First-generation Students Research Articles

Editor’s Introduction

Editor’s Introduction

Messaging Matters: The Impact of Advising Micromessages on Student Affect and Behavior across Diverse University Campuses

Across two experimental university studies, we examined how small changes in language embedded in advising communications influence student outcomes (e.g., support, persistence) and explored the utility of advising micromessages congruent with growth mindset and appreciative advising for diverse student populations. We found that micromessages embedded within hypothetical advisor emails increased anticipated positive student outcomes, including feelings of support and persistence. In line with our hypotheses and attribution-based intervention research with nontraditional and/or marginalized students, the positive effect of micromessaging appears greater for first-generation students and students of color. This research highlights opportunities to shape consequential student outcomes through small, strategic language changes. Empowering advisors with thoughtfully crafted language improves students' sense of support and persistence and may reduce achievement gaps.

From the Coeditors

We are pleased to share important contributions to the scholarship of advising in this issue. The first two pieces focused on academic advising as a profession. The issue opens with an article that explored ethical practice in academic advising, while the second investigated motives for career persistence among females in the primary advisor role. The next three pieces, although vastly different, shared in revealing just how impactful advisor communication can be. We are excited to close this issue with an article that so clearly illustrated the continued lines of research and application of perspectives from personality and social psychology on academic advising.In the opening article, utilizing constructivist grounded theory, Puroway proposed a model of ethical practice, including ethical encounter and response, capturing how advisors deal with ethical dilemmas. Such scholarship on ethical practice is a crucial step in the professionalization of our field. In the second article, again through the lens of constructivist paradigm, Solon, McGill, and Jensen explored the motivations contributing to career persistence among females in the role of primary advisor. Interviews with female primary role advisors revealed that meaningful and rewarding relationships with students, supportive colleagues, and supervisors; opportunities for professional development and self-care; and the potential for work-life balance contributed to these advisors' persistence in advising positions that often have high turnover. NACADA (2016) membership demographics indicated that more than 70% of members identified as female. Thus, we believe this article may also be of great interest to our readers.The issue continues with a study by Payne, Vandecar-Burdin, and Cigularova who surveyed faculty and advisor attitudes about articulation agreements pertaining to transfer students. Survey results indicated overall favorable attitudes about these agreements. However, compared to faculty, professional advisors indicated more familiarity with how the agreements work and who to contact with questions about the transfer process. Payne et al. also noted the importance of two types of communication: with students and across institutions. In addition to illuminating the importance of communication, their study of attitudes about agreements between university and community colleges reminds us of the rich potential of another type of partnership—the research partnership. Research collaborations between community college and university scholars, advising practitioners and research scholars, emerging and experienced researchers, and global collaborations all hold enormous promise in advancing the scholarship of advising (Troxel, 2019).This issue includes two more studies in which the importance of advisor communication emerged. In a quantitative study replicating and expanding the work of Kyte et al. (2020) published in the Journal, Buchanan, Brown, Chirco, Klein, and Purgason advanced our understanding of advisor language choices and micromessaging. They found that small changes in language choice and micromessages positively influenced student outcomes, with a stronger effect noted for first-generation students and students of color. Their study and the previous work of Kyte et al. (2020) highlighted just how much an advisor's words matter. In a broader sense, the importance of advisor personalized communications with students also emerged in the next article by Talbott. In this qualitative study, Talbott interviewed academic advisors who were subject matter experts on career changers as well as surveyed graduate students engaged in career change. The interview and survey findings revealed that out of many available resources for academic and career advising, career changers most frequently relied on personal communication with advisors and new student orientation programming, once again illuminating the importance of advising communication.We conclude this issue with a quantitative study by Robinson and Shi who explored the relationship among the noncognitive factors of attribution perspective, shame resilience, and academic identity status in relation to outcomes for probationary students in academic recovery courses. Their findings pointed to the potential for positive attribution perspective and shame resiliency in relation to students' trying to recover academically and the role advisors might play in facilitating the development of these noncognitive factors. More than 10 years ago, previous Journal editors published a special issue on Perspectives from Personality and Social Psychology on Academic Advising (Robbins & Shaffer, 2011), and this study by Robinson and Shi demonstrated just how far this line of research has progressed and developed since. Thus, in so many ways, this issue advances the empirical and theoretical work captured in the rich history of this Journal while speaking to the future development of the profession, its practices, and the needs of student populations we serve.Karen Mottarella & Lisa M. Rubin

Student Perceptions of Academic Integrity: A Qualitative Study of Understanding, Consequences, and Impact.

Academic integrity (AI) is of increasing importance in higher education. At the same time, students are becoming more consumer-oriented and more inclined to appeal against, or complain about, a penalty imposed for a breach of AI. This combination of factors places pressure on institutions of higher education to handle alleged breaches of AI in a way acceptable to students that motivates them to continue to engage with their studies. Students (n = 8) were interviewed to discover their perceptions of the process for dealing with breaches of AI. All students were based in one university in a very diverse area of London which has many first-generation students from non-traditional academic backgrounds. Students reported strong emotional reactions featuring high levels of anxiety and stress. Some found the process to be threatening and demotivating and questioned continuation on their course of study, while others used more adaptive coping strategies. Students also went to great pains to make it clear that their own, and their friends', breaches of AI were unintentional, while expressing the view that other people were deliberately cheating and should be penalised.Key recommendations include: support for students to re-engage after the intervention; support for students to develop effective self-regulatory learning strategies and time management; provision of specific examples to clarify what is, and is not, acceptable academic practice; recognition of the strong emotions likely to be invoked, especially if accompanied by declarations of unintentionality.

Self-Efficacy, Perceived Stress, and Individual Adjustment among College-Attending Emerging Adults

In a large, ethnically diverse sample of college-attending emerging adults (N = 693; ages 18–29), the current study examines associations between self-efficacy and individual adjustment (academic satisfaction, depressive symptoms, subjective physical health, and loneliness), directly and indirectly through perceived stress. Moderated mediation effects by sex, ethnicity, school year, and first-generation status were also explored. Using PROCESS, results show that self-efficacy was directly related to adjustment, and indirectly related through lower stress. Sex moderated the associations between self-efficacy and stress as well as stress and depressive symptoms; the relations were stronger in women. School year moderated how stress was associated with academic satisfaction in that the negative association was not found among the fourth-year students, but in all other peers. First-generation status moderated the negative association of self-efficacy and stress, with it being greater for first-generation college students compared to their peers. In addition, self-efficacy was positively related to academic satisfaction for first-generation students, but no relation was found for other students.

Opportunity and the Pandemic: Re-imagining Business Management Curriculum for First-generation Students under Cover of Pandemonium

First-generation university students negotiate with clear and evident difficulty the transition from the familiarity of secondary (high school) education to tertiary (university) education. The impersonal nature of tertiary education generally—and particularly so since the pandemic advent—accentuates marginalisation of vulnerable youth and impinges on effective learning and a favourable learning experience. A more desirable state would include demystification of the processes of becoming a student-customer, firstly, and thereafter a learner-initiate. Teaching faculty, in the (necessarily virtual) classroom, serve as the user-interface with the impersonal and often impenetrable administrative and teaching dimensions of the university exosystem. The rationale is that, were the pathway from high school graduate to student-customer and learner-initiate to be less harrowing, the transition would be more composed and the journey to degree completion more gratifying. Scaffolding this rationale as a reconceptualised first-year management studies curriculum draws upon Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of learner development, and the foundations established by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural model of learning. In this frame, proximal processes arising as learner interaction with microsystem and exosystem dimensions of socio-economic and socio-cultural inheritance, can be addressed in the classroom to transcend learner disaffection. An entry-level management principles curriculum delivered to a substantial cohort in the second semester of 2021 served as object of phenomenological observation and interpretation. The student-experience pathway was emphasised as instructor-directed, student-focused and compensatory. Two foci are brought to the fore in this paper, rendering the curriculum content accessible for the student profile, and overcoming assessment helplessness and despondency. These accomplishments are elaborated as features of backwards design and emphasis on teaching and learning as social interaction with a more knowledgeable other.

Changes in Food Security Status During Undergraduate Enrollment

ObjectiveTo explore changes in student food security status (FSS) during college enrollment and correlates of those changes. DesignTwo cross-sectional surveys (2016 and 2019). ParticipantsUndergraduates (n = 338) at a public university who completed both surveys. Variables MeasuredFood security status (US Department of Agriculture 10- and 18-item measures), demographics, and grade point average (GPA). AnalysisChi-square tests of goodness of fit for representativeness, McNemar-Bowker and paired samples Wilcoxon signed rank test for within-student FSS differences over time, logistic regression for the relationship between demographics and FSS over time, and ANCOVA for the relationship between FSS and GPA. Critical P ≤ 0.05 unless otherwise noted. ResultsThe prevalence of food insecurity was 22.4% in 2016 and 41.0% in 2019, and the McNemar-Bowker test indicated a significant asymmetrical relationship in FSS over time (P < 0.001). Almost half of the respondents (47.0%) reported experiencing food insecurity at least once. In multivariate analyses controlling for other demographic variables, first-generation students had the most consistent risk of food insecurity with lower FSS in 2016 (P < 0.001) and 2019 (P < 0.001), and they were more likely to have worsened FSS over time (P = 0.05). Food insecurity at either time was related to a lower 2019 GPA (P < 0.001). Conclusions and ImplicationsFood security status measured cross-sectionally cannot capture changes in student FSS, which many students may experience. Longitudinal research is needed to better understand the role of demographic and student factors in FSS changes over time. Food resources should be offered to all students, as many will need them at some point.

URM and Non-URM Students in Online Courses

Currently, the literature provides some coherent evidence of what underrepresented minority (URM) students perceive they need to be successful, as well as what researchers empirically find important for URM student success. However, while success factors overlap with adoption factors, online course adoption is also affected by several important non-success factors such as flexibility. Adoption patterns of URM students have not been coherently studied using a well-tested technology adoption model. This study applies an expanded unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to address these gaps. Among a sample of 1231 students, URM students perceived online classes to require more effort to achieve lower grades relative to non-underrepresented students. Second, a narrower set of factors predicts URM students' intention to take online courses in the future. Finally, contextually, URM students are 46% more likely to be employed, first-generation students, and have substantial family responsibilities than non-URM students.

Creating a culture that supports food security and health equity at higher education institutions.

Food insecurity on college campuses is a major public health problem and has been documented for the last decade. Sufficient food access is a crucial social determinant of health, thus campuses across the country have implemented various programmes, systems and policies to enhance access to food which have included food pantries, campus gardens, farmers' markets, meal share or voucher programmes, mobile food applications, campus food gleaning, food recovery efforts, meal deliveries and task force/working groups. However, little is understood about how to best address food insecurity and support students who are struggling with basic needs. The impact of food insecurity on students' academic and social success, in addition to their overall well-being, should be investigated and prioritised at each higher education institution. This is especially true for marginalised students, such as minority or first-generation students, who are at heightened risk for food insecurity. In order to create a culture of health equity, in which most at-risk students are provided resources and opportunities to achieve optimal well-being, higher education institutions must prioritise mitigating food insecurity on the college campus. Higher education institutions could benefit from adopting comprehensive and individualised approaches to promoting food security for marginalised students in order to facilitate equal opportunity for optimal scholastic achievement among students of all socio-demographic backgrounds.

Exploring choices in higher education: Female and male first-generation students’ trajectories from study aspiration to study satisfaction in Germany

Previous studies have pointed out that first-generation students, continuing-generation students and female and male students differ concerning trajectories into and through higher education regarding study program choices and satisfaction. Studies focused on single time points in students’ educational trajectories and mainly emanated from the United States. In order to facilitate a longitudinal comparison of students’ study program aspirations and choices, as well as study satisfaction and dropout intentions, we analyzed panel data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), consisting of 1,694 students. We modeled the influence of gender (female, male) and generational status (first-generation, continuing-generation) with multinomial logit regression models. Results show that students’ aspirations and choices did not significantly differ concerning generational status whereas gender differences were confirmed once again. Generational status did not reveal significant differences concerning study satisfaction and dropout intentions, whereas differences concerning gender revealed that female students were significantly more satisfied with their studies than male students. Based on our findings, we point out the importance of early counseling and other support to compensate gender differences in study program aspirations and choices. Further research is needed to explore reasons for our findings showing equal aspirations and choices of first- and continuing-generation students, which are opposed to previous studies’ findings.

Building First-Generation Student Satisfaction for Students of Color: The Role of Academic Advising

ABSTRACT Research shows positive student perceptions on advising are associated with communication methods and advising styles. Despite the benefits of advising, first-generation Students of Color remain less likely to utilize academic advising services. The authors conducted two focus groups with 29 first-generation Students of Color to better understand their experiences with academic advising. Findings from this qualitative study highlight students’ empathy for staff with high advising caseloads, personal experiences of microaggressions associated with their race and/or first-generation status, and challenges with understanding advising practices. The study concludes with recommendations for advisors and administrators working with first-generation Students of Color.

Geographies of Campus Inequality: Mapping the Diverse Experiences of First-Generation Students

Geographies of Campus Inequality: Mapping the Diverse Experiences of First-Generation Students

From Information Literacy to College Success: Ensuring Equitable Educational Experiences for First-Generation Students, A Practitioner’s Perspective

This poster contributes to this ongoing discourse by elucidating the prominent role academic libraries can play in first-generation student learning and engagement. The author details the process of planning and developing a brand-new credit-bearing library research course to illustrate how tailored information literacy initiatives addressing the learning needs of first-generation students can be a viable solution to the problem of disempowerment in higher education. The poster highlights a practitioner perspective on major aspects of the course implementation, including needs analysis, content creation, assessment techniques to evaluate both student learning and teaching effectiveness in this semester-long course, along with challenges encountered along the way.

Seeing Infrastructure, Interrogating Infrastructure: Making explicit the implicit of LIS education and learning environments

Seeing Infrastructure, Interrogating Infrastructure: Making explicit the implicit of LIS education and learning environments

Trailblazers in Medicine: First-Generation Students' Sense of Belonging at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Purpose: As medical schools work to diversify the field, it is important to understand the experience of First Generation (First Gen) students. The majority of medical students have a parent with a college degree, and many have a physician parent. This creates an uneven playing field for First Gen students, who make up to 20% of the medical student population; half of these students are also underrepresented in medicine. 1 As the first in their family to graduate from college, these students often do not have access to the same social capital as their peers. Compared with the general population, First Gen students have increased levels of stress, fatigue, financial worries, and a lower quality of life and social support ratings. 2 When medical students feel supported by their medical school, they report higher engagement in self-care and decreased stress levels. 3 This study evaluated the level of support experienced by First Gen students at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and their sense of belonging. IUSM currently has a First Gen student group and annual programs and this study was developed to determine tangible solutions to provide better support for first-generation students in medical school. Given the dearth of research on First Gen medical students, this study can provide insight to other professionals on factors to be reviewed when developing a holistic approach to First Gen student support. Method: Our research questions were: How are first-generation students in medical school supported or not supported at IUSM, and where are there areas for improvement at IUSM? Which factors, if any, contribute to first-generation students in medical school’s sense of belonging at IUSM? We conducted 16 qualitative Zoom interviews with each interview ranging between 15 and 45 minutes with First Generation medical students at IUSM. Interviews consisted of 6 structured questions and 1 question for additional information. Results: We discovered that students found a sense of belonging through pre-matriculation programs, peer mentors, lead advisors, and through the First Generation Committee. Students did not feel a sense of belonging due to a lack of resources curated specifically for First Generation students, an increased need for specialized training for staff and faculty to better support first-generation students, and more in-person community building events with those who share the first-generation identity. Discussion: To cultivate a diverse workforce, medical schools should provide an increased focus on specialized support services and advising strategies for staff and faculty as they work with First Gen students. To develop a sense of community, schools should collaborate to create more intentional social programming for this subpopulation of students to contribute to greater levels of sense of belonging and support. A registry of First Gen students, faculty, and staff can aid in community building. Schools should consider developing an intentional mentorship through family clusters and peer mentorship pairings with other First Gen community members. Finally, resources explaining the “hidden curriculum” must be developed. Significance: First Gen students are a strength to the profession, often possessing resiliency and an ability to connect with diverse patients. Yet, topics that educators assume students understand—such as Step exams, health care systems, what is an ICU, how much they should expect to pay for study materials—must instead be taught. To support First Gen student wellness and academic performance, new structures must become embedded within undergraduate medical education. Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the first-generation medical students at Indiana University for sharing their time and experiences with us.

Medical Students' Perception of Their "Distance Traveled" and Its Role in Medical School Applications: A National Qualitative Study.

Purpose: The holistic review of applicants conducted by medical schools includes an assessment of their distance traveled (e.g., hardships overcome) to get to this point on their educational journey. 1 What medical students consider to be distance traveled and how they think it should be included has not been explored. This qualitative study seeks to address this gap in knowledge and centers the voices of medical students by attending to how they conceptualize their own distance traveled. Method: We conducted semistructured interviews with U.S. medical students through purposeful sampling methods. Recruitment targeted medical students enrolled at schools that referenced the term “distance traveled” as part of their holistic review process on their admissions webpage. The Social-Ecological Model framework was used to develop questions to elicit participants’ experiences that contributed to their distance traveled and drew insights about how students felt medical schools should incorporate distance traveled into their holistic reviews of applicants. Interviews ranged from 60 to 75 minutes. Transcribed interviews were analyzed according to interpretive description. Results: A total of 31 medical students representing a wide range of demographic backgrounds (e.g., 13 (42%) identified as underrepresented in medicine, 27 (87%) were first-generation students) from 7 medical schools were included in the study. Overall, participants defined distance traveled as an applicant’s hardships (e.g., being the primary caregiver for a family member) and privileges (e.g., having physician parents) they experienced. Participants thought including distance traveled in the holistic review of applicants would provide the necessary context medical schools need to assess applicants’ relative success and their passion for becoming a physician. For example, some students had to work multiple jobs during undergrad to support themselves and their families, leaving them little remaining time to study, volunteer, or lead student organizations. Second, participants believed these experiences should be assessed in an open format (e.g., free word response, open-ended interview question) by specifically asking students to share how their hardships/privileges affected other aspects of their application. Third, students felt that the components of a medical school application (e.g., disadvantage essay, personal statement) had vague prompts that led many applicants to not write about their distance traveled for fear they would be seen as showing weakness rather than resiliency. Discussion: Medical students felt asking specifically about applicants’ hardships and privileges was important to learn about their distance traveled. As medical schools have begun incorporating distance traveled in their holistic reviews, our study represents the first attempt to understand distance traveled from the perspective of applicants. Significance: Medical students believe understanding an applicant’s distance traveled is a crucial component of the holistic review process. In our sample, distance traveled was defined as the hardships and privileges an applicant has experienced—and learning about it provides the necessary context to equitably assess the other components of their application. There was a clear paradox between how students felt distance traveled should be elicited and how many medical schools are currently learning about an applicant’s distance traveled. Addressing this inconsistency to better assess applicants’ distance traveled could be one way to create a more equitable admissions process. Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank Dr. Steven Gay from the University of Michigan for his contributions to the narrative of this project.

Exploring First-Generation Students’ Collegiate Outcomes: Longitudinal Comparison of Dropout and Transfer Behaviors

Many existing student persistence and retention studies overlooked the different types of departure (e.g., dropout, transfer) and aggregate them into a single departure variable, as a result, the estimates from these studies are spurious when one is interested in what student characteristics prompt dropout but not transfer. This can be especially relevant when studying the departure behavior of specific student subgroups, such as first-generation students. In response to this shortcoming in previous studies, this study longitudinally analyzed first-generation students’ dropout and transfer behaviors. Paired with nationally represented data, this study uncovered how various student characteristics impact dropout and transfer behaviors differently over time. First-generation students were more likely than students with college-educated parents to leave the system than to transfer. A higher sense of belonging was found to reduce the likelihood of students transferring to other institutions academic years one through four.

"Making hidden resources visible in a minority serving college context": Correction to Ramirez et al. (2021).

Across 2 large-scale experiments at a minority serving institution, participants watched either resource videos only or resource videos coupled with students' stories. Compared to a no-treatment control group, we found that first-generation-to-college students benefited from receiving both types of resource information. Continuing-generation-to-college students benefited the most when resources were coupled with student stories. We speculate that first-generation students at minority serving institutions have concrete concerns that need to be addressed alongside identity and social belonging needs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Experiences Participating in Online Synchronous Lectures During COVID-19 Emergency Remote Teaching for First- and Non-First-Generation Students

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency remote teaching (ERT) was implemented in the U.S., and some of the most vulnerable college students struggled to adapt. Purpose: The current study sought to understand the experiences and outcomes of undergraduate students enrolled in radiography programs while participating in synchronous online lectures during ERT, especially first-generation students. Specifically, this study focused on students who participated in class lectures that were taught online in a live and synchronous format due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Methods: This study utilized a retrospective and longitudinal design where participants were asked to answer a series of questions retrospectively at two points in time with each question forming a pair. Survey participants were enrolled as students during ERT in 2020 through 2021 and participated in class lectures that were taught online in a live and synchronous format due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Results: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank and Spearman Rank-Order tests suggest that ERT has affected the experiences and outcomes of students enrolled in radiography programs, with more pronounced negative effects for first-generation students. Conclusion and Recommendations: The researchers recommend yearly and preventative planning across three academic and administrative areas to include training, support, and technology as essential strategies for delivering remote education, specifically online synchronous lectures, in the context of ERT situations. Strategies in these three areas will keep the academic success of the most vulnerable and underserved college student populations at the forefront during emergency remote teaching scenarios.

“There is a hell and heaven difference among faculties who are from quota and those who are non-quota”: under the veneer of the “New Middle Class” production of Indian public universities

The university is a highly politicized and fractious realm for students and academics. Amidst trade-offs between the processes of massification, democratization, commodification, and globalization, the question of transformation for sustainability has become crucial to the social good(s) of higher education. This paper considers academic citizenry within Indian public higher education — a context where the increase in the enrollment of first-generation students and female students, due to affirmative action policies, has not substantially translated into altering the composition of academic staff. Informed by a mixed-method study conducted in 2019 with the participation of academics and those in leadership positions at four higher education institutions, we found that the enactment of such policies was operationalized for the production of the “New Middle Class” by universities. Of concern is that neither the representation nor the participation of academics who are women, “lower” castes, or minorities meets the mark of just, inclusive institutions. Despite the rhetoric of inclusiveness and development, the implementation of related policies clothe subalterns with the veneer of the intellectual class, permitting access on condition that sociocultural identities are concealed, and the hegemonic status quo maintained. Terms such as “quality” and “equality” function as tools for social control rather than serving social justice, where assertions of caste identity and resistance are simultaneously repudiated and misrecognized.