Piecing It Together: The Puzzle of the First-Generation Identity Crisis (original) (raw)
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Managing Culture Shock: Supporting First-Generation Transitions to Higher Education
The Vermont Connection, 2003
Diversity is one of the greatest challenges facing higher education. As educators, we explore services to support the variety of populations on campus, as well as the means to work through the difficulties that arise from bringing differences together. We focus on how we can improve our students education, to enhance their individual experiences and development. Each university addresses these challenges in unique and insightful ways. The following essay reflects my personal experience as a first-generation student at The University of Vermont, interning with Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC). Cultural pluralism is a theme that has developed over the past several decades. Invoked by societal changes like civil and women's rights, the progression has had a direct impact on the sundry population of students entering our academies. As we work towards creating awareness and acceptance of the varying lifestyles, racial constructs, and ethnic practices that are present on each campus, we must also address the impact higher education has within each of these individual communities and on the collective student population. Administrators regularly pose questions about ways to improve our diversity initiatives through retention and recruitment efforts, as well as academic, financial, and counseling support services. When we use the word "diversity," however, what categories do we include in the discussion? Race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic social class seem to be at the forefront of our conversations. One group, however, is excluded from the dialogue. Though we consider social class, we do not relate it back to those students who are the first of their families to pursue higher education. First-generation students are among the population of students that bring special needs to university campuses. These students exist among the previously mentioned and regularly discussed populations. The first-generation identity, however, is not often addressed as a part of the other diverse factions. Nor is it mentioned with exclusivity outside these regularly specified identities. First-generation, then, is a hidden identity (J. Diaz, personal communication, February 15, 2002) in the eyes of the university. First-Generation Identity A first-generation student is someone whose parents' highest level of education is a high school diploma or less (Nunez & Carroll, 1998). Many are also from low-income families. Because of these factors, first-generation students who decide to enter higher education often find themselves in difficult and alienating relationships with their friends and families. Students, administrators, or faculty may notice first-generation individuals by their manner of dress, hairstyle, or use of language. Because first-generation is a hidden status, some may never be recognized as individuals within this group. The uniqueness of their experience, their culture, or the special needs they bring as they attend an institution of higher education are often overlooked. These students are required to function on a level unfamiliar to many non-first-generation college-going individuals, one that demands intense personal motivation, concentration, and perseverance. According to Sean Collins (2000), issues of relative poverty, naïveté about large institutions, the role of family in their lives, and themes of resilience are common among first-generation students. Collins states that many first-generation students arrive at their college campus on their own, bringing with them a curious mixture of hope, confidence, and self-doubt, and a suitcase gripped in each hand, packed with clothes, paper and pens, compact disks, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste (p. 140).
Facing the Culture Shock of College
Educational Leadership, 2007
During their first few months of college, many first-generation college students (those who are the first in their families to attend a four-year college) face the same hurdles Milenny did. They feel the tensions of entering new territory, and their parents are unable to reassure them. Their fellow college students often seem to be members of a club of insiders to which they do not belong. These kinds of cultural tensions may be one reason that almost one-fourth of firstgeneration students who enter four-year colleges in the United States do not return for a second year (Horn, 1998).
Introduction: Why Focus on First Generation Students?
Understanding Experiences of First Generation University Students, 2018
Over the past few decades universities have opened their doors to students whose parents and grandparents were historically excluded from societal participation in higher education for reasons associated with racial, ethnic, socio-economic and/or linguistic diversity. Many of these students are first generation - or first in their family to attend university (FIFU). While some progress has been made in responding to the needs of these internationally underserved learners, many challenges remain. This edited book features the unique and diverse experiences of first generation students as they transition into and engage with higher education whilst exploring ways in which universities might better serve these students. With reference to culturally responsive and sustaining research methodologies undertaken in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the USA, the contributors critically examine how these students demonstrate resilience within university, and ways in whi...
McNair Scholars Research Journal, 2016
Although first-generation college students (FGCS) have been entering universities in large numbers, and even with past quantitative studies to understand this demographic, a major percentage continue to drop out of college within their first two years. Past research has resulted in an overall picture of this demographic. This qualitative study explores: (1) how FGCS perceive their social identity in relation to a college community, and (2) how interacting with support programs, such as Boise State's Student Success Program (SSP), shapes their understanding of support. In interviews with nine FGCS students, most of them did not know this first-generation label applied to them, while researchers and support programs assumed they already knew this. It was through a major event, such as failing a test, when students decided to seek help. This led to an encounter with the identity label. Perceptions about this identity label were split between positive and negative reactions. It was only after time and assistance from SSP that participants realized the significance of being an FGCS. This empowered them to continue with their education during times of hardship and/or personal turmoil.
Transitioning to College: Experiences of Successful First-Generation College Students
Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 2021
This qualitative study explored the high school to college transition experiences of ten successful first-generation college students (FGCS). Participants were college seniors at an historically black university in the United States. A generic qualitative research design was used, including in-depth, semi-structured interviews to collect and analyze data. Participants reported that the transition experience led to confusion with academic and financial procedures, various emotions including anxiety and fear, the realization that they had deficits in academic skills, and the receipt of support from family members and others. Cultural and social capital appeared to play key roles in their success. Student affairs professionals are encouraged to explore targeted, individualized strategies that meet the needs of FGCS as they transition to college.
Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2018
Background and objective: First generation college students (FGS), are emerging as an important demographic group for colleges and universities. Having a ‘sense of belonging’ or belonging is important to the success of all college students, especially for the retention of students who may be at risk of not completing their academic degree. The purpose of this study is to analyze differences between first generation and non-first-generation college students based on a mattering survey.Methods: Two hundred and thirty undergraduate students in one New England College participated in a study designed to uncover differences between FGS and non-first-generation college students based on responses to a mattering survey. The study utilized a questionnaire designed to capture students’ opinions on mattering. Open questions were included to inform and enrich the data.Results: First-generation student perceived a greater number of obstacles in their college experience than non-first-generation...
Community College Journal of Research and Practice
We report on an empirical phenomenological examination of the perceived security that first generation students college students have in their identity as college students. First generation college students (FGCS) have been defined as students whose parents or guardians have not completed a two- or four-year postsecondary degree. Previous research (Peteet, Montgomery, & Weekes, 2015; Ward, Siegel, & Davenport, 2012; Davis, 2010) suggests that FGCS have a particularly difficult time finding confidence in their identities as college students, and that this exacerbates the difficulties that they face inside and outside of the classroom. The imposter phenomenon (IP) is the deep conviction that one is not good enough to deserve the title, responsibility, recognition, or job that one has (IP; Clance, 1985). IP has been tied to FGCS both theoretically (Davis, 2010) and empirically (Peteet, et al, 2015). This study specifically examines the experience of overcoming IP by asking seven self-identified FGCS to describe the experience of recognizing their own identities as college students. We found an important difference that could be understood as separating students who experience that their confidence in this identity is authentic and those who do not. This important difference is the decision that college is in service to something greater. When students view college this way, we found that they are uniquely impervious to the obstacles college students typically face. The discussion proposes two simple changes that can be made in service to helping students navigate this transition through advising as well as classroom instruction.
Proceedings of the 15th Annual National Symposium on Student Retention, 2019
First-year students often face a multitude of personal and academic challenges that affect their overall success in college. To promote the development of academic resilience among first-year students, it is necessary to focus on cultivating both cognitive and non-cognitive skills, including those related to a student's developing sense of self. Because identity develops within a sociocultural context, understanding the conditions that contribute to such self-development cannot occur by merely focusing on isolated individuals. Instead, it is essential to examine how student identities evolve within the various collegiate milieus. Grounded in a first-year, cohort-based learning community for academically underprepared students, the study presented focuses on creating conditions that matter (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh & Whitt, 2010; Tinto, 2017) in order to promote a student's sense of self and belonging. Participant observation and focus groups were utilized to investigate the experience of the selected undergraduate students. Informed by the shared experiences of current and former students of the program, findings suggest that participation in a first-year learning community built on high expectations and emotional sensitivity; intensive academic support and incremental success lead to genuine transformations that sustain long after the formal interventions and support have ceased.