50.85% were first-generation college students. Participants reported varying levels of cultural capital, with 54.24% receiving private lessons prior to college. Affordability, location, the opportunity to live at home, flexible scheduling, and prior positive experiences with the college were motivators for attending a community college.

Navigating Academic Identity: Autoethnography of Otherness and Embarrassment Among First-Generation College Students

As a first-generation college student (FGCS), I have never felt entirely comfortable with this label, both in academic spaces and in various personal family situations. The notion of being a FGCS has evoked internal embarrassment, a sense of academic otherness, and external micro-aggressions. Through an autoethnographic analysis of my participation in the FGCS annual workshop, I explore the strengths and weaknesses of this category. The workshop provided insights into the diverse experiences of FGCSs, revealing it to be a fluid academic construct with multiple voices and narratives. However, when intersecting with other identities, the fragility of the FGCS category emerged, leading to conflicting conversations and resistance among participants. A rigid definition of FGCS overlooks its historical context of social exclusions and disregards the unique sensitivities and differences among ethnic and national groups within it. This approach weakens the struggle of marginalized groups and perpetuates their exclusion, both on and off campus. Acknowledging the complexity and diversity within the FGCS category can foster a more inclusive environment that respects the unique experiences of each individual. This approach paves the way for a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by FGCSs and empowers them to navigate their academic journeys with confidence.

The role of emotional similarity and emotional accuracy in belonging and stress among first-generation and continuing-generation students.

Extensive research has documented the psychological, social, and academic predicament of first-generation college students. However, basic psychological mechanisms underlying the challenges experienced by these students have been understudied. Taking a cultural psychology perspective, the present research considers the role of emotional (mis)match as a key mechanism for explaining first-generation students' lowered well-being. A sample of 344 American undergraduate students completed a survey designed to measure two aspects of emotional processing: (1) Emotional Accuracy - how accurately students perceive emotional reactions of majority-culture students (continuing-generation junior and senior students who have been socialized into college culture), and (2) Emotional Similarity -how similar students' emotions are to the emotions experienced by majority-culture students. Emotional Accuracy predicted positive outcomes, in general, but was lower among first-generation students. Unexpectedly, Emotional Similarity predicted negative student outcomes. As one of the first studies addressing basic psychological mechanisms in college adjustment, these findings underscore the importance of understanding the roles that specific emotional processes play in social adjustment.