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First-generation college students: perceptions, access, and participation at urban university
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First-generation college students: perceptions, access, and participation at urban university
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FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS:
PERCEPTIONS, ACCESS, AND PARTICIPATION AT URBAN UNIVERSITY
by
Erica Lovano McCann
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2017
Copyright 2017 Erica Lovano McCann
Running head: FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to my grandparents, Vincent and Caroline Fontana.
As first-generation Americans, their access to education was limited, but the value they placed
on education was limitless. They taught me that education was the only thing no one could take
from me and to cherish opportunities to continue learning throughout my life.
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to my parents, Don and Carmela Lovano. As a
Kindergarten teacher, my mom was my first formal educator and she set such a high bar that no
teacher has since been able to compare. My dad was my homework helper, always reminding
me to appreciate learning as a process to enjoy rather than a list of assignments to complete.
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to my husband, Rob, who has been my supportive
partner in education since the first week of high school. In those early years, I could not have
imagined how many papers we would work on together, or the many years of love we would
share, but from day one he has believed in us and what we could accomplish together.
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to my two little loves, Giuliana Elise and Baby Jo-Jo.
I hope to teach you to cherish learning as Bisnonno and Bisnonna taught me, to set the bar high
and appreciate the learning process the way Nana and Papi taught me, and to love and support
each other unconditionally the way your Daddy taught me.
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to my sisters, Andi & Becca, who challenged me to
be my best self and always shared their best selves with me, and to my aunts, uncles and cousins
who have cheered me on along the way and always make time for yet another one of my
graduations. I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to the McCann Family who has loved and
welcomed me into their family from day one, and to the many friends and colleagues that have
encouraged me along this journey.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 2
I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to the first-generation college students I have had the
privilege to work with and learn from in my career. Their honesty, vulnerability, strength, and
resilience are qualities I hope to emulate. They have made me a better professional, and I hope
that, in sharing their stories, I help to foster a campus community that better supports and
empowers them. Finally, I dedicate this doctoral dissertation to the many compassionate,
challenging, funny and inspiring educators I have been blessed to know and learn from
throughout my life. Each of you has helped to make me the person and educator I am today, and
I am eternally grateful.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 1
Table of Contents 3
List of Tables 5
List of Figures 6
Abstract 7
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 8
Statement of the Problem 9
Purpose of the Study 10
Research Questions 11
Significance of the Study 12
Limitations and Delimitations 13
Definition of Terms 15
Organization of the Study 16
Chapter Two: Literature Review 17
Higher Education: An Evolving History of Access 17
Foundational Research on the 1
st
Generation College Student Experience 19
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development 25
Principles of Bronfenbrenner’s Theory 26
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Applied 26
Bourdieu’s Three Forms of Capital 30
Principles of Bourdieu’s Theory 31
Bourdieu’s Theory Applied 32
Astin’s Student Involvement Theory 34
Principles of Astin’s Theory 35
Astin’s Theory Applied 36
Summary 39
Chapter Three: Methodology 40
Mixed Methods Inquiry 40
Sample and Population 42
First-generation College Student Seminar Course 43
Instrumentation 44
Surveys 44
Interviews 45
Data Collection 46
Data Analysis 46
Summary 47
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 4
Chapter Four: Findings 48
Research Questions 48
Survey Participant Demographics 49
Interview Participant Demographics and Biographies 50
Allison 51
Emily 52
Kamilah 53
Laura 54
Marco 55
Melissa 56
Raven 58
Ryanne 59
Stefanie 60
Tally 61
Findings 64
Perceptions of Campus Climate 64
Social and Cultural Capital 78
Engagement 91
Summary 103
Chapter Five: Discussion 105
Discussion of Findings 108
Implications for Practice 115
Recommendations for Future Research 119
Conclusion 121
References 123
Appendices 127
Appendix A: Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix 127
Appendix B: Information Sheet for Subjects 128
Appendix C: Pre-established Pre & Post Survey 130
Appendix D: Pre & Post Survey Addendum 131
Appendix E: Interview Protocol 132
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 5
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Survey Participant Demographic Information 49
Table 2: Interview Participant Demographic Information 50
Table 3: Students who completed an informational interview to further their career 82
exploration
Table 4: Students with knowledge of criteria and qualifications needed for successful 89
admission to graduate school
Table 5: Students with an action plan to accomplish immediate career-goals upon 97
graduation
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 6
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Concept Map 12
Figure 2: Intersections of Theoretical Constructs influencing the First-Generation 114
College Student Experience
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 7
ABSTRACT
This study explores how participation in a first-generation college student sophomore
seminar course, a high impact practice, influences students’ perceptions of campus climate,
access to forms of capital and involvement behaviors. Utilizing a mixed methods approach of
quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to explore the experience of nearly 100 course
alumni, the results of the study show that first-generation college students who completed the
sophomore seminar developed resiliency, a sense of belonging, social and cultural capital, and
clearly defined personal and professional goals for the future. In addition, study results confirm
the course empowered students to build strategic networks with faculty and career mentors, and
engage more often in other high impact practices, increasing student likelihood to persist and
graduate. A preliminary interpretation of this study’s results suggests that high impact practices
are essential for first-generation college students, perhaps even more so than their non-first
generation college student peers.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 8
CHAPTER ONE
OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
This study utilized a mixed methods approach to explore how first-generation college
students’ perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors
were influenced by their participation in a specific high impact practice, a sophomore seminar
course at Urban University (UU). High impact practices are those that have positive associations
with student learning and retention and require students to invest time and effort, interact with
faculty and peers on substantive topics, experience diversity, receive feedback, reflect and
integrate learning, and discover learning applied in the real world (Kuh, 2013). The study was
grounded upon three theoretical constructs (Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological Model of
Human Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s (1984) Theory of Student
Involvement), instead of the typical two, to promote a more comprehensive understanding of the
first-generation college student experience than past research has achieved. This study relied on
surveys and interviews to explore the experience of nearly 100 alumni of the sophomore seminar
course, and confirmed six common emergent themes among participants’ responses:
1. From Survival to Resilience: A validating experience for first-generation college
students
2. Sense of Belonging: Establishing community in an unfamiliar environment
3. Social Capital: Building strategic social networks
4. Cultural Capital: Understanding and utilizing campus resources
5. High Impact Practices: Learn more, do more
6. Defining Success: A personal narrative
Ultimately, the study concluded with a discussion of these findings, implications for practice,
and recommendations for future research.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 9
Statement of the Problem
In his most recent book on the topic, The History of American Higher Education:
Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II, Roger Grieger (2014) examined how
higher education has evolved over time and how this evolution has defined today’s higher
education landscape. Grieger (2014) discussed the evolution of higher education from exclusive
elite institutions to modern education of the masses. As higher education institutions have grown
in number, their willingness to expand admission to a broader population has grown as well. In
recent decades, greater access to post-secondary education has led to a burgeoning diversity
among American college students (Grieger, 2014). More women, students of color, and first-
generation college students have responded to the open access opportunities now available.
This study focused on the latter group, first-generation college students, who are defined
as students whose parents have not graduated from college (London, 1989; Terenzini et al, 1996;
Choy, 1999). As this group of students continues to increase in higher education, they have
become the focus of attention for researchers and policymakers. According to Engle (2007) and
London (1989), first-generation college students often enter college with unrealistic educational
expectations, a lack of academic preparation, little parental and school support, and a low
socioeconomic status. Research has suggested that first-generation college students remained at
a disadvantage once enrolled in college (Choy, 2001). These challenges complicate first-
generation college students’ adjustment to and persistence through university. Terenzini et al
(1996) recommended that higher education institutions invest in providing first-generation
college students with intentional institutional interventions that increase their likelihood to
persist and graduate.
This study sought to explore one such high impact practice, a sophomore seminar course
at Urban University (UU), a large, urban, private, research university with a growing number of
first-generation college students (approximately 14% of the total student body). The primary
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 10
theories that informed this study are Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological Model of Human
Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s (1984) Theory of Student
Involvement. Through the lens of these three theoretical constructs, this study examined if
participation in a first-generation college student sophomore seminar course influenced students’
perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors in high
impact practices. Participation in high impact practices has been proven to significantly increase
graduation rates among students of color (Kuh, 2013) but their impact with specific regard for
the first-generation college student population has yet to be studied.
Purpose of the Study
A review of the literature confirmed the significance of understanding the first-generation
college student experience through various theoretical lenses, including social ecology, forms of
capital and student involvement (Dennis, Phinny & Chauateco, 2005; Hurtado, Carter, & Spuler,
1996). However, research about first-generation college students that considers all three
theoretical constructs simultaneously is absent. The purpose of this study was to achieve a more
comprehensive, holistic understanding of the first-generation college student experience by
examining the intersection of these three theoretical constructs within the structure of a high
impact practice designed for first-generation college students, a sophomore seminar course at
Urban University. According to the course’s syllabus (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1),
[The sophomore seminar] explores the connection between potential careers and
academic programs for first-generation college students. The purpose of the course is to
create individualized student pathways to careers through discussion and examination of
intellectual interests, goals and skills development, presentations by guest speakers, and
contemporary diverse workplace explorations. Students develop plans for the future that
will enhance their ability to secure meaningful employment in desired fields upon
graduation.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 11
The researcher hoped to understand how, if at all, student perceptions of campus climate,
access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors changed over time due to first-generation
college student participation in this high impact practice. Based on a review of the literature, the
researcher expected students would develop a stronger sense of belonging, learn essential skills
and gain access to campus resources that aid in their persistence at UU, and become more likely
to engage in campus activities, specifically high impact practices, in the future (see Figure 1, p.
12). The outcomes of this research are valuable for understanding and evaluating the first-
generation college student experience at Urban University, and developing strategic planning
efforts to better support first-generation college students at UU now and into the future.
Research Questions
1. How do first-generation college students perceive campus climate at Urban
University before and after participation in this seminar course?
2. How does first-generation college students’ access to forms of capital impact their
success at Urban University and beyond?
3. How does engagement in the sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influence
first-generation college student involvement and achievement at Urban University
and beyond?
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 12
Brief History of Access to Higher Education
Figure 1: Concept Map
Significance of the Study
Entering college with academic adjustments to make and campus culture shock can
exacerbate the transition to college life for many first-generation college students. The unique
complexities this student population faces can leave them straddling two worlds – at home and at
school – constantly trying to negotiate conflicting priorities (Choy, 2009; London, 1989). As
first-generation college students try to establish their bearings in college, there may be little time
for adding additional commitments beyond required coursework such as high impact practices,
which often require involvement beyond class time. However, the value of these experiences for
underrepresented students cannot be overlooked as participation in high impact practices has
been proven to provide unique benefits for underserved student populations (Kuh, 2013). This
study sought to narrow the research on high impact practices and examine specific outcomes of
Social
Ecology
Forms of Capital
Student
Involvement
First-generation
College Student
Seminar Course
Engagement in
High Impact
Practices
Perceptions of
Campus
Climate
Access to
Forms of
Capital
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 13
participation for first-generation college students. Understanding how high impact practices can
influence first-generation college students’ perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of
capital, and involvement behaviors is essential for developing a comprehensive support structure
for this student population at Urban University. The researcher suggested that participation in
this particular high impact practice targeting first-generation college students at Urban
University would increase student access to and involvement in other high impact practices at
UU, and positively influence first-generation college students’ likelihood to persist through and
graduation from the University.
Limitations and Delimitations
This study sought to utilize a mixed methods approach to understand the experience and
perceptions of first-generation college students at Urban University. The researcher chose a
mixed methods approach because this format is underutilized in first-generation college student
research. One of the reasons for this is that mixed method approaches require great effort and
skill to sufficiently study a topic through two disparate methods (Merriam, 2009). One limitation
of this study is the restricted scope of the pre-established pre and post quantitative survey tool
which has been in practice since the course’s inception in fall 2013. The researcher chose to
build upon the pre-established survey with a survey addendum for the fall 2016 cohort in order to
utilize the longitudinal data available from the pre-established survey and capture targeted
outcomes to address this study’s research questions (see Appendix C & D, p. 136-137).
Another limitation is noted in the findings of this study which reflect an emphasis on
qualitative data. While the researcher intended to adequately balance both quantitative and
qualitative results, she ultimately relied more heavily on the qualitative instrument which she
designed specifically for this study. Additionally, the way in which students self-selected to
enroll in the sophomore seminar course is a limitation of the study. Students’ willingness to
engage voluntarily in this course may have coincided with a predisposition toward intrinsic
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 14
motivation to engage in other high impact practices in the future (Ryan and Deci, 2000). This
limited the researcher’s ability to assess to what extent the results of this study can be assigned to
participation in this high impact practice versus students’ intrinsic motivation. Their willingness
to participate in interviews could have also been related to their intrinsic motivation, or the result
of their close relationship with and respect for the course instructor, which study participants
highlighted in their survey and interview responses. Yet another limitation of the study is the
length of time from when students completed the course and interviewed for the study. Very
recent alumni of the course were closer to their experience in the class and tended to be more
explicit about how the course influenced their perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of
capital, and engagement behaviors. Alumni further removed from the course were asked the
same questions but their responses may have been influenced by the length of time since their
course enrollment.
Finally, while this study took a mixed methods approach, time and sample size did not
result in an exact demographic match between survey respondents and interview participants.
For example, there was a greater ratio of women to men (9:1) in the interview pool than the
survey pool (65:25). There was also a greater percentage of spring admits in the interview pool
(60%) than the survey pool (24%). With more time and a larger sample size the researcher may
have been better able to balance both respondent pools more effectively.
The scope and population of the study created delimitations for the researcher. The study
was confined to a single sophomore seminar course at one large, urban, private, research
institution. As such, the researcher’s analysis is limited in its generalizability to other
universities. Additionally, this study only collected data from first-generation college students
that have participated in a particular high-impact practice at Urban University. High impact
practices are varied in scope, scale, and level of engagement. The study’s focus on one
particular high impact practice, a sophomore seminar course, allowed the researcher to control
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 15
for variances among other high impact practices such as time commitment and location.
However, this also created a delimitation in that the same outcomes may not be expected of other
high impact practices at the University.
Definition of Terms
There are several key terms guiding this study and used through this dissertation.
First-generation college students. First-generation college students are defined as
students whose parents have not graduated from college (Choy, 1999; London, 1989; Terenzini,
Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996).
High Impact Practices. High impact practices are those that have positive associations
with student learning and retention. These practices are defined as high impact because they
require students to invest time and effort, interact with faculty and peers on substantive topics,
experience diversity, receive feedback, reflect and integrate learning, and discover learning
applied in the real world (Kuh, 2013). Ten practices have been named in the literature as high
impact practices: first year seminars and experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning
communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate
research, diversity/global learning, service learning/community-based learning, internships, and
capstone courses and projects (Finley & McNair, 2013).
Intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to the inherent human nature to seek out
novelty and challenges because they are interesting or enjoyable (Ryan and Deci, 2000).
Persistence. Persistence is defined as continued enrollment toward degree completion
(Tinto, 1993).
Underserved Students. Underserved students are those from racial and/or ethnic minority
populations, often also from low-income backgrounds, that historically have a distinctly unique
undergraduate experience from that of majority white students in predominantly white
institutions (Allen, 1999.)
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 16
Organization of the Study
This study built upon the foundational theoretical constructs of Bronfenbrenner’s (1977)
Bioecological Model of Human Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s
(1984) Student Involvement Theory to explore the first-generation college student experience at
Urban University. Chapter 2 will discuss the development and core principles of each of these
three theoretical constructs, expand upon recent relevant literature linking each construct to first-
generation college student development, and provide an application of each construct to this
study. The concept map that follows illustrates the conceptual organization of these constructs in
terms of this study (see Figure 1, p. 12). Chapter 3 will provide a detailed description of the
mixed methods approach used in this study, including details about sample selection,
instrumentation, data collection and data analysis. Chapter 4 will present a discussion of relevant
findings, and Chapter 5 will offer an analysis of such findings, implications for practice, and
recommendations for future research.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 17
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This study sought to explore how first-generation college students’ perceptions of
campus climate, access to forms of capital and involvement behaviors are influenced by their
participation in a specific high impact practice, a sophomore seminar course, at Urban
University. This literature review will discuss a brief history of access to higher education and
examine three primary theoretical constructs: Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological
Model of Human Development, Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Alexander
Astin’s (1984) Theory of Student Involvement.
Each of these three theoretical constructs, and their core concepts, are explained and
examined in relation to their application in higher education (campus climate, social and cultural
capital, and high impact practices) and relevance to this dissertation. Modern examples of higher
education research are presented to develop a comprehensive perspective of how these theories
can be integrated simultaneously to more comprehensively understand the first-generation
college student experience at Urban University.
Higher Education: An Evolving History of Access
Modern American higher education looks significantly different from its early
beginnings. As the country’s economy, technologies, political systems, and demographics have
evolved, so too have higher education institutions (Grieger, 2014). Understanding the origin and
evolution of the American higher education system helps to provide a lens into the role modern
day institutions will play in advancing the future of our country.
In his most recent book on the topic, The History of American Higher Education:
Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II, Roger Grieger (2014) examined how
higher education has evolved over time and how this evolution has defined today’s higher
education landscape. Grieger (2014) described the earliest American higher education
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 18
institutions as mostly small religious institutions aimed at preparing clergy for their role in
ministry. Before the Industrial Revolution, society had little use for advanced learning beyond
theological preparation, and it was not until the Enlightenment that learning for the sake of
expanding one’s own personal knowledge was even valued. This idea of leisure learning became
a sign of privilege and social status among the elite as only the wealthiest American men were
able to afford to spend time learning rather than working (Lucas, 1994). It was in these early
years that college-going men established some of the co-curricular activities that remain
traditions in the modern collegiate experience such as football and fraternities (Grieger, 2014).
The history of these traditions, which remain prominent in higher education today, is notable as
they established exclusivity as a defining characteristic of higher education culture.
Grieger (2014) also discussed how the establishment of American colleges differed from
those in Europe. While European higher education was state-sponsored and established upon a
strong secondary education system that served as a type of gatekeeper to college, in America
there was no firmly established secondary system to prepare college-ready students. While early
American colleges tried to emulate the European education system by training future state
leaders, these early efforts failed without a sound secondary feeder system. The proliferation of
colleges in America began in 1820; however, the secondary school issue was not resolved until
the late 1890s (Grieger, 2014). This disconnect between secondary and post-secondary
institutions in America remains distinct today.
As higher education institutions began to welcome a more diverse demographic of
students, the issue of college preparedness has become even more pronounced. Greater access to
higher education was first facilitated by the end of World War I when there was a surge of
enrollments at the post-secondary level. Since the 1970s, college enrollment has been increasing
for certain segments of the population more than others, namely those students whose parents
have also attended college. According to Choy (2001), 82% of students whose parents have
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 19
attended at least some college also go on to college, compared to 54% of students whose parents
have completed only a high school degree and only 36% of students whose parents have not
completed high school. These latter two categories have since been combined and defined in the
literature as first-generation college students (Choy, 2001; Engle, 2007) - students whose parents
have not earned a college degree and as such have little exposure to or familiarity with higher
education.
Foundational Research on the First-Generation College Student Experience
According to a 2012 study by the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly one
third of all undergraduate college-goers are first-generation college students. Furthermore, first-
generation college students are disproportionately Hispanic (23%) or African American (20%),
and more than a third are non-traditional age (30 years or older) (NPSAS, 2012). Three out of
five (60%) first-generation college students do not complete their degree within the national
standard for measure – six years – compared to fewer than 40% of their non-first-generation
college student peers (NPSAS, 2012). According to Engle (2007), first-generation college
students are also less likely to attend selective colleges with two thirds beginning their higher
education journey in community college. Finally, first-generation college students are more
likely to live off campus and work while in school making them less likely to engage in campus
activities beyond required coursework (Kuh, 2013).
In her seminal work, Students Whose Parents Did Not Go to College: Postsecondary
Access, Persistence, and Attainment, Susan Choy (2001) offered one of the earliest studies to
assist today’s educators in understanding the first-generation college student experience. Her
quantitative analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), the Beginning
Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS), and the Baccalaureate and Beyond
Longitudinal study (B&B) identified specific higher education disadvantages for first-generation
college students. Choy (2001) noted factors such as unrealistic educational expectations, lack of
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 20
academic preparation, little parental and school support, and low socioeconomic status that
directly impacted first-generation college student persistence. Her research also suggested that
first-generation college students remained at a disadvantage once enrolled in college as they
were less likely to persist and graduate than their non-first-generation college student peers.
While Choy (2001) took a quantitative approach, London (1989) utilized qualitative
methods to record the life stories of 15 first-generation college students and their families. He
sought to understand their family’s psychodynamics and then explore how first-generation
college students reconciled (or did not reconcile) the complex relationship between family
membership and educational mobility. Ultimately, he hoped to learn what was at stake – gained
and lost, compromised or fought for – when students became the first in their family to go to
college.
London (1989) described these students as being perceived by their relatives like heroes
of a movie while also feeling entirely isolated by them. Originally characterized a half century
earlier by Erik Erikson (1959) as “Breakaway Guilt”, London (1989) found that as first-
generation college students became more independent and differentiated from their families, they
simultaneously felt restricted by fear that their parents were so dependent on them that it was
unthinkable to continue on a path toward independence. Instead first-generation college students
felt like they were betraying or abandoning their families, leaving them paralyzed by guilt of
disloyalty and/or angered by their family’s reliance upon them. Negotiating conflicting priorities
and loyalties ultimately created resentment and anger within families.
London (1989) found that this conflicted cycle of psychodynamic relationships led first-
generation college students to question their identity and whether they deserved to pursue
educational mobility while their family members were, in a way, left behind. Their progress
forward simultaneously signaled discontinuity and even loss of their familial structure as they
knew it, and often they were not prepared for the agony of such a choice. In sum, Choy (2001)
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 21
and London’s (1989) research charged higher education institutions and their fellow researchers
with the responsibility for being more keenly aware of the challenges facing first-generation
college students upon entering postsecondary education and throughout their collegiate career.
Intending to expand the body of research about first-generation college students beyond
factors of persistence, Terenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, and Nora (1996) sought to
examine first-generation college student experiences that influence a student’s psychosocial or
cognitive development. Their longitudinal study focused on how first-generation college student
pre-college characteristics and first year experiences differ from their non-first-generation
college student peers, and the consequences for cognitive development that stem from these
differences. Their national study examined the experiences of more than 4,000 entering first-
generation college students at 18, four-year and five, two-year colleges (Terenzini et al., 1996).
The analysis of their study illustrated that first-generation college student psychosocial and
cognitive development is unlike their non-first-generation college student peers.
Terenzini et al.’s (1996) study helped to confirm earlier research noting that first-
generation college students are more often from low-income families, have weaker cognitive
skills and lower degree aspirations, and are less likely to be involved than their non-first-
generation college student peers (Terenzini et al., 1996). Because of these results, the researchers
emphasized the role an institution plays in assisting students with transition through the first year
via Bridge programs offering academic support and validating experiences that reassure first-
generation college students that they are competent learners who can succeed in higher
education. Finally, the study showed that first-generation college student success is significantly
impacted by these students’ perceptions of campus climate and their interactions (positive or
negative) with faculty and their peers. Building positive relationships and community
membership was correlated with first-generation college students’ persistence and success
(Terenzini et al. 1996).
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 22
Choy (2001), London (1989), and Terenzini’s et al. (1996) early research about first-
generation college students highlighted the academic acculturative stress (Rudmin, 1991) these
students are under as they attempt to prepare for, transition to, and persist through college. This
stress can affect students’ mental health, create feelings of isolation, and cause students to second
guess who they are and whether they deserve to be members of their college community. These
early leaders in first-generation college student research and their recommendations regarding
institutional responsibility provide a strong foundation for this study. In recent years, research
about first-generation college students has helped higher education administrators and faculty
understand the complex relationships first-generation college students have with their peers,
families, faculty, and campus life. In that vein, this study sought to explore how institutional
interventions called high impact practices influence first-generation college student perceptions
of campus climate, access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors.
Choy (2001), London (1989), Terenzini et al. (1996), and others have led a generation of
research that more closely examines and more clearly understands the characteristics and
experiences of first-generation college students. Recently research in this area has sought to
understand the complex relationships first-generation college students have with their peers,
families, faculty, and campus life. One such example is Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, and
Terenzini’s (2004) analysis of longitudinal data from 1 colleges about the cognitive and
psychological differences between first-generation college students and their non-first-generation
college student peers. The analysis was conducted in three phases: academic and non-academic
experiences, effects of parental education, and finally the influence of these two factors upon one
another.
Pascarella et al. (2004) concluded five primary outcomes. First, first-generation college
students are somewhat less likely to be involved in non-course related extracurricular activities
despite the fact that these activities have significantly more positive benefits for them than their
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 23
non-first-generation college student peers. This outcome has more recently been confirmed by
Kuh (2013) in his research on first-generation college students and high impact practices, as
evidenced later in this literature review. Conversely, the researchers found non-course related
experiences such as work and athletics had an even greater negative impact on first-generation
college students than their non-first-generation college student peers.
The researchers determined that first-generation college student participation in
classroom activities had a more significant impact on their academic success than their non-first-
generation college student peers. The researchers also confirmed that completing multiple
courses in one academic area was more significant for first-generation college students than their
non-first-generation college student peers. Lastly, Pascarella et al. (2004) determined that first-
generation college students derived a greater openness to self-understanding and diversity when
attending a more selective institution than their non-first-generation college student peers,
despite the fact they were less likely to attend more selective institutions.
Pascarella et al. (2004) concluded that there is a correlation between the level of parents’
education and the type of institution a first-generation college student is likely to attend.
Ultimately, first-generation college students are at greater academic, social, and economic risk of
being left behind their peers simply because their parents did not attend college. Even once in
college, this disadvantage continues and even influences other areas of a first-generation college
student’s experience. First-generation college students attend less selective institutions,
complete fewer credit hours, work more hours, are less likely to live on campus, and more likely
to be enrolled part-time because of their other work and home life responsibilities. Furthermore,
Pascarella et al. (2004) suggested that these indicators contribute to first-generation college
students being at a developmental disadvantage in higher education, both intellectually and
personally, leading to lower grade point averages and persistence rates.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 24
Pascarella et al. (2004) also found some positive outcomes. For example first-generation
college students were significantly more resilient which seemed to help them recover from some
of the pronounced gaps that were previously noted (Pascarella et al., 2004). When informed
about their options and engaged in their campus community and extracurricular activities, first-
generation college students benefited more than their non-first-generation college student peers.
The researchers suggested that with proper education and revised approaches to promote
inclusion first-generation college students could see significant benefits from engaging more
fully in campus life. Pascarella et al. suggested that federal and state financial aid policies be
revisited to help facilitate experiences that aid first-generation college students in developing
multiple forms of capital, an idea confirmed later in this literature review by Kuh (2013).
Even more recently, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles’ Higher
Education Research Institute (UCLA HERI, 2007) reiterated the importance of further study of
the first-generation college student experience. Their analysis of 35 years of freshman survey
data collected through their Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) helped to
reconfirm that early ideas about the challenges facing first-generation college students remain
today (Saenz, Hurtado, Barrera, Wolf, & Yeung, 2007). First-generation college students
continue to begin college with significantly different, often less, college preparation than their
non-first-generation college student peers which can translate into gaps in academic achievement
and graduation rates. Financial and familial responsibilities continue to directly impact first-
generation college student persistence as well.
This study sought to explore how first-generation college students’ perceptions of
campus climate, access to forms of capital and involvement behaviors are influenced by their
participation in a specific high impact practice, a sophomore seminar course. While external
factors often impact student success, this study asserted the more first-generation college
students engage in high impact practices the more likely they are to develop intellectually and
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 25
personally on pace with their non-first-generation college student peers. This literature review
examines three theoretical constructs (Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological Model of
Human Development, Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Alexander Astin’s (1984)
Theory of Student Involvement) to provide a more comprehensive, holistic approach to
understanding the first-generation college student experience. This approach considers campus
climate, forms of capital, and student involvement simultaneously to assess how universities can
provide a more holistic support structure for first-generation college students as they transition to
and persist through college.
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development
First published in 1977, Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development
sought to understand the impact that both biology and environment have on a person’s
development. He was particularly focused on the environmental factors impacting child
development – the people and institutions immediately surrounding the person and those greater
factors on a national level. Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) approach established a framework to
categorize factors influencing human development called the PPCT Model: Process – Person –
Context – Time. Process established the relationship between a person and environment, Person
included the biological person as well as characteristics (age, gender, intelligence, drive), and
Context and Time categorized five systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem,
macrosystem, and chronosystem) that influenced development over time (Bronfenbrenner,
1977).
Bronfenbrenner (1977) explained these systems as follows. A microsystem is that in
which the individual has direct association such as family, friends, school, or neighborhood.
There is a reciprocal nature to this relationship where the individual interacts with the
microsystem and vice versa. A mesosystem connects one system with another such as the way
issues in a family setting may directly affect student performance at school. An exosystem
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 26
represents ways a system indirectly impacts an individual as may be the case when a parent loses
a job and that job loss impacts a student’s success in school. There was nothing the student
could do to actively control the situation in this scenario. On an even grander scale is the
macrosystem, which refers to the ideologies and attitudes of the culture surrounding an
individual over which that individual has no control. Prejudice and other cultural norms may be
the overarching cause of an individual’s plight and that individual cannot control this level of
influence. Finally, the chronosystem is the idea that societies and viewpoints change over time
which influences an individual’s life and experiences.
Principles of Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) theory posed the questions: is this person just the way they are
because of biology, or is she shaped by those people and institutions surrounding her? How
should who she is affect someone’s (a teacher/administrator/peer) interactions with her?
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) theory was particularly profound in his field of psychology where it
was one of the first cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary approaches, but it also had an impact on
related fields such as education and public policy. Over time, Bronfenbrenner (1977) was
himself influenced by the people and institutions around him which allowed him to remain
reflective about his theory and as such it has gone through a number of reiterations. Just as
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) theory has evolved with time, so too has his influence, and his theory
remains relevant today.
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Applied
Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler (1996) utilized national, longitudinal survey data from the
National Survey of Hispanic Students (NSHS) and a self-developed psychometrically-tested
survey, to study the transition experiences of Latino students in their first year of college and
their perceptions and behaviors in year two that ultimately affect their adjustment to college.
Unlike earlier studies, the researchers were intentional about avoiding a deficit-based approach
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 27
and instead focused on Latino students entering college who had high PSAT scores, were
eligible for national merit scholarships, and had earned the ability to choose from of a variety of
higher education institutions to which they had been admitted. Ultimately 203 student responses,
approximately 42% of the original pool, were selected for analysis in three variables: student
background characteristics, structural characteristics, and student perceptions of the college
environment and student behaviors (Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler, 1996).
Results of their quantitative analysis showed that student background and structural
characteristics accounted for a smaller impact on student adjustment while student perceptions of
the college environment and student behavior revealed a significant effect on all areas of student
transition and adjustment (Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler, 1996). Variables included campus
climate around racial and ethnic diversity, student learning to manage resources, faculty
interaction, and maintenance of family and peer support. While earlier studies about
underrepresented students emphasized pre-college factors like academic preparedness and
managing resources as primary influences on student adjustment, this study found that these
factors were less important than those students faced in their first year (Hurtado, Carter, &
Spuler, 1996). This research found that in-college experiences around campus climate and
building a social network seemed to more significantly affect student adjustment than pre-college
factors such as student’s background (Hurtado, Carter, & Spuler, 1996).
Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler’s (1996) study also linked Bronfenbrenner’s (1977)
Bioecological Model of Human Development with Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital.
The study considered how students were affected by the institutions in which they participated
and also the network of family, peers, and faculty with whom they surrounded themselves. The
researchers called for giving special attention to more subtle exclusive practices and in-group
dynamics present in our higher education institutions that can inhibit student adjustment
(Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler, 1996).
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 28
The impact of environmental social supports like campus climate were further examined
by Dennis, Phinny, and Chauateco (2005) in a quantitative, short-term longitudinal study of 100
first-generation college students of color that assessed how personal motivations and
environmental factors intersect and impact adjustment to college. Recognizing that much of the
literature has supported the idea that first-generation college students lack personal skills and
social support that are proven to contribute to success in college, the researchers sought to see
how an individual student’s motivation to succeed might counteract these accepted views of
students’ disadvantaged beginnings. Building upon Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of
Human Development (1977) and Hurtado, Carter, and Spulers (1996) work that takes a less-
deficit minded approach, Dennis, Phinny and Chauateco (2005) investigated the extent to which
a first-generation college student of color’s personal motivation to attend college and
environmental factors influence student success despite these background characteristics.
Participants were asked to complete a survey in the first semester of their freshman year
and in the spring of their sophomore year. Survey questions were adapted from the Student
Motivations for Attending University (SMAU) scale (Cote & Levine, 1997) and the Student
Adaptation to College Questionnaire (Baker & Siryk, 1984) to be more relevant for first-
generation college students of color. The researchers confirmed that both individual motivation
and environmental factors impact a student’s academic and social adjustment to college and
ultimately their persistence toward graduation. More specifically, a student’s level of personal
interest, academic curiosity, career ambition, and social support were correlated with college
adjustment. The researchers also determined that students who had seemed to be having more
trouble with their adjustment to college perceived there to be a greater lack of support services
than those whom had been successful (Dennis, Phinny & Chauateco, 2005).
More recently, the International Consortium of Developmental Science Societies
(Sherrod, 2016) has connected Bronfenbrenner’s multilevel systems framework of human
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 29
development with another psychological concept – imposter syndrome (Clance & Imes, 1978).
Clance & Imes (1978) originally explained this phenomenon among high-achieving individuals
who maintained an unfounded fear of being identified as a fraud. While their own competence
has helped them achieve their current success (in the case of first-generation college students this
would be admission to college) they live afraid of being found out to be undeserving of such
success. They worry they have just been lucky to find themselves among other high-achievers.
Imposter syndrome reflects the thinking that a person is not accomplished enough, smart
enough, working hard enough (Sherrod, 2016). While this is a normative psychological
developmental experience for many high-achieving people, recent research has shown high
prevalence among groups who belong to minority groups, such as first-generation college
students, who may be seen as benefiting from special programming or accommodations to
achieve their success (Vera, Vasquez, & Corona, 2005). ICDSS (2016) suggested that the sooner
a person recognizes their own self-doubt the sooner it may be addressed; however, for first-
generation college students – in the midst of an entirely new college environment and separated
from the structures of family and community support they have been accustomed to – this
journey of self-actualization can be drawn out. Along the way much is at risk for first-generation
college students such as academic progress, financial stability, social networking, and career
goals. Setbacks in these areas can lead to a greater sense of imposter syndrome which in turn
slows the progress toward overcoming self-doubt.
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) theory and subsequent research studies are particularly relevant
to this study because they help to frame student success and achievement as an outcome of
environmental influences. Social ecology theory emphasizes that there cannot be a one-size-fits-
all approach to supporting college students in their adjustment to college; instead, universities
have a responsibility to tailor approaches to the needs of varied student populations and provide
personalized pathways for students to connect with their campus community (Bronfenbrenner,
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 30
1977). This study examined how one particular environmental factor, defined as a high impact
practice for the purposes of this study, a sophomore seminar course designed for first-generation
college students, influenced first-generation college students’ perceptions of campus climate,
access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors.
Bourdieu’s Three Forms of Capital
One theorist who understood the value of higher education for the masses was Pierre
Bourdieu (1986), a twentieth century French sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher, who
examined the dynamics of power in relationships and social life. Bourdieu was influenced by
earlier theorists including Max Weber, Carl Marx, and Emile Durkheim. Unlike Marx, Bourdieu
distanced his theory of power from the notion of capital as all forms of power. Instead he
suggested that certain resources serve as forms of capital when they establish a social
relationship with power. Bourdieu (1986) defined capital in three ways: accumulated labor,
social and cultural capital.
The first form of capital described by Bourdieu (1986), accumulated labor, is easily
defined as work that can immediately and directly be converted into money, a material economic
exchange. Money was often the traditional form of capital described by his predecessors.
Where Bourdieu differed, however, was in his inclusion of immaterial and non-economic forms
of capital which he defined as social and cultural capital. Social capital is the actual or potential
resources associated with membership in a particular group (Bourdieu, 1986). He measured
social capital by the size of a person’s social network of connections and the capital possessed by
each of those in the network. Social capital is not an independent process of earning because it
requires mutual acknowledgment from those involved and is grounded in a ripple effect that
multiplies. Bourdieu (1986) suggested that a person can develop a stronger social network
through investing time in strategic relationship building. An example of strategic relationship
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 31
building is illustrated in higher education by Greek life organizations where obligation and
recognition require a mutual commitment of personal and professional means to maintain.
Bourdieu’s (1986) third form of capital, cultural capital, was further distilled into three
states: embodied state, objectified state, and the institutionalized state. The embodied state
includes internalized behaviors and long-lasting traditions of thought. Examples of the
embodied state include high-status manners and ways of speaking which demand inculcation,
significant time and commitment to learning. The objectified state of cultural capital is reflected
in the tangible cultural goods such as artwork, literature, and instruments associated with those
who embody cultural capital. While these items can be given away to those that do not embody
cultural capital they are given their value by those in the embodied state. Finally, the
institutionalized state of cultural capital, as evidenced in this study by Urban University, is an
institution whose offering of qualifications and credentials intends to reward cultural capital
(Bourdieu, 1986). While higher education institutions intend to recognize merit, they more often
reward those with established cultural capital who know how to navigate the system.
Principles of Bourdieu’s Theory
Bourdieu’s (1986) work challenged the idea of meritocracy and the achievement ideology
which suggested that with hard work everyone can achieve the same greatness and access the
same opportunities. Bourdieu’s Social Reproduction Theory emphasized that these forms of
capital serve to support some groups with more power than others, making them more likely to
succeed in the long-run. He extended economic theories to non-economic goods and services to
say that success is equated with the amount of cultural capital acquired over time which is
inherently related to one’s accumulated wealth (money) and social capital (social network)
(Bourdieu, 1986). Those with accumulated wealth and social capital use these forms to influence
what is and what is not valued in society and establish a dominant cultural capital.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 32
Those with the power to establish and maintain these forms of capital have greater
influence over social structures such as government and professions to determine their priorities.
Bourdieu (1986) expanded his analysis of forms of capital with the development of a new
concept – Habitus – which is our inherent willingness to internalize and think in certain ways
because we are trained to do so by the influencing structures around us. In this way, those with
established capital influence societal structures and ultimately influence those with less power to
develop a cultural consciousness or semiconscious thinking that reflects the cultural values of the
dominant culture. These structures inform the way we think, the values we hold and the way we
live and act in the world, an idea reminiscent of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of
Human Development (1977). As cultural capital is developed and passed from one generation to
the next these dominant cultural values become so inherent in the system they are seemingly
impossible to challenge or change and as such become accepted as the norm (Bourdieu, 1986).
Bourdieu (1986) emphasized that because of the institutionalized nature of dominant
cultural capital, higher education as a system of determining capital has an important role to play
in addressing social inequality. Because academic qualifications can be used as a form of
capital, academic success or failure cannot be understood solely in terms of merit or aptitude but
also correlates with the social network and cultural capital a college graduate possesses. In this
way, non-economic forces like family background, values about education, social class, and
other resources can have a significant effect on student achievement. Bourdieu (1986) suggested
that a person’s ability is not only determined by her own talent but also heavily influenced by her
parents’ early investment of time and cultural capital in her success. Just as his theory of habitus
is regenerative from one generation to the next, so too are these three forms of capital.
Bourdieu’s Theory Applied
First-generation college students are faced with many of the same stressors, frustrations,
and anxieties as their non-first-generation peers; however, they often have the added challenge of
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 33
overcoming financial, social and cultural transitions to an unfamiliar college environment.
Jenkins, Belanger, Londoño Connally, Boals, and Durón (2013) compared first and non-first-
generation college student levels of social support, mental and emotional health, and life
satisfaction. Utilizing three separate measurement tools, the researchers examined post-
traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a large sample of more than 1,600 volunteer participants,
almost evenly split between first and non-first-generation college students, at a large public
university in the southwest. The participants represented a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Most
were enrolled in introductory coursework in psychology but they did not identify as psychology
majors.
The researchers findings were in line with Bourdieu’s (1986) theory in that they
suggested that first-generation college students face greater levels of acculturative stress
(Rudmin, 1991) due to their lack of capital – distress related to transitioning to and through a
new culture – than their non-first-generation college student peers (Jenkins et al., 2013).
Because first-generation college students and their parents lack access to higher education
cultural capital, such as a familiarity with campus procedures and resources, and social capital,
such as a social network to assist in navigating campus bureaucracy, first-generation college
students are more likely to feel frustrated and at greater risk to fail. The results suggested that
first-generation college students often felt isolated and demoralized because they did not
“belong” in college, feelings reminiscent of Clance & Imes (1978) Imposter Syndrome, which
led to significantly lower academic self-efficacy, higher rates of attrition, and a greater likelihood
for mental and emotional health issues (Jenkins et al., 2013).
Another example of Bourdieu’s (1986) theory applied in recent first-generation college
research can be found in Forbus, Newbold, and Mehta’s (2011) study on these students’
motivations, academic success, and satisfaction with their university experience. Seeking to
understand the differences between first-generation college students and their non-first-
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 34
generation college student peers in these three categories, the researchers administered a newly
designed survey instrument to a representative sample at a mid-size four-year university. Their
research found that special alliances assisted in students’ adjustment to campus culture, helped
them integrate smoothly into campus life, and played a significant role in student success
(Forbus, Newbold, & Mehta, 2011). The research recommended that administrators better
understand the needs of first-generation college students, going so far as to suggest that
institutions are responsible for developing intentional interventions, often defined within the
constructs of high impact practices, to ensure first-generation college students transition
successfully.
Bourdieu’s (1986) theory was particularly relevant to this study because, not only do
forms of capital influence first-generation college students in their preparation for, transition to,
and persistence through college, forms of capital are a factor of power and influence throughout
one’s life. Often first-generation college students are motivated to seek a postsecondary degree
to improve their accumulated wealth, but lack the exposure to or knowledge of the value of
developing social and cultural capital (Forbus, Newbold, & Mehta, 2011). Research suggests
that first-generation college students’ often lack access to accumulated wealth, social networks,
and cultural capital. This study sought to examine how forms of capital influenced the first-
generation college student experience in college, and explored how universities might provide
first-generation college students with greater access to forms of capital in the form of high
impact practices to aid students in developing their own social and cultural capital reserves.
Astin’s Student Involvement Theory
Alexander Astin’s Student Involvement Theory (1984) was the first to explicitly explain
correlations between student involvement and student success in college. Astin (1984) defined
student involvement as the physical and psychological energy a student commits to academics,
participating in campus events and student organizations, and interactions with faculty and peers.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 35
He explained that different students would be involved with their campus life at different degrees
at different times. This involvement could be measured quantitatively, by the number of hours a
student was involved, and qualitatively, by the student’s ability to retain what they learned from
being involved. He suggested that a student’s learning and development would be proportionate
to the quality and quantity of their involvement. Finally, he asserted that a policy or practice’s
effectiveness was directly related to its ability to increase student involvement and eventual
student success (Astin, 1986). Astin (1986) suggested that this theory applied to students
regardless of demographic factors such as sex, race, ability or family background.
Principles of Astin’s Theory
Astin’s (1984) Student Involvement Theory examined three pedagogical frameworks at
the core of higher education that he believed, when tied together, could lead to significant gains
in student learning: subject-matter theory, resource theory, and individualized (eclectic theory).
Subject-matter theory, which Astin suggested was popular with college professors (Astin, 1999),
asserted that student learning and development depended on exposure to the right content in a
particular field. According to Astin (1999), Resource Theory was favored by university
administrators and policymakers and alleged that if sufficient resources were available then
student learning and development would occur naturally. Finally, individualized (eclectic
theory), common among developmental and learning psychologists, disagreed with these other
two approaches and focused on meeting the individual needs of each student (Astin, 1999).
Astin (1999) identified limits among each of these theories and proposed his Student
Involvement Theory was an approach that linked the variables of each together – faculty
expertise, campus resources, and consideration for individual student interests – into one
cohesive approach to student learning and development.
Astin’s (1984) Student Involvement Theory was grounded in his longitudinal study of
more than 200,000 college dropouts and the factors that impacted their persistence. More than
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 36
80 different outcomes were identified to have a significant effect on persistence with certain
involvements demonstrating greater impacts on student learning than others. Some examples of
these involvements are: honors programs, research participation, student faculty interaction, and
on-campus housing. These involvements have recently been labeled as high impact practices
(Kuh, 2013). Astin (1984) summarized the central idea of his theory, “The most precious
institutional resource may be student time… the extent to which students can achieve particular
developmental goals is a direct function of the time and effort they devote to activities designed
to produce these gains,” (Astin, 1984, p. 297).
Astin’s Theory Applied
Astin’s (1984) theory spurred significant research on student engagement at college
campuses. One example is the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an annual
survey that collects self-report data from first-year students and graduating seniors at four-year
colleges and universities across the country (NSSE, 2007). Since its inception in 2000, more
than 1,500 different higher education institutions have asked their students to participate. The
survey seeks to gauge the amount of time and level of effort a student puts into their academics
and other activities, and measure how institutions can assign resources to activities that are
linked to student learning. NSSE founding director, George Kuh, and his team of researchers are
charged with annually analyzing the NSSE survey data and recently determined 10 specific
practices proven to have positive associations with student learning and retention (NSSE, 2007).
These so-called high impact practices include: first year seminars and experiences, common
intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative
assignments and projects, undergraduate research, diversity/global learning, service
learning/community-based learning, internships, and capstone courses and projects (Finley &
McNair, 2008). These practices were defined as high impact because they require students to
invest time and effort, interact with faculty and peers on substantive topics, experience diversity,
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 37
receive feedback, reflect and integrate learning, and discover learning applied in the real world.
High impact practices reiterate the significance of involvement experiences first highlighted in
Alexander Astin’s Involvement Theory (1984), and NSSE data reaffirms they are the most likely
to increase student learning and development.
While Kuh’s (2008) theory on high impact practices support Astin’s Student Involvement
Theory (1984), his recent NSSE analysis of these practices has brought to light a challenge to
Astin’s suggestion that involvement is important regardless of demographic data. According to
Kuh (2013) certain underserved populations are less likely to engage in these high impact
practices. This disparity was noted in Kuh’s research study with California State University,
Northridge students (2010) which noted that Latino/a students that participated in two high
impact practices were 16% more likely to graduate than Latino/a students that only participated
in one high-impact practice. Even more telling are the results among Latino/a students that
participated in three or more high impact practices who were 24% more likely to graduate than
those who had only participated in one high impact experience. The most striking result though
compared Latino/a students that participated in three or more high impact practices with their
Latino/a peers that had not participated in any high impact practices. These students were 35%
more likely to graduate than those who had not participated. This significant level of impact was
not evident among white students where the difference in graduation rates only varied by a total
of 14% between those who did not participate and those who participated in three or more high
impact practices (Kuh, 2013).
Kuh’s (2013) research challenged Astin’s (1984) original supposition that involvement is
important regardless of race. While student involvement was proven to enhance student success
and satisfaction rates, these results demonstrated that increased intentional involvement was
more important for underserved populations than it was for their white and Asian peers. Taking
this point a step further, Kuh’s (2013) analysis of participation rates in high impact practices
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 38
across demographic groups highlighted that students of color, first-generation college students,
part-time students, transfer students, and older students are less likely to participate in high
impact practices creating a gap between their learning and that of their white counterparts.
Because these practices had the greatest impact on underserved populations, Kuh (2013)
asserted that universities have a responsibility to encourage underserved students to participate in
these practices. While Kuh’s (2013) work in this area is significant, his analysis has yet to be
broadened to other institutional types. As such, this study examined high impact practices at a
large, urban, private research university where six-year graduation rates among first-generation
college students and their non-first-generation college student peers are nearly equivalent. This
study sought to understand if high impact practices had the same significant impact on first-
generation college students at UU as they did at a large public university like California State
University, Northridge (Kuh, 2013).
Astin’s (1984) theory is particularly relevant to this study because it provides a
framework for how involvement in campus life and high impact practices can significantly
enhance the experiences of first-generation college students. First-generation college students
often set their goals at admission to and graduation from college, making them less likely to
engage in activities that do not have a direct link to their degree and career goals (Kuh, 2013).
Astin (1984) and Kuh’s (2013) research suggested that universities have a responsible to assist
first-generation college students in understanding the relationship between involvement in high
impact practices and their adjustment to campus culture, access to forms of capital, persistence,
degree attainment, and professional development. This study explored how participation in one
particular high impact practice, a sophomore seminar course, increased first-generation college
student participation in high impact practices over the course of their college career.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 39
Summary
This literature review examined three theoretical constructs: Urie Bronfenbrenner’s
(1977) Bioecological Model of Human Development, Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of
Capital, and Alexander Astin’s (1984) Student Involvement Theory. Each of these theoretical
constructs and their core concepts were explained and examined in relation to their application to
higher education (via campus climate, forms of capital, and high impact practices) and relevance
to this dissertation. Recent research examples were presented to develop a comprehensive
understanding of how these theories inform higher education researchers’ understanding of first-
generation college student development. Chapter 3 will explain how this study applied these
three theoretical constructs in a mixed methods approach at Urban University to further this
understanding.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 40
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This study utilized a mixed methods approach to explore how first-generation college
students’ perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors
were influenced by their participation in a specific high impact practice, a sophomore seminar
course at Urban University. In the previous chapter, a discussion of theoretical constructs such
as social ecology, forms of capital, and student involvement provided a lens through which a
more comprehensive understanding of the first-generation college student experience can be
developed. A review of the literature also suggested that high impact practices, such as seminar
courses and undergraduate research, benefit students of color at a greater rate than their white
peers. However, research has yet to examine the first-generation college student experience
through all three theoretical constructs or examine the value of high impact practices for first-
generation college students. This study relied on surveys and interviews of first-generation
college student participants in a seminar course at Urban University to assess how this particular
high impact practice influenced first-generation college students’ perceptions of campus climate,
access to forms of capital, and their likelihood to participate in other high impact practices.
Mixed Methods Inquiry
Deciding on a particular research method, quantitative or qualitative, depends on the
context and problem a researcher seeks to study. According to Maxwell (2013) and Merriam
(2009), quantitative research aims to quantify a problem by generating numerical data and
statistics, while qualitative research is primarily exploratory, intended to uncover underlying
opinions, feelings, and themes and tell the story beyond the numbers. Quantitative research is
highly structured, relies on surveys and polls, can be used to measure defined variables, and is
often generalizable to a larger population.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 41
Conversely, qualitative research is unstructured or semi-structured, allows for revealing
motivations and values, utilizes interviews and observation, and typically relies on a smaller
sample size which is less generalizable but often richer in detail. Unlike quantitative research,
which is based on deductive methods, Maxwell (2013) explains that the qualitative researcher
utilizes inductive approaches and often begins with the question: what do I want to come to know
through this research? While quantitative research utilizes variance theory to understand the
world in terms of different variables and the statistical relationships between them, qualitative
research is based in process theory and understanding the world in terms of people, situations,
events, and the processes that connect them (Maxwell, 2013). Merriam (2009) described
qualitative research structure as a funnel shape which is wide in nature at first and then narrows
to a more specific outcome. In qualitative research, the researcher has a broad general interest in
a particular area, considers what has already been studied, and determines why further study may
be valuable.
While a quantitative approach may allow for data to be generalizable to a larger
population, and a qualitative approach may elicit a more intimate narrative, a mixed methods
approach allows for both an external and internal perspective on what is a complex and multi-
layered problem. A mixed methods approach allows the researcher to employ the benefits of
both approaches while also balancing either approach’s limitations. The researcher can then
quantify data to identify trends and utilize inductive methods to search for meaning and
understanding for richer results (Merriam, 2009). A mixed methods approach also ensures that
data can be triangulated while remaining rich with detail.
For the purposes of this study, I chose to apply a mixed methods research framework.
Within the mixed methods framework, there are six major models from which to choose. The
most fitting for this study is also the most commonly used, concurrent triangulation. According
to Creswell (2014), concurrent triangulation requires simultaneous collection of quantitative and
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 42
qualitative data followed by a comparison of the data to establish areas of convergence,
separation, or both. As was the case in this study, the researcher typically uses separate
instruments for the quantitative and qualitative methods to offset any weaknesses among them.
While often the emphasis is balanced between both methods, it is not uncommon for one of the
two methods to be prioritized (Creswell, 2014). This study reflects this slight imbalance with a
greater emphasis on quantitative data rather than qualitative. The greatest advantage of this
method may be its notoriety which makes it accessible to many other researchers but the
concurrent nature of data collection also allows for a shorter data collection period. Finally,
while there has been extensive study of the first-generation college student experience from a
quantitative or qualitative approach, very little has been done in a mixed methods format. For all
of these reasons, I chose a mixed methods approach with a concurrent triangulation model for the
purposes of this study.
Sample and Population
This study was focused on exploring the first-generation college student experience at
Urban University. Urban University is a large, private, four-year research university in the heart
of downtown Big City. With a population of over 33,000 undergraduate and graduate students,
more than 4,000 faculty, and 10,000 staff members, UU is a bustling city in and of itself. The
University is nationally ranked for its excellence in teaching and research, has a proud reputation
in athletics, and often highlights that nearly 14% of the student body (approximately 4,500
graduate and undergraduate students in total) are first-generation college students.
Original inspiration for this study stemmed from my former role as an academic advisor
for first-generation college students at the University. I was intrigued by the diversity of first-
generation college student experiences, these students’ perceptions of campus climate and access
to forms of capital at UU, and their varied levels of campus involvement. As such, I was curious
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 43
to explore how first-generation college students integrated into the UU campus community,
developed non-economic forms capital, and chose to become involved in campus life.
First-generation College Student Seminar Course
In fall 2013, Urban University launched a sophomore-level course aimed at supporting
first-generation college students in their transitions to, through, and from the University.
According to the course syllabus (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1),
[The sophomore seminar] explores the connection between potential careers and
academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, particularly for first-generation
college students. The purpose of the course is to create individualized student pathways
to careers through discussion and examination of intellectual interests, goals and skills
development; presentations by alumni, graduate students, and career professionals; and
contemporary diverse workplace explorations. Students will develop plans for future
internships, scholarships, coursework, and academic and extracurricular practices which
will enhance ability to secure meaningful employment in desired fields upon graduation.
Participation in this course has been limited as only one section of approximately 40
students per semester are able to self-select to enroll in the class. As of fall 2016, four cohorts
have completed the course (approximately 150 students). The cohort demographics have varied
slightly each semester but on average the course is approximately 40% male and 60% female,
65% first-time freshman and 35% transfer students, and at least 90% of participants identify as
first-generation college students. 95% have declared academic programs within the College of
Letters, Arts & Sciences, the UU School affiliated with the course, but their fields vary
significantly and represent natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The course is
taught by the Dean of Diversity within the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, and students
receive additional mentorship and support from a Career Advisor and undergraduate teaching
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 44
assistant. Students earn two-units of elective course credit toward their degree upon the
successful completion of the course.
Instrumentation
This particular seminar course offered a convenience sample as I had a close working
relationship with the course instructors. They provided me with access to contact information
for the students enrolled in the course and the longitudinal pre and post course survey data they
had previously collected for each cohort (see Appendix C, p. 136). This relationship provided
guaranteed access to student feedback as the pre and post surveys were required assignments for
the course. The instructors also provided me with information about alumni from the course.
Because this study focused on a group of students enrolled in a particular course at Urban
University, the most appropriate venue for surveys was in the classroom. I then enriched my in-
class data collection with individual interviews to ensure data triangulation.
Surveys
In the four semesters of the course to date, a pre and post survey was required of all class
participants. This study built upon this pre-established survey in two ways. First, I coded data
from the first four years of assessment (90 surveys) to develop a series of themes among student
responses. Second, I requested that an addendum of additional questions be added to the pre-
established pre and post surveys for the fall 2016 cohort to address specific research questions
driving this study (see Appendix D, p. 137). In early September, pre-surveys were facilitated,
and in early December, post-surveys were facilitated. Both fall 2016 surveys included the pre-
established pre and post survey and my survey addendum. Finally, in spring 2017, I used a priori
coding (Maxwell, 2013) to analyze all fall 2016 survey data, as I had done with previous cohorts,
to confirm emergent themes among student responses.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 45
Interviews
In order to capture first-generation college student experiences in greater depth, I sought
to interview alumni of the sophomore seminar course. Because I had access to contact
information for most course alumni, I contacted nearly 100 students via email and invited them
to participate in an interview. I secured 10 interviews, nearly two times as many as originally
anticipated, which was significant considering the students are graduates of the course and some
are already alumni of the University. I sought to interview enrollees that represented the
average demographic breakdowns of the seminar course as aforementioned. Interviews were
facilitated during the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters.
Each interview lasted between forty minutes and one hour and fifteen minutes during
which I sought to understand how respondents’ perceptions of campus climate, access to forms
of capital, and involvement behaviors – particularly in relation to high impact practices – have
evolved since completing the course. Interviews were transcribed and coded consistently with
the survey data previously collected. Six emergent themes were deduced from my analysis of
the collected data, two within each of the three theoretical constructs that ground this study:
1. Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development (1977)
a. From Survival to Resilience: A validating experience for first-generation college
students
b. Sense of Belonging: Establishing community in an unfamiliar environment
2. Bourdieu’s Three Forms of Capital (1986)
a. Social Capital: Building strategic social networks
b. Cultural Capital: Understanding and utilizing campus resources
3. Astin’s Student Involvement Theory (1984)/Kuh’s High Impact Practices (2013)
a. High Impact Practices: Learn more, do more
b. Defining Success: A personal narrative
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 46
Data Collection
This study was conducted to inform my dissertation as part of a doctoral program at
Urban University. I sought feedback and approval from my dissertation chair and was granted
support to pursue this topic. I then engaged in a rigorous literature review to summarize three
prominent theoretical constructs and how they are relevant in understanding the experience of
first-generation college students. I developed a justification for a mixed methods approach and
defended my proposal before my dissertation committee.
After the successful defense of my dissertation proposal, I sought Institutional Review
Board (IRB) approval to pursue data collection. With IRB approval, the sophomore seminar’s
faculty instructor granted me access to the pre-established pre and post course survey data (see
Appendix C, p. 136) which he had collected of the first three cohorts of the course (fall 2013, fall
2014, fall 2015). I cross-referenced these surveys and confirmed that 73 course alumni had
completed both the pre and post course survey. The instructor then required cohort four (fall
2016) to complete both the pre-established pre and post course survey and my pre and post
survey addendum (see Appendix D, p. 137). 17 additional students from cohort four completed
both sets of pre and post surveys for a total of 90 total students surveyed. All 90 students were
emailed and invited to participate in individual interviews (Appendix E, p. 138). Of those
invited, 10 volunteered to participate in an individual interview. All interviews were conducted
after students had fully completed the course.
Data Analysis
I organized my data with a formal nomenclature that reflected each instrument used (eg.
fall 2015 Pre-Survey; Interview Data – 1 JO – 170127 - Allison). My unit of analysis for
surveys and interviews was first-generation college students enrolled in, or recent alumni of, a
specific sophomore seminar course at Urban University.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 47
My review of the literature suggested that a priori coding, or a deductive approach
(Maxwell, 2013), would provide the appropriate framework for analyzing my survey data and
identifying emergent themes within the study’s theoretical frameworks. As evidenced by earlier
research, first-generation college students are diverse in their experiences so I assumed some
level of open coding (inductive analysis) would also be necessary. I utilized Microsoft Excel
(2016) to create a survey-coding matrix to manage my data. With regard to interviews, I relied
on axial coding to organize pertinent interview data into the three relevant theoretical
frameworks (Creswell, 2014). I utilized Microsoft Word (2016) to correlate interview responses
with an emergent theme, and assigned each category a color to assist with organization. After I
coded the survey and interview data, I cross-referenced my a priori codes and confirmed six
emergent themes, two within each of the study’s three theoretical frameworks.
Summary
This chapter explored the benefits and limitations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed
methods research approaches and provided a justification for applying a mixed methods
approach for the purposes of this research. The chapter expanded on the sampling,
instrumentation, data collection, and data analysis utilized for this study. Chapter 4 will present
the study’s findings and results, including a detailed explanation of the study’s six emergent
themes and Chapter 5 will discuss implications for practice and recommendations for future
research.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 48
CHAPTER FOUR
FINDINGS
A review of the literature confirmed the significance of understanding the first-generation
college student experience through various theoretical lenses, including Bronfenbrenner’s (1977)
Bioecological Model of Human Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s
(1984) Theory of Student Involvement. However, research that considers all three constructs
simultaneously is absent and a comprehensive understanding of the first-generation college
student experience should examine how these theoretical constructs intersect to influence first-
generation college student development (see Figure 2, p. 114). The purpose of this study was to
explore the intersection of these theories within the context of a high impact practice, a
sophomore seminar course, at Urban University. According to the course syllabus, after
completing the course students would be able to 1) understand a wide range of issues related to
career advancement for first-generation college students at UU, 2) access their own interests and
academic skill preparation, 3) determine types of work sites they would like to be part of in the
future, 4) meet with a variety of professionals who might act as role models, and 5) leave the
course with an action plan for the future (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1).
In order to protect the identity of the university and privacy of participants, the researcher
relied on pseudonyms throughout this analysis and discussion. The researcher sought to
understand how, if at all, student perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of capital, and
involvement behaviors evolved over time due to their participation in this high impact practice.
Based on a review of literature, the researcher developed three research questions to these ends:
Research Questions
1. How do first-generation college students perceive campus climate at Urban
University before and after participation in this seminar course?
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 49
2. How does first-generation college students’ access to forms of capital impact their
success at Urban University and beyond?
3. How does engagement in the sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influence
first-generation college student involvement and achievement at Urban University
and beyond?
This chapter presents the findings and results of this mixed method study based on
quantitative pre and post survey results and qualitative interviews. After an overview of survey
participant demographics and interview participant biographies, the researcher provides a
detailed analysis of six emergent themes deduced from the collected data, two addressing each of
the study’s three proposed research questions. These emergent themes offer insight into first-
generation college student perceptions of campus climate at Urban University, their evolving
understanding of and access to social and cultural capital, and their reflections on how this high
impact practice – the sophomore seminar course – played a role in increasing their likelihood to
engage in other high impact practices and refining their personal and professional definitions of
success.
Survey Participant Demographics
Ninety pre and post surveys were compiled and analyzed for the purposes of this study.
The following table provides an overview of survey participant demographic background data.
Table 1: Survey Participant Demographic Information
Demographic Subcategory Total (N=90) Total (%)
Gender
Male 25 28%
Female 65 72%
Admit Term
Fall Admit 68 76%
Spring Admit 22 24%
School Affiliation
College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 67.5 75%
Professional Schools 22.5 25%
School Year at time
of enrollment in
Sophomore Seminar
Course
1
st
Semester Freshman Year (fall admits) 11 12.25%
2
nd
Semester Freshman Year (spring admits) 17 19%
Sophomore Year 47 52.25%
Junior Year 13 14.5%
Senior Year 2 2%
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 50
Interview Participant Demographics and Biographies
The following table provides an overview of interview participants’ demographic
background data.
Table 2: Interview Participant Demographic Information
Pseudonym Major
School
Affiliation
Gender Ethnicity
Fall or
Spring
Admit
Year when
enrolled in
SSEM 200
Year at
time of
Interview
Allison
American
Studies &
Ethnicity
College of
Letters, Arts
& Sciences
Female Mexican Fall Sophomore Senior
Emily
Business;
Accounting
Professional
School
Female Chinese Spring Sophomore Junior
Kamilah
Non-
governmental
organizations
Professional
School
Female
Nicaraguan/
Palestinian
Spring
Transfer
Student
Sophomore Senior
Laura
American
Studies &
Ethnicity
College of
Letters, Arts
& Sciences
Female Salvadoran Fall Junior
College
graduate
Marco
Social Science
& Education
College of
Letters, Arts
& Sciences
Male Filipino Fall Sophomore
College
graduate
Melissa
International
Relations
College of
Letters Arts
& Sciences
Female
Mexican/
Dominican
Spring Sophomore Sophomore
Raven
Non-
governmental
organizations
Professional
School
Female Mexican
Fall
Transfer
Student
Sophomore Senior
Ryanne Anthropology
College of
Letters Arts
& Sciences
Female Indian Fall Sophomore Junior
Stefanie
Health
Promotion &
Disease
Prevention
Professional
School
Female Guatemalan Spring Senior Senior
Tally
Law, History
& Culture
College of
Letters, Arts
& Sciences
Female Mexican Spring Junior Senior
Additionally, a brief biographical summary of each interview participant is provided to
offer a deeper understanding of each participant’s background, insight into their personal and
professional journey, and an explanation as to why they chose to enroll in the sophomore
seminar course. The students are listed in alphabetical order using their preferred pseudonyms.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 51
These introductions were developed from participant responses to demographic background
questions asked in the interview setting.
Allison
Allison is a pre-medicine senior at UU, majoring in American studies and ethnicity with
an emphasis in Chicano/Latino studies and a minor in healthcare studies. Born and raised in
Dallas, Texas, Allison’s parents are both immigrants from southern Mexico. They came to the
U.S. about 22 years ago and have lived in the same neighborhood in Dallas ever since. Allison
grew up with her younger brother who is graduating from high school this year. Allison
identifies as a first-generation college student. Her exposure to college was limited before
arriving at UU. She did not know any college students and did not talk to her peers about
college. Her high school offered a college readiness program and she was mentored by the
Director who helped her define a list of schools, reviewed her essays, and wrote her letters of
recommendations (Allison). Allison’s main criterion for college was to leave Texas; she only
applied to one school within the State as a safe option. She applied to UU not knowing much
about it besides that it was in Big City. After receiving her acceptances she chose UU, without
ever having visited, because her mentor’s husband recommended it. Allison had always wanted
to travel when she was younger but was unable to because of her parents’ immigration status.
She was excited to move to a new place for college but did not know what to expect.
Allison struggled in her coursework during her first year at UU. She relied on the help of
mentors in the Latino cultural center and tried to reach out to professors as well. As the oldest
child in her family, she was used to being independent so it was hard to admit she needed help.
She also did not feel she could share her difficulties with her parents because, even though they
would be encouraging, they would feel sorry for not being able to be more helpful. Allison
enrolled in the sophomore seminar course as a first semester sophomore. She had heard the
professor speak at other events and received an email about it. She believed the professor would
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 52
be good. She felt it would help her learn what she needed to know to be successful at UU. She
was not really sure what that was at the time. Allison intends to apply for medical school in the
next year once she completes all the prerequisite coursework and improves her research
portfolio.
Emily
Emily is a junior at UU, double majoring in business and accounting. She grew up with
her parents and two older brothers about twenty minutes away from campus. She did not have
much exposure to higher education, but her parents – especially her mom – always made it clear
that she and her brothers were expected to go to college. Her mom has two jobs – one as an aide
during recess at her elementary school and the other at a small clinic as a receptionist. Her father
is a cook. Her brothers are both electrical engineers, one in graduate school and the other
recently completed his bachelors. In high school, Emily was part of a program called College
Bound which provided support with college essays, and she worked closely with her second and
third grade teachers to ask for letters of recommendation. Ultimately, she applied to 16 schools,
most of which were free through the Common App. Most of her peers attended public colleges
so she did not expect to choose a private school like UU. She was accepted as a spring admit to
both of her top choices and she chose UU. Emily did not feel a particular passion or interest in
pursuing a specific major in college, and instead opted for selecting based on the process of
elimination. She did not want to go to school for a long time, and she was not interested in
physics or engineering like her brothers. She ultimately chose UU because it offered a secure
path to the business major which seemed practical.
Emily, a first-generation college student, felt disconnected when she started at UU in the
spring because her peers had already had a semester to adjust and make friends. She also lived
in an apartment-style residence hall where most residents were upperclassmen that kept to
themselves. By the end of her first semester she was accepted to a first-generation college
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 53
student scholarship program that helped cover her tuition expenses. She also participated in a
unique short-term study abroad program. Both opportunities helped her begin to establish a
community at UU. Emily decided to enroll in the sophomore seminar after attending a retreat
with her scholarship community where she learned from her peers about the course’s
assignments and benefits of participation. She was still unsure about her major and hoped the
class would give her a new outlook on the direction of her life. As she has settled into her
academic programs, she pursued a traditional business recruiting path and will intern this
summer at KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax, and advisory
services, which could develop into a full-time position in the future.
Kamilah
Kamilah is a senior at UU studying non-governmental organizations and social change.
She grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County and comes from a single-parent
household led by her mother, an accountant by training. Both her parents emigrated from
Nicaragua in the eighties during the war. Her mother was a political refugee and had to leave the
country for her own safety. Her father, of Palestinian heritage, followed shortly thereafter but he
has not been present in her life much. Kamilah identifies as a first-generation college student.
She grew up with her brother and sister. Her brother completed tests of general education
development (GED) which is the equivalent to earning a high school diploma. Her sister has
recently started attending a local state college. Kamilah’s mother worked many hours to move
her family to a better school district so Kamilah could attend a highly-ranked high school which
she believes helped her on her path to college. She first attended State College where she
participated in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) before applying to transfer to UU for
her preferred major program. Around this time, her mother went on disability from work and her
family was struggling to make ends meet on food stamps and unemployment benefits. Kamilah
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 54
was admitted to UU as a spring admit so she was able to move closer to home to help and tried to
make the most of her time by attending a local community college in the interim.
Kamilah transferred to UU in January 2016 and struggled in her first semesters – both
academically and socially. She had not anticipated how much more challenging the coursework
at UU might be, and she struggled to find a community where she felt she truly fit in. One of her
peers recommended that she enroll in the sophomore seminar course as a way to find a
community among other first-generation college students at UU. She took the course in her
second UU semester hoping to learn how to navigate a private university and build a social
network of peers who shared her background and experiences. Kamilah is still unsure about her
postgraduate plans but believes now that as long as she is happy she will have made the right
choice.
Laura
Laura is a recent UU alumna who graduated in December 2015 with a major in American
studies and ethnicity and minors in Spanish and nonprofits, philanthropy, and volunteerism.
Laura grew up in the San Fernando Valley, northwest of Los Angeles. Her parents are both
immigrants from El Salvador; she and her siblings were born in the United States. He father is a
pastor and also worked full time in mortgage lending. Her mom stayed home while she and her
siblings were younger and then started working as a nanny. When Laura was 12 years old, her
father moved her and her family out to the suburbs, largely because of the violence that started to
arise in her neighborhood. Her experience changed a lot, moving from public to private schools.
She recognizes her dad made a lot of decisions for her family to ensure his children would
succeed. College was always an expectation, not an option.
Laura, a first-generation college student, had very little direct exposure to college, aside
from an aunt who had become a Spanish professor and always served as a role model. Her
aunt’s graduation (when Laura was 10 years old) was the only time she had been on a college
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 55
campus before visiting UU as a high school senior. More recently, her sister (a year older)
attended a local small private Christian college and her brother is in the process of applying to
the same school. Laura only knew about four colleges when she began to apply, and her dad
played an important role in motivating her despite not knowing what applying to college
entailed. She managed the process mostly on her own; there was not much of a structure for
helping students explore their options in her high school, and she did not expect to get accepted
to UU. Ultimately, once she received her admission and her financial aid package from UU she
was ready to commit.
Laura lived on a Latino culture thematic floor in her residence hall as a freshman which
helped her establish a close-knit but also insular community. She started out pre-medicine and
struggled to pass her classes that first semester. Finding herself on academic probation she
realized there was a lot she did not know coming in and the pressure became overwhelming.
Even once she changed majors she often felt like she was trying to make up for those early
college struggles so she delayed studying abroad or joining certain organizations to improve her
grades. Laura enrolled in the sophomore seminar course as a junior; it was the first semester the
course had been offered. At the time, she felt her studies were starting to fall into place finally,
but she heard from a well-connected peer in the first-generation college student community at
UU, that the class would be worthwhile. Many of her friends ended up being in the class. Laura
hoped to understand what success looked like beyond the University; how to translate her
experience into the real world. Since graduation she has worked at a credit union but hopes to
dedicate more of her time in the future to giving back to help build a community of support for
other first-generation college students.
Marco
Marco is a recent UU graduate; he earned his degree in history and social science
education in December 2016. He grew up in Missouri among a big family with his parents and
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 56
five siblings – two sisters and three brothers. He was born in the Philippines in a chicken coop;
his family was very poor. They were able to immigrate to the US when Marco was eight through
a petition process. His aunt had married an American, so she was able to petition for Marco’s
father to come to the US, and then his dad petitioned for the rest of the family. It was not until
Marco started school in the US that he realized where his family stood economically. Marco’s
parents, especially his mom, always emphasized going to college but it was not until senior year
in high school that he really began to think seriously about where he wanted to go. At first he
planned to go to the local university where all his peers attended but, after earning a scholarship
which covered full-tuition and could be applied to any university in the United States, his
confidence grew to consider colleges at the national level.
Marco is a first-generation college student. His parents knew very little about applying to
college and his college counselor did not know much about applying out of state. Marco relied
on the internet to explore his options but the process was really difficult as he was also very
involved at school and worked 20 hours every weekend. When UU offered a full financial aid
package it became an obvious choice. He had never visited before but he was eager to go
somewhere no one knew him so he could reinvent himself and explore who he was. Marco
began at UU as a spring admit and only took 14 units. The following fall he was looking for a
two-unit course to help him earn 18 units and he came across the sophomore seminar course. He
did not have any expectations for the course, other than that he hoped it would not be too hard.
Marco recently completed his degree in only three years and he is the first in his family to
graduate from college. Marco will be pursuing a fully-funded year of research abroad next year.
Melissa
Melissa is a sophomore at UU studying international relations. Her mother’s family is
from the Dominican Republic and her father’s is from Mexico. They are both the first in their
families to be born in America. Her father grew up speaking Spanish but her mother did not
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 57
because her parents had learned English. Her own parents did not teach Melissa or her younger
brother Spanish, though she feels she grew up more on the “Mexican side” of her family. She
was raised in a very white, upper middle class neighborhood and always attended private
schools. Her upbringing felt conflicted because at home it was “very Mexican” and at school it
was “very white”. She felt a culture clash within her about who she was and what she should be
doing. Melissa always had plans to go to college; she remembers her parents starting to discuss
it with her as early as fourth grade. She described them as “tiger, helicopter parents” paying
close attention to her schoolwork throughout high school. She always believed she was more
independent and did not need the pressure; whereas her brother needed the help.
Melissa identifies as a first-generation college student; both her parents dropped out of
college to go into the police academy. They did not want that path for her. Her parents, now
divorced, played different roles in her college application process. Her mom was hands off
while her dad was very controlling. Ultimately Melissa was accepted as a spring admit and
chose to come to UU where her stepmother works so she could take advantage of tuition
remission. After a semester at community college she was especially eager to be at a university
where people were engaged in campus life. Her first semester at UU was challenging but she
still earned a 4.0 GPA. Her parents remain very strict so she does not live on campus and instead
carpools with her stepmother to and from campus. Her parents’ tight rules about her free-time
have significantly limited her ability to engage beyond the classroom. She decided to enroll in
the sophomore seminar course after speaking with a faculty member she regards highly who
assured her the professor was a great resource and encouraged her to take it. She hoped to learn
about professionalism and have some dedicated time to explore internship opportunities. After
college Melissa hopes to pursue fellowship opportunities and eventually continue her academics
with graduate study.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 58
Raven
Raven is a senior majoring in non-governmental organizations and social change with a
minor in social entrepreneurship. She grew up in a multi-generational family home with her
father, two uncles, grandmother, and older brother and sister. Her siblings are much older than
her, 10 and 15 years respectively. Her father is a lawyer but did not take a traditional path with
his education. He met her mother in the three jobs they were both working and sometimes went
to school along the way. He did not attend regularly, mostly read his school books at home, and
went to class for tests and presentations. His behavior was Raven’s most prevalent example of
higher education – get in and get out with your degree. Raven was not particularly driven to go
to college until one of her teachers pulled her aside and made an impression. She was one of
only two Latino students in his class and the teacher made sure she understood that her education
would be an open door to all the places she could be going. While she attended a private high
school, she had little help from family or her college counselors in applying to college and relied
mostly on the internet to determine her path forward.
Raven identifies as a first-generation college student, despite her father having earned his
degree. She explains she feels she is an exception to the formal definition because when her
family emigrated from Mexico they were poor and her dad always felt an obligation to save the
whole family. He never felt free to prioritize taking care of himself or his children and that lack
of freedom limited her opportunities. After high school, Raven first attended a university in New
York because she wanted to be close to the glamour of the entertainment industry and the United
Nations, but transferred to UU to be closer to home to help care for her grandmother when she
grew ill. She explored a variety of majors: psychology, philosophy, politics & law, acting, and
eventually her current program. Her family experiences and her high school inspired her with a
strong commitment to service and she wanted to seek a career dedicated to giving back but she
wavered as to the best way to do so. Raven’s academic advisor told her to enroll in the
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sophomore seminar because it would not be too hard but she would get a lot out of it. She was
not familiar with the professor and was interested in understanding what it really meant to be a
first-generation college student. She took the course in fall of her sophomore year, during her
first semester at UU. She had been afraid to share with others about her background because it
often elicits other questions but she really wanted to know more and have long-unanswered
questions about the first-generation college student experience addressed. As she approaches
graduation she has wondered about what happens next so she has recently reached out to a
successful mentor in the business world to discuss opportunities and is currently working with a
local start-up.
Ryanne
Ryanne is a third year student at UU majoring in Anthropology and minoring in forensics
and criminality. She grew up in India until she was nine when she came to America with her
family. Since then she has lived northwest of the UU campus with her parents, younger sister
and grandmother. Her father is a small business owner and her mother is a nurse. They both
attended college in India but their degrees did not equate in the U.S. In elementary school she
was part of a college preparation program that guaranteed a full scholarship to UU if she
participated fully and was admitted. Her Indian identity is prominent at home but she was the
only Indian in her high school class. Her parents always emphasized going to college and the
college preparation program helped to inform her about how the education system works and
what to do to get into college. The program exposed her to different academic programs, the
importance of volunteering, offered guidance on college essays and scholarships, and offered tips
for standardized testing success. She chose to come to UU because of the full-tuition scholarship
offer, which she did not receive from other schools. She remains involved with the college
preparation program as a tutor.
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Ryanne identifies as a first-generation American college student because her parents
education was so different. She thought she would be able to follow a pre-medicine path but it
was a lot of work and it seemed no matter how much effort she put in she was not successful.
That made her feel badly about herself and sad that she could not follow that path. She decided
to enroll in sophomore seminar because she had struggled to be successful in her pre-medicine
coursework in her first year and she missed the security she felt among her friends in high school
and many of them were enrolling. She hoped to learn how to find an internship, what she needs
to do to look for a job, and what to do to find a mentor. She hoped it would be an open-minded
place where she could be among friends. Ryanne is still unclear about her plans after UU but she
recently decided she would start researching graduate programs.
Stefanie
Stefanie is a senior majoring in health promotion and disease prevention. Her family
immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala when she was five, and she grew up about thirty minutes
from UU. She had a lot of stressors living in that community – her family’s crowded 1-bedroom
apartment housed her parents and their four daughters. They lived on the wrong side of town
near the freeway so air quality was poor and there was a good amount of street light and noise all
the time. There was often noise from police helicopters or shots being fired which she
remembers as being very scary. After being there for about 10 years her family was evicted but
it helped them move to a better part of town.
Stefanie identifies as a first-generation college student because, while her mother had
attended some university in Guatemala, she had little support navigating the college system here
in the US. Her parents always supported her plans to go to college; she saw it “as a way out” and
she did not want to get stuck in her community. Her older sister, a year ahead, had gone to UU,
so she followed in her footsteps to make it her own reality as well. Her parents also helped along
the way by enrolling her in a college preparatory program that was regularly held on UU’s
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campus. While she had some support, she knew it was up to her to make it happen because
many of her peers were headed to community college or state schools. Stefanie was admitted to
UU as a spring admit and earned a first-generation college student scholarship to help her afford
her way and build a community among her peers. Stefanie enrolled in the sophomore seminar
class as a junior because her younger sister now also attends UU and it was an opportunity for
them to take a course together and explore a class beyond her science curriculum. She hoped to
learn how to reach out to more campus resources and to better cope with the stresses of being a
first-generation college student. Stefanie intends to pursue a health career in the future.
Tally
Tally is a senior double majoring in law, history & culture and sociology while also
minoring in Spanish. She grew up about an hour south east of UU with her parents, older sister
and brother, and younger brother in a mobile home park. Her parents emigrated from Mexico
individually and met in the U.S. She is the first one in in her family to move out and go to
college, though her older siblings have attended local colleges. Her high school’s college-
preparation program opened her eyes to applying to a wider range of schools; her siblings had
not been part of the program. It was difficult to make the choice to move away for college, her
family had recently experienced a serious tragedy and they were also forced to move from their
home due to a freeway expansion. While she left home for college, Tally felt a strong
responsibility to continue to give back to her family by sending money home to help make ends
meet. She has tried to make the most of her UU experience so she can be sure to give back to
her family and her local community in the future.
Tally was a spring admit to UU and it took her quite some time to feel comfortable
speaking up in her classes. She also lived off-campus and missed out on the traditional residence
hall experience other students had enjoyed. She could not afford to join some of the structured
organizations like Greek life and, as a first-generation college student she did not feel she would
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fit in there anyway. By sophomore year she was really struggling financially, relying on food in
one of her classes to serve as lunch a few days a week. She had to move out of campus housing
and illegally sublease from another student but found a way to make it through, which she finds
pride in now. She soon joined an undergraduate research mentoring program where she met the
professor for the sophomore seminar course. She learned more about what the course hoped to
offer and recognized it could provide valuable insight into the research she hoped to do about the
first-generation college student experience at UU. She never formally enrolled in the course
because of an already high unit load. Instead she asked the professor for permission to sit-in to
observe for her research and learn alongside her peers some of the skills she may have missed in
her early years at UU. Tally’s experiences in the sophomore seminar course, and her
experiences among her peers in the first-generation college student community at UU, are
captured in her own spoken word poem (Some of the poem has been paraphrased to conceal the
identity of the University for the purposes of this study.)
We are [UU Scholars]
-------------------------------------------------
We carry the name of [UU Scholars]
Proudly along with Williams, Chen and Reyes
Last names that According to this university
represent its diversity
But we know
That we hold so much more than this
Our degrees.
Range from American Studies to Engineering
Health Promotions and Psychology
Fields that strengthen the tools we use
to speak for our communities.
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Whose voices been too often put aside
And ignored throughout history.
We are scholars in a place that historically has barred us from its gates
That over time,
has fought among itself to figure out,
What does it really mean to be the [UU] family?
As a scholar, my degree echoes
With my parents triumph
Whose lips prayed while crossing the U.S. Border
And whose same lips blessed me the day I moved out...
Ready ... Or so I thought... To start this college journey.
Perhaps it would've been better to know the many pains that were about to come,
but thank God for
Christinas, Billys and Georges,
Mentors. Friends and guides
Who were ready to light my path and
Constantly reminded me that I belonged.
So now I say Thank you.
Now Whether we are studying in Japan
Or becoming Rhodes Scholars.
You mentors have taught us to be much more than
[the core character traits found in the University’s mission statement]
But also to be resilient, to face fear head on, to heal old scars and use them to empower others
But most importantly,
To be ready to change the world.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 64
These student biographies and Tally’s poem are shared here to provide a deeper
understanding of each participant’s background, insight into their personal and professional
journey, and an explanation as to why they chose to enroll in the sophomore seminar course.
The following discussion of the study’s findings and results will provide a detailed analysis of
the six emergent themes that arose from collected surveys and personal interviews.
Findings
This section presents the findings and results of this mixed method study based on
quantitative pre and post survey results and qualitative interviews. The researcher provides a
detailed analysis of six emergent themes deduced from the collected data, two addressing each of
the study’s three proposed research questions. These emergent themes offer insight into first-
generation college student perceptions of campus climate at Urban University, their evolving
understanding of and access to social and cultural capital, and their reflections on how this high
impact practice – the sophomore seminar course – played a role in increasing their likelihood to
engage in other high impact practices and refining their personal and professional definitions of
success.
Perceptions of Campus Climate
One of the primary purposes of this study was to address the research question: How do
first-generation college students perceive campus climate at Urban University before and after
participation in this seminar course? This study’s findings exposed two emergent themes that
address how first-generation college students’ perceptions of campus climate at UU evolve after
completing the sophomore seminar course. Alumni of the course move from a survival
mentality to one grounded in their own resilience, and transition from feeling like imposters in an
unfamiliar world to valued members immersed in the UU community.
From Survival to Resilience: A validating experience for first-generation college
students. The first emergent theme from this study highlighted a change in mentality for first-
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generation college students, from survival to resilience. Study participants, while encouraged by
their families to pursue higher education, often felt under-informed when choosing among
different colleges, applying for financial aid, and anticipating their likelihood for admission. The
majority of those interviewed discussed their parents’ well-intentioned support, but lack of
knowledge to impart. For example, Allison shared the following:
It was hard because I couldn’t go to my parents. I could call them and tell them that it
was difficult but they’d say, ‘You know, you can do anything. You’re smart enough. You
got this. I’m sorry I can’t help you in any other way because I don’t know what you’re
going through but you can do it.
Emily shared a similar sentiment saying, “My parents don’t really know English and I was
asking their opinion, they were like, ‘Oh, whichever one you’re happy with.’” While this
unconditional support was appreciated, it was also a reminder they were less informed about
college than their non-first-generation college student peers.
For some, the idea of college had been instilled early on by their parents while others did
not speak about college much with their families. Marco remarked that he choose to avoid
speaking with his family for two months early on in his time at UU. “I was just too engrossed in
the life of living in college to really pay attention to anything else other than myself...that was
probably the most selfish time for me.” Often study participants, like Marco, felt unable to go to
their parents with questions or feelings of doubt because their parents often could not offer
informed advice and their unwavering support seemed to add more pressure than be reassuring.
While many discussed how difficult it was to put themselves first before family, study
participants also found they had little choice if they were going to survive at UU. Parents,
college counselors and former teachers provided some support along the way, but in most cases
students relied on their own survival skills to make it through their first year at UU. Raven
spoke to her survival mentality saying, “You didn’t really have to be involved…the point was to
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 66
get in and then get out with a degree.” Ryanne agreed about having few people to rely on,
stating:
Being a first gen student…is pretty difficult. You don’t know what to do. You don’t
know how to get where you get…It’s kind of scary to just put yourself out there and see
what the world has to offer, because the world isn’t as nice as you want it to be…I’ve
been in situations where I’m just like, “Okay, I don’t know if I’m supposed to do this. I
don’t know how I’m supposed to do this, and it’s like, I don’t know who to ask.”
As Erin highlighted, “I remember just Googling everything,” and Laura shared:
[Survival] was my mentality. I think that fear of constantly having to just figure out a
way to survive versus ‘let me take advantage of every opportunity’ is what crippled me a
little bit. I think a lot of it felt like surviving and catching up…As soon as things got hard
and out of my hands I felt like I was already set up to not do well.
With only one goal in mind – to earn their college degree – the students isolated themselves in
order to survive focusing only on school work with little time allowed for getting involved or
building community. The students’ survival mentality and isolationist approach seemed to make
it all the more difficult for them to adjust at UU.
As the students finished their first semester and year at UU the pressure of surviving
mostly on their own began to mount. Many faced academic challenges leading them to withdraw
from coursework and feel further behind. For some, like Allison, Marco, and Ryanne, struggling
in school took a toll on their mental health as well. Marco summarized the pressure saying, “I
just had to motivate myself; first I was depressed, but then I motivated myself to do better…what
I was seeing was that I was inadequate, but once I believed in myself more…that was a good
thing.”
As they fought to survive at UU, study participants learned of a validating experience to
help them navigate their new campus environment, the sophomore seminar course. As
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evidenced by their surveys and interview reflections, the course helped students transition from a
survival mentality to one grounded in their own resilience, all while supported by a community
of their peers whom shared their experience. Tally remarked, “It’s like we share a pain, but at
the same time, that’s what makes us stronger…Just being plugged into that showed me UU is a
place that I can grow.”
The vast majority of student participants were introduced to the course by their peers, an
academic advisor, or directly from the course’s professor. When asked in the study’s pre-survey
what they hoped to learn from the course, survey respondents offered the following short
responses that reflect their interest in defining their first-generation college student identity,
personal goals and tools to successfully navigate their transition to and persistence through UU:
• insight on how to navigate college while being a first-generation college student
• what it means to be first-generation at UU, how to be successful at UU and in career,
• a sense of direction in terms of current academic path, career, and life in general
• advice on how to become a well-rounded individual and how to achieve goals for
major
• confidence to overcome future setbacks
• insight on all of the opportunities UU has to offer first-generation students
Students, facing the great unknown of college, sought to find direction and establish a
pathway forward. Common among them was a desire to learn about campus life and
opportunities they may have overlooked or missed because of their lack of familiarity with
college. They also shared a desire to build confidence in themselves and their abilities. They
sought reassurance they were competent enough to survive, and better yet thrive, at UU and they
hoped to build a community of trusted peers and mentors to guide them along the journey.
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In their post-course reflections, interview respondents spoke to their growth from a
survival mentality to one of confidence and resiliency. Alumni of the course credited the
sophomore seminar for helping them reimagine their first-generation college student identity and
recognize resiliency as a unique skill they have to offer among their non-first-generation college
student peers. For example, Kamilah shared that after the course she felt, “the struggle of going
through all this has made the experience worthwhile.” Raven agreed saying, “The chaos of it
all…I don’t like just fitting in the lines or like following behind some else…yeah I may not be
able to do that, or I can’t do this, but damn I’ll learn how.” Stefanie remarked about the value
added to class discussion when she shared openly about her first-generation college student
experience, “There’s good and bad to being a first-generation college student…You’re able to
understand disparities…you’ve gone through it, you know people who’ve gone through it. You
know community. There’s a better connection to that outside world than just books.”
Study participants had been accustomed to relying upon their own survival skills to
navigate unfamiliar college territory to this point, but deeply desired developing a community of
their peers who shared their experience and sought answers to similar questions. Their remarks
conveyed a level of desperation to identify trustworthy and reliable resources to ensure they were
on the “right” path to accomplish their college and career goals. They were eager to develop
confidence in their ability to succeed at UU, to gather tips, tricks, and tools to guarantee their
success. They sought reassurance about their ability to not only pursue but earn their college
degree. The sophomore seminar provided a validating experience and foundational community
of support which aided students in their transition from a survival mentality to one grounded in
their own resilience. Alumni of the course were confident in their competence to succeed at UU
and in the value-added by their first-generation college student experience.
Sense of Belonging: Establishing community in an unfamiliar environment. The
second emergent theme from this study highlighted a unique set of challenges first-generation
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college students at UU faced in integrating into the University community. When asked the
interview question, “What unique challenges do you believe first-generation college students at
UU face compared to their non- first-generation college student peers?” respondents exposed a
deep-seated self-doubt. They explained that within this entirely new college environment,
challenged to academically and socially succeed while separated from their families and the
communities they were familiar with, they felt isolated and lacked a sense of belonging in their
new world.
While UU boasts a large first-generation college student population overall (14%;
approximately 4,500 graduate and undergraduate students in total), first-generation college
students are never gathered in mass as an entire group or formally introduced to one another.
Because first-generation college students must choose to disclose their identity to be known to
others, building community can be that much more difficult. Instead first-generation college
students often interact in pockets of first-generation college student scholarship recipients, living
learning community residents, first-generation college student conference attendees, or cultural
center visitors.
Entering college with academic adjustments to make and campus culture shock
exacerbated the transition to college life for many of the first-generation college students in this
study. For example, Marco was motivated to go to college to better his family. He described his
upbringing as “helping to toughen [him] up and put things in perspective.” Tally, felt
responsible for protecting her parents from knowing about the challenge she faced in her
transition to UU remarking, “I’m lucky to live so close and to just have their emotional support,
but I just didn’t feel comfortable tapping into that. I felt like I had to do it on my own.” Raven
shared about choosing to be less forthcoming about her background with her peers, hoping to
avoid answering questions and keep it from following her to UU. “I was constantly aware of the
lies and details we told…People ask why I remember details so well but it’s a lifetime of having
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to remember what I said to this person or that person.” The students’ responses illustrate how
challenging it was for them to negotiate the world in which they were living and the world from
which they came.
A third challenge study participants faced when trying to develop a sense of belonging at
UU was more tangible: their physical distance from campus. Melissa, Raven, and Tally (all
spring or transfer student admits) shared about how living off-campus led to feelings of isolation,
restricted their ability to establish strong bonds with peers, and limited their participation in co-
curricular activities. Tally remarked, “I didn’t have that dorm experience where I could go down
the hall and talk to friends…I felt disconnected from the people around me.” Melissa lives at
home and carpools to UU with her stepmother. She shared, “I knew I was never going to be able
to join [student organizations] because I don’t live on campus and my parents would not let me
stay out that late.”
Ryanne explained yet another challenge facing first-generation college students at UU: a
unique set of worries:
I feel like students in the UU family... they don't worry about the same things I worry
about in life…. I don't know [what they worry about]. Partying? Meeting new people? I
feel like most of them, they don't have to worry about, “How am I going to do well in this
class, even though I didn't go to a private school?” I feel like things come so easy to
them, or there's always someone there to help them out, like if they need an internship,
they know exactly who to go to, but I don't. I have to be like, “Okay, let me go meet with
this person. They might tell me.” You have to do everything on your own.
Many of those interviewed shared a similar sentiment in that their worries were often
more complex than what they imagined a “typical” college student faced. From financial woes
to a lack of college culture knowledge among their family and friends back home, study
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participants emphasized the significant differences between their experience and that of their
non-first-generation college student peers.
This prominent sense of being “the other” led many of the study’s participants to question
where they fit in – if at all – at Urban University. This imposter identity was not merely
tangentially evident in this data analysis; rather the psychological syndrome was named outright
by interview respondents on several occasions. Most study participants mentioned comparing
themselves to their non-first-generation college student peers at UU and feeling inadequate at
times. For Allison, this stemmed from a lack of high school preparatory coursework. “I thought
UU would be like high school but I realized my high school’s standards were not up to par with
everyone else’s…It hit me then…I wasn’t prepared…It happens to a lot of first-generation
college students - imposter syndrome.” Emily expanded in a similar vein, “Starting day one,
[non-first-generation college students] already knew how everything worked out or they already
made the connections that I didn’t previously have.”
Several of this study’s respondents suggested their feelings of inadequacy stemmed from
socioeconomic and language barriers. Stefanie explained,
Coming to UU…it didn’t feel like a family. So many people didn’t have my same story
and I was like, “How do I connect with people who have been privileged their whole
lives?” Just coming into contact with people who don't understand you or understand
your experiences really hurts…I was in class and we had this big writing assignment, and
usually I'm a little scared of my writing capabilities…since English is not my first
language…A lot of people will say, “Oh, I'll just ask my mom for help, my dad for help.
They're researchers or doctors.” And I'm like, “I can't ask my family for help.” I mean I
already knew I was a first-generation college student, but it really opened my eyes.
Tally shared Stefanie’s sentiment adding,
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I remember my freshman year I didn't say a word in a lot of my classes, I felt like I wasn't
smart enough. People would say out names of authors…I didn't feel comfortable
speaking, or asking what they meant. You're here to learn and exchange ideas, but I didn't
feel comfortable… I saw how different my college experience was from even my Latina
roommate’s [whose parents had gone to college]. I knew I couldn't mess up. My main
goal was to graduate, but she had the luxury of not just being in a sorority, but also
partying and she had so many nice things. I just remember seeing her shoe rack and I was
like, "What?!" Knowing that wasn't a possibility for me. [Another roommate said] her
parents give her like $3,000 for expenses; her own personal expenses for the semester
and she had run out. I was like, ‘Whoa! That's like how much I made…on work
study…in a year I think… All these kids have gone to private school all their life, and
they're at a different ballgame! I think that was really what contributes to feeling like an
impostor; of not belonging. It was just, seeing that big difference made me more aware
how much I didn't have… I think that's kind of scary, because sometimes you don't know
what you're capable of and you have these goals for yourself, but once you start walking
the path to get there, that's when the impostor sort of sneaks in, like, “Am I really going
to be able to do it?” We always question like, “Why am I here? Why did UU let me in?
All these people are amazing!”
Beyond Stefanie and Tally’s remarks, several more students emphasized finances as
being a defining factor in their ability to fit in at UU. For example, Kamilah shared that she
knew she was different from her UU peers; she had her own set of problems and stresses her UU
peers were “lucky enough” not to have like working while being in school, buying their own
groceries, or developing a professional network without help from their parents. Marco came to
UU to reinvent himself, independent of his background and upbringing, but in his first semester
was made acutely aware of how different he was from his peers. “My clothes were hand-me-
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downs…and I didn’t pack right for the weather…I had a big coat which I feel like became my
comfort coat.”
Kamilah, Marco, and Ryanne characterized their early years at UU as a time of isolation.
Without a trusted community of support established, several shared about their struggle to fit in
while internalizing the growing pressure to have it all together and avoid any mistakes. Kamilah
remarked:
When I first [transferred], it was hard to really identify…to even say “I go to UU,”
because I couldn't even believe that I was here. I just felt like it was a very unwelcoming
environment as a spring admit. I didn't like it. I actually wanted to leave. I was having a
really rough time academically just because I felt I was still behind in my classes. I would
sit there and hear people talk very eloquently. I couldn't even say certain words or I
didn't even know what certain words meant… I think, just academically, like in classes, I
just felt behind in comparison to a lot of the students.… In the beginning, like I
remember, I felt like such a failure. Like, I'm not going to make it anywhere. That was
the hardest part, just seeing that. Like, I'm not as good as I thought I was.
Marco explained further,
I think it’s just this sense of not being good enough...I found myself trying to sound
eloquent, trying to fit a certain image…of this very sophisticated, well put together
person…and I ended up not talking. I found myself being impeded by this image that I
aspired to become. I felt diminutive…it took a toll on my self-esteem…The feeling of
being inadequate even though obviously your grades or the work you’ve done show that
you are adequate or more than adequate, but still you compare yourself to someone who
comes from a higher social class...my accomplishment automatically feels less.
Ryanne elaborated
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I feel like it's hard to feel connected and … like you're part of the UU family because,
well, I'm not white…and I feel like all these people…are at a better position than I am, or
they're at a higher ... I feel like they get things…I've tried to connect with people, but it's
hard, because they come from a very different world than you do…[As for the Indian
community] most of the Indians on campus are super rich…they're all super
Americanized, and they're all trying super hard to…I feel like they're trying to be white.
That's just weird… Plus, I feel like they all think they're better than you… It just sucks
because sometimes people just point you out because you're a first gen student.
Sometimes, I'm just like, “Why can't you just treat me like I'm someone else?” It's crazy,
because when I talk to them, everyone is like, “Oh yeah, I get it,”…but none of those
people ever try to ask me about it, or learn more, or make an effort to come talk to
me…People just keep living their lives and worry about the little things that they're
worried about.
These remarks illustrate that from their very first days at UU, first-generation college
students compared themselves with their peers and their families with their peers’ families and
recognize their disadvantage – be it academic, social, or financial. While this behavior may not
be limited to the first-generation college student experience at UU, at such a critical point in their
development and integration into campus life, these students found themselves inundated with
examples of what makes them different from their peers rather than recognizing their shared
identity as members of the UU Family. From college preparation to socioeconomic status, from
primary language barriers to ethnic and cultural differences, this study’s participants highlight
much more about how they differ from their non-first-generation college student peers than how
they might relate. While some of this may be self-imposed, Raven points that members of the
UU campus community contribute to the complexity of finding a sense of belonging at UU:
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 75
UU isn’t a place that understands the world that I'm living in. That's when I feel most
disconnected… I think it comes with the fear of this might not be for you… Like even
raising your hand in class, I think that's something that's always strange. Like your
opinion isn't good enough…or it's not equal to everyone else's. The classroom wasn't as
much a community as it was just to come in, sit, leave.
Study participants eventually sought a sense of belonging among like peers, such as other
first-generation college students or ethnic groups. In their first year at UU, many spoke of how
cultural centers and residential learning communities played a role in helping them establish a
community of peers who shared similar experiences. Still in a survival mentality, they credited
these seemingly insular communities with helping them make it through their first year. Allison
shared about her experience living in the Latino residential learning community:
I think living on [the Latino culture thematic residence hall floor] was really crucial to
me…Those are the main people that I associated myself with…I don’t think I would have
gotten through my first year without their support…They were extremely, extremely
helpful in terms of just, first, finding my place at an institution like UU.
Laura added about the community she developed while living on the Latino culture thematic
residence hall floor:
I feel like we were all invested in each other's growth and success. There were really hard
times and really great accomplishments that we went through together that I feel it was
really crucial for me to have especially transitioning into college and all the challenges
that that came with that.
The sophomore seminar course has become another valued community for first-
generation college students at UU. Because of its placement in the second year, the course has
been less critical to the students’ early survival at UU; however, the course has played a
significant role in helping students build community among their peers at UU and in the
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 76
professional world. Raven reflected on her first day in the course and how her perceptions of
campus climate changed over the course of the semester:
I walked in and I was like, “This was going to be a different class than UU normally has.”
I think the biggest thing that sophomore seminar changed in me is seeing that this campus
was also my home and the resources are available in the people I got to meet from the
class. It's a very nice thing to see that people understand…what's going on in your head
or home… really being comfortable to ask for that help and that it's not something wrong.
Survey results reaffirm this conclusion and highlight how first-generation college
students relied on the sophomore seminar to establish a community among other first-generation
college students and develop their own sense of belonging at UU. The course created
opportunities for them to share about their first-generation college student experience – at UU
and at home – and a place to fit in to the UU community. Pre and post addendum survey results
from the fall 2016 cohort showed that students reported feeling more a part of the UU Family
after participating in the sophomore seminar course. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest
and 5 being the highest, post course surveys showed a mean increase of .04, from 3.59 to 3.63.
When asked what they hoped to gain from the course, students shared the following short
responses that reflected their desire to find a sense of belonging and a community of support:
• welcoming communities that align with personal values, share personal identities, and
future goals
• friends, connections, and experiences that seen limited among new first-generation
college students
• confidence in tackling the academic work load
• communities which support taking risks
• an open or family environment
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 77
• support transitioning into the UU community
• a community that embraces diversity
In addition to these comments, students also took lessons they learned in the sophomore
seminar and utilized them to develop communities beyond the classroom. For example, Ryanne
shared,
Now, I think I feel like I'm part of the UU Family because I work at the Office of Student
Affairs ... I feel like, I get to help people help other people, so I feel like I do my little
part in helping the people at the office do bigger things to help our school in
general...Whatever they're doing, I pitch in my part, and I feel like that, in a bigger
manner, helps out... I feel like most of the people there are committed to UU at heart, so
it kind of rubs off on you, too. Yeah, I feel like a part of the UU family when I'm there.
After the course, students began to reconsider the separation they created between their
home and school lives. Tally explained:
[Attending UU] was a big deal, but I didn't realize it at the time. I think even my parents
didn't realize it until other people started telling them, “Hey, your daughter goes to Urban
University? That's really cool!” There was a specific moment where my dad told me his
bosses started talking about me going to UU and they told him, “Wow. Our son didn't get
into UU.” That, for my dad was like … he was really happy.
While study participants often began their UU journey feeling like imposters among their
peers, not accomplished or smart enough to attend UU, building a sense of belonging on campus
was an essential step toward them feeling more a part of the UU Family. In this study, the
students’ responses demonstrate a strong correlation between sense of belonging and personal
confidence.
The sophomore seminar course provided a safe space for first-generation college students
to share their personal stories, find value in the challenges they have overcome and successes
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 78
they have achieved, and validated their membership in the UU community. In building
relationships with their peers the students discovered more about themselves and their values.
As they established trust and support among the group, they developed confidence in their future
goals. While at times they still struggle with feeling like imposters at UU, building a reassuring
community of peers and mentors who understand them and their experiences helped first-
generation college students enrolled in the sophomore seminar feel less isolated and more a part
of the UU Family.
The first two themes to emerge from this study (“From Survival to Resilience: A
validating experience for first-generation college students”, and “Sense of Belonging:
Establishing community in an unfamiliar environment”) highlight how first-generation college
student perceptions of campus climate impact their personal and academic confidence, ability to
navigate the University, and sense of belonging. This study found that a first-generation college
student’s ability to feel competent, successful, and welcome at UU was directly tied to their
perception of campus climate. Furthermore, this study confirmed that through participation in
the sophomore seminar course, first-generation college students’ perceptions of campus climate
evolved. They redefined how skills they honed through their unique upbringing like resiliency
could be value-added at UU, and they established themselves within UU communities that
helped them find a sense of belonging within the larger UU family. This study affirmed the
necessity of a symbiotic relationship between first-generation college students and their new
campus community in order to ensure their persistence and success.
Social and Cultural Capital
The results of this study have thus far demonstrated the close relationship between
perceptions of campus climate and successful first-generation college student adjustment to
Urban University. This study also sought to explore how first-generation college students’
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 79
access to and limitations on financial resources, social networks, and cultural capital may impact
first-generation college students’ success at UU and beyond.
Financial capital was a dominant influence in the lives of this study’s participants as
evidenced in their biographical sketches. Many of the participants are themselves immigrants or
are first-generation Americans. They often spoke of the sacrifices their parents made for them so
they could achieve a better financial future than where they came. Common among study
participants was their desire to go to college to create more financial opportunities for themselves
and their families in the future. Participants routinely equated completing their degree with the
ability to climb the socio-economic ladder, financial independence and stability, and a
professional degree that would ensure a comfortable lifestyle for them and their families. For
example, nearly 40% of those enrolled in the sophomore seminar course sought majors or minors
in professional fields like business, communications, engineering, public policy, or medicine
because they understood these fields would guarantee future financial capital. However, while
this study found that access to financial capital influences the first-generation college student
experience, the sophomore seminar course was not designed to directly increase students’ access
to this form of capital. As such, the study’s findings will instead highlight the impact the
sophomore seminar course had on first-generation college student access to social networks and
cultural capital.
Social Capital: Building strategic social networks. Beyond financial capital, study
participants understood the personal and professional value of developing a strong social
network of mutually beneficial strategic relationships with their peers, advisors, professors, and
mentors. However, they often were unsure of how to start to establish and ultimately expand
their social network.
While many study participants spoke highly of the close-knit local communities from
which they came, upon arriving at UU first-generation college students often felt isolated from
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 80
their familiar social networks back home. Laura, Raven, Ryanne, and Tally spoke to this
sentiment in their interviews. Laura shared that it was “hard to know who your allies are” while
Raven characterized it as a “fear of authority”. Ryanne was “looking for someone who was able
to just be there. Support her and tell her that they understand what she’s going through and the
culture she came from.” Tally explained that “UU didn’t always feel welcoming but she knew
there were advocates.” For study participants, a common challenge among them was identifying
trustworthy and reliable sources of support that could help them understand and connect with
campus and professional resources.
Many of the study’s respondents turned first to familiar communities to build a network
of social support. For example, Allison credited the Latino Cultural Center’s staff and resources
for helping her survive her first semester, while Marco felt connected to the larger UU
community through his involvement with the Filipino-American student organization. Others
found solace within pockets of other first-generation college students. Emily and Laura relied
heavily on the first-generation college student scholarship community they had been invited to
join. Laura remarked, “I felt that I could be pretty open and we would share our experiences and
our struggle together and carry that together.” For many though, it took time to identify and
develop trusted communities where they could open up about their lives at home and at school.
One pocket of support for first-generation college students at UU has become the
sophomore seminar course. The course brought together peers, professors, and professional
mentors who could relate to their experience and support their growth. Kamilah shared that she
enrolled in the course because she “wanted a support group, like a family,” and Melissa
explained that the course “flourished into something great, a community of really good friends.”
For Stefanie, the class helped her understand what she was feeling and understand that other
people were going through the same thing. She knew family was a very big part of being a first-
generation college student, but going through the class helped her see that her family was
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 81
creating some of her stress. For Tally, the class helped her connect with people outside of her
usual UU sphere. “That class really helped me connect with other people who had similar
interests but were outside my major.”
The sophomore seminar course also served as a vehicle for connecting first-generation
college students with faculty. Allison and Marco highlighted the professor of the course as a
primary source of support for first-generation college students on campus. Allison shared that
she enrolled in the course because she knew the professor and he was a great mentor and
resource who was concerned about first-generation college students. Marco remarked,
The professor for this class is an unbelievable mentor by the sheer fact that he mentors
everyone at UU, I feel like. He’s mentored me ever since I took the course and has
allowed me to really grow as a person and not even just through his mentorship, also
looking beyond what he can offer me.
Laura and Tally also echoed these sentiments about the instructor’s valuable influence as
a teacher and mentor. Laura said, “The class gave me the opportunity to continue working with
the professor doing research and I think that’s definitely made a difference for me.” Tally had
also worked closely with the course’s professor beyond the sophomore seminar. While she was
incredibly grateful for the relationship they had developed, she expressed concern about how few
mentors there are for first-generation college students at UU. “We have people like the professor
in this class, but there’s only one of him, and probably hundreds of students have gone to him.
What could be the bigger impact if there were two or three more professors like that?” For
Tally, she intends to pursue a career in academia to someday pay it forward and serve as a
mentor for future first-generation college students.
As evidenced by the sophomore seminar syllabus, one of the course’s core objectives is
to empower students to “meet and discuss career preparation with a variety of individuals from
several key professions who may act as role models for advancement,” (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1). In
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 82
addition to the course professor and guest speakers, students in the first two cohorts (fall 2013
and 2014) were assigned the task of arranging an informational interview in a career field of their
interest. This was one example of how the course helped students develop a social network and
build social capital. In both cohorts, exposure to informational interviewing increased nearly
three-fold from pre to post survey (see Table 3).
Table 3: Students who completed an informational interview to further their career exploration (pre
and post survey data comparison) (N=90)
In recent semesters, the course has transitioned to prioritize office hour and site visits
over informational interviews to achieve a similar outcome but with more of a balance between
academic and career networking. Emily shared:
My first semester here, I didn’t go to the professor’s office hours unless I needed help on
something, so I was rarely there and I was only there to ask a question. After this class, I
made sure to introduce myself to some of my professors and actually grew close to one of
them. That helped me a lot because she wrote me a recommendation letter for some
scholarships.
Kamilah had a similar positive experience, “I did my office hours assignment with my
accounting professor who’s a first gen also and the only female black professor in the Business
22%
19%
91%
54%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Fall 2013 Fall 2014
Pre-SSEM
Post-SSEM
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 83
School. She really took me under her wing and helped me figure all this stuff out.” Laura
credited the sophomore seminar office hour assignment as “a real first for her that really opened
doors.
Site visits served as another valuable social networking opportunity for students to
explore beyond their comfort zone and hear from professionals in various fields, who themselves
were first-generation college students, about their journey from college to career. Site visits
were also effective in helping students build social capital with 80% of fall 2015 survey
respondents reporting that the course helped them meet and interact with successful first-
generation professionals who faced similar concerns regarding academic and professional goals
when they were in college. Raven captured the impact of the site visit experience in her remarks,
In this class I got to go to some wonderful site visits and that was very interesting to see
someone and hear other people in high powerful positions that were talking to us about
situations that they’ve been in when they were in our shoes. That was something that I
think is invaluable for anyone to see someone who’s grown. You can’t make up some of
the stories that some of us [first-generation college students] have gone through. You
know they’ve made it and you hear them talk about it and it’s just a light to follow, even
if it’s a very dim one, but that was great.
Beyond the formal assignments scripted by the course syllabus, students reported a new
found confidence to take independent steps beyond the seminar course to establish strategic
social networks. Allison sought out UU’s First-generation College Mentorship Program, which
had been mentioned during class discussion, and established a relationship with a mentor she
continues to meet with regularly. “She’s definitely been a great resource in terms of navigating
study abroad and in general, too, I think as I’m getting ready to graduate and look at other
opportunities and maybe consider research.” Emily shared, “At first I didn’t know how to talk to
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 84
people during networking, and then I realized they’re real people too and there’s no pressure.
Now I feel pretty proud about how well my communication skills have developed.”
Stefanie and Tally shared they have an increased comfort level around visiting with
professors after the course and that they feel proud of this newly developed skill. Stefanie has
been more open to finding professors who understand her and identifying mentors. Instead of
asking them mostly academic questions she has tried to learn about their experience and ways
she can grow through their experience in college and in life. Tally echoed this saying, “I am a
lot more confident going into office hours, and not necessarily asking questions but asking
people about their life. I began to see professors more like a friend and their guidance is
something I am really grateful for.”
The sophomore seminar course also prepares and empowers students to develop social
networks beyond their trusted first-generation college student community by investing time in
strategic relationship building with members of the larger UU Family. Allison shared, “having
access to this network of people and resources…it’s a collective concept. Whenever I see
anyone with UU paraphernalia, I just feel like, I can reach out to them because we’re a part of
the UU family.” Kamilah agreed saying, “[After this course], in terms of UU spirit…I feel like
I’m just as much a part of the community as everyone else.” Marco and Stefanie reflected on
how the practice of expanding their social network was both a personal and professional
development opportunity. Marco shared, “The network allowed me to see myself in a bigger
way…I think I achieved more than I ever imagined I could have achieved. It was because of the
people that helped me through, the people who have mentored me. I’m thankful for them.”
Stefanie agreed sharing, “It really helped me understand that my success is not only just me, it’s
asking for help, and looking for resources and through that, understanding who I am and seeing
where my passions lie through the help of others and their experiences.”
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 85
First-generation college students in this study often faced feelings of isolation as they
tried to straddle two seemingly separate worlds – the community from which they came and UU,
the new world to which they were trying to adapt. They found themselves struggling to identify
a trusted social network that reflected and related to their experience as first-generation college
students. The sophomore seminar course plays a pivotal role in providing a safe space for first-
generation college students to share their experiences, imagine their futures, and develop skills
for social networking among a community of their peers. The course also prepares them to
develop personal and professional social networks that can support them and their goals well into
the future.
Cultural Capital: Understanding and utilizing campus resources. Most of the first-
generation college student participants in this study had limited familiarity with higher
education, and therefore lesser college cultural capital than their non-first-generation college
student peers, before arriving for classes at UU. Very few of them had family, friends, or college
counselors who could provide insight into the college student experience. Allison shared,
I applied to UU not even knowing where it was exactly or about it…I just went online…I
never actually visited. Just having a general knowledge of what college is like…I didn’t
really understand it until I actually enrolled in classes…General knowledge about college
seems so menial but… whether it’s career opportunities or being proactive during
summers…if your family has gone through college they have general knowledge they can
impart on you to prepare you...There were so many small things I wasn’t aware of.
Marco explained a similar sentiment remembering that he went to his college counselor
repeatedly and received little support. Like Allison, he had to go about applying to and choosing
a college mostly on his own with a heavy reliance on internet searching. Melissa described her
experience as feeling “lost”. Nothing had prepared her for college like just being there. While
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 86
the students often sought support from advisors or their family, their lack of familiarity with
higher education was something only immersion in campus life could really reconcile for them.
Beyond feeling lost, many of those interviewed shared stories about feeling embarrassed
at their lack of college knowledge. They highlighted a seemingly endless list of questions from
day one on campus: What’s a college credit? A syllabus? Study abroad? How do I pick a
major? Where do I buy books? What’s the difference between working and an internship? How
do I apply for [fill in the blank]? Is it ok to drop a class? What does it mean to be first-gen?
What is the sophomore seminar? What do I do after UU? How do I prepare for, pick, and apply
to graduate school?
Laura explained that not knowing how to navigate college is a unique challenge facing
first-generation college students. She remarked,
Thinking of my freshman year and all the things that were new. I didn’t really get much
help. I feel like it ended up being that lack of knowledge that made it harder and more
expensive that first year. There are so many ways that from the beginning first-
generation college students are disadvantaged that, like I’ve said before, you’re starting
off trying to catch up to everybody else.”
Raven offered a personal anecdote about the humiliation she felt after being targeted by a
professor for forgetting her laptop at home. “The professor asked, ‘Why don’t you have it? How
can [you] get by in the real world without it? What [are you] going to do?’ I thought, ‘I do have
one, it’s just at home’, but what if I didn’t?”
Several of the interview participants expressed regret at the opportunities they missed due
to their lack of college cultural capital. When Emily first started at UU she thought, “‘Okay, I’m
here four years, this school’s expensive. I need to finish, who cares about studying abroad?’ I
just thought it wasn’t a necessity to me.” Kamilah thought about transferring back to State
College rather than continue struggling to learn her way through UU. “I thought UU was too big
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 87
of a challenge for me. I was so scared [to fail] because I didn’t want to fall back to the same
lifestyle I had back home.”
Stefanie and Tally also shared they wished they had taken advantage of more while they
were at UU, but because they were unaware they often found out about opportunities after it was
too late to apply. Stefanie expressed:
I wished I traveled abroad when I had the chance to. I always thought I could do more in
school, but I never had the chance. Even though I have a good sense of who I am and
what experiences I want to go towards…I feel like I would have gotten to this point much
earlier if I knew more.
Tally shared she wouldn’t have done anything differently because, “It’s allowed me to be where
I am now, but there are definitely things I could have done in an easier way ...I wouldn’t worry
so much. Worrying doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t change the situation.”
Interview participants felt a sense of insecurity in their early years at UU because they
often were without answers to many important questions. After surviving year one, however,
they found resolve and support in the sophomore seminar. The course served as an opportunity
to find strategic pathways toward increasing their cultural capital, understanding college
nuances, and utilizing campus resources to support their future success. Laura shared about
sophomore seminar:
I think it was just that class opening a door for me. The class just felt like, finally, this is
a class for us. I felt like I was starting to solidify what success looks like. We were on a
level playing field and we were all there to support one another’s growth and
development. That camaraderie definitely contributed to the success that I felt was
attainable at UU.
One of the core objectives outlined in the syllabus for the sophomore seminar course was
to help students build cultural capital by “preparing students to assess their own interests and
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 88
academic skill preparation for various careers and/or graduate school following graduation,”
(Sanchez, 2013, p. 1). Many of the students interviewed in this study expressed that before the
course they felt unsure about defining an academic course plan, the “right ways” to get involved
on campus, and how to define their postgraduate plans.
By the close of the course, some students felt empowered to make up for every missed
opportunity by taking full advantage of their remaining time at UU. Marco remarked, “That
semester I realized I had to do all of these things, and they just came all at once. It wasn’t a
gradual process at all. I had to swim or sink. I realized I had to do way more than just what my
major told me to. I got an internship, then I did research, then I did fellowships, more internships
and then more research.” Similarly, Allison immediately applied for the First-generation College
Student Mentorships Program and continues to meet regularly with her mentor. She recently
studied abroad and is considering exploring opportunities for research as well. Kamilah, a
student who only months prior considered leaving UU and dismissed study abroad as
nonessential, adjusted her priorities to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad and has
since participated in several programs overseas.
Other students learned to better define their priorities and interests so as to focus more on
what really mattered to them. Ryanne, made time to meet with her career advisor and ultimately
changed her major and long-term career plans to reflect interests she is much more personally
passionate about. Tally learned that every opportunity is a trade off with another:
I’ve learned that if I take advantage of one resource it means I am saying no to another. I
have to ask myself, ‘What am I sacrificing to take advantage of this opportunity?’ If it’s
something I know will not give me peace of mind, then I shouldn’t do it. There are so
many resources, but I can’t do them all, and I realize that I have to ask myself which ones
are going to push me forward to my goal of giving more to my family and having enough
for myself.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 89
For nearly half of the first-generation college students interviewed for this study, earning
a college degree was a definitive symbol of cultural capital. Graduation represented the
culmination of years of hard work, an established and growing social network, a stable financial
future, and validation of their personal and professional competence. Their ability to earn their
degree, and thereby increase their cultural capital, would allow them to give back to their
families that had supported them along the way and pass down their college wisdom with
younger peers, siblings, or even their future children. This achievement, in and of itself, made
all the struggles they had faced and fought to overcome worthwhile.
The sophomore seminar course also offered students the opportunity to increase their
cultural capital by exploring graduate school options alongside discussions of career goal setting.
In the three most recent semesters of the sophomore seminar course (fall 2014, 2015 and 2016),
when the vast majority of enrollees (more than 80%) were first and second year students (as
compared to fall 2013 when more than 30% of the cohort was upperclassman), pre and post
survey knowledge of the criteria and qualifications needed for successful admission to graduate
school increased on average by 39% after completion of the course (see Table 4).
Table 4: Students with knowledge of criteria and qualifications needed for successful admission to
graduate school (pre and post survey data comparison) (N=90)
6%
43%
31%
21%
22%
84%
68%
59%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016
Pre-SSEM
Post-SSEM
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 90
This study utilized qualitative and quantitative data to demonstrate how the sophomore
seminar course at UU provided first-generation college students with a variety of opportunities to
expand their cultural capital. While students still had unanswered questions about college and
career, their depth had evolved significantly. Where they had been asking basic how-to and
logistical questions before the course, after the sophomore seminar first-generation college
students sought answers to life’s bigger questions like: What matters to me and why? What do I
hope to be doing in 10-15 years from now? What does success mean to me? How can I share
what I have learned with the next generation of first-generation college students so they start
their UU journey on more of an even playing field with their non-first-generation college student
peers?
First-generation college students sought out the sophomore seminar course because they
understood the course would increase their knowledge and utilization of campus resources
(cultural capital) and, based on student survey and interview responses, the course met this
expectation. Beyond introducing students to campus resources and helping them to apply them
for their future benefit, the sophomore seminar offered students the opportunity to share
resources with their peers. The course enhanced their confidence in their own cultural capital
and helped them recognize that as first-generation college students they had a unique skill set
and alternative forms of cultural capital which were just as valuable as those traditionally sought
in college. Additionally, they were part of the larger UU Family which in itself afforded them
cultural capital. Tally explained, “I know I get treated differently because I’m at UU. People
value labels and being a first gen student at a school like this has opened a lot of opportunities I
don’t think I would have had at other schools. I can’t say labels don’t matter, because they do.
Now I see how college is a tool.”
In developing their understanding of college cultural capital, study participants were able
to reassess their own contributions to the campus community and develop pride in their first-
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 91
generation college student experience. They recognized that in being first-generation college
students they were not just there to take full advantage of available resources, but they were
adding value to the campus community, in particular to their peers who looked to them as
mentors and a network of support. Their first-generation college student experiences had helped
them hone character traits like resiliency, adaptability, cultural competence, and compassion that
were assets to the UU community and value-added for their future professional roles as well.
This study demonstrated that limitations on financial resources, social networks, and
college cultural capital influenced first-generation college students’ adjustment to Urban
University. As explained by Ryanne:
Knowing the right people (social capital), knowing what to do, knowing how to go about
in college (cultural capital)…If I knew half of the things I know today when I was a
senior in high school, I would have done my entire college life so much differently…No
one really tells you any of this and there are questions I still have. Just having someone
guide you instead of always having to guide yourself would have been nice.
Forms of capital – be they financial, social, or cultural - directly influenced this study’s
participants. As first-generation college students, their social relationship with power and what
they were able to accomplish in college and career was directly tied to the capital they had
acquired. The sophomore seminar course helped them learn effective methods for building
social and cultural capitol. One such method, was taking full advantage of the opportunities and
resources available to them at UU. As a result of the course, sophomore seminar enrollees soon
began to seek intentional opportunities to build capitol through engaging in campus activities
including other high impact practices.
Engagement
The sophomore seminar course was crafted to be an effective high impact practice geared
at supporting first-generation college students at UU. The professor helped design the course
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 92
and is highly involved in developing other high impact practices on campus that expose
underserved students, especially those that are first-generation college students, to undergraduate
research, faculty mentorship, personal reflection and applied learning. Per the sophomore
seminar course syllabus (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1),
[The sophomore seminar] explores the connection between potential careers and
academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, particularly for first-generation
college students. The purpose of the course is to create individualized student pathways
to careers through discussion and examination of intellectual interest, goals and skills
development; presentations by alumni, graduate students, and career professionals; and
contemporary diverse workplace explorations. Students will develop plans for future
internships, scholarships, coursework, and academic and extracurricular practices which
will enhance their ability to secure meaningful employment in desired fields upon
graduation.
The intentionality behind the course design and curriculum incorporates the core
components of high impact practices including, but not limited to, investment of time and
energy, interaction with faculty and peers on substantive topics, reflection and integrated
learning, and discovering learning in a real world context. This study sought to understand how
engagement in the sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influenced first-generation
college student involvement and achievement at UU and beyond. The study’s findings confirm
the sophomore seminar course is an effective high impact practice that encourages first-
generation college students to do more as they learn more and utilize reflection as a tool for
defining and achieving success in the future.
High Impact Practices: Learn more, do more. Another emergent theme from this
study was the idea that as the sophomore seminar exposed first-generation college students to the
many opportunities UU has to offer they will be more likely to increase their involvement,
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 93
especially in other high impact practices like internships, research, and study abroad. Allison
shared,
Now I take advantage of everything. I’ve definitely been a lot more heavily involved.
I’ve always tried to take advantage of as much as I could but I’d say I definitely took off
after the course with internships and study abroad. I came back with a lot more
confidence and I think a chain of events that helped me develop a more clear vision of the
next year. I’ve grown a lot and I’m not afraid of reaching out.
Kamilah and Laura echoed Allison’s remarks explaining how the course helped them
engage in new ways and build self-confidence. Kamilah said:
At first I didn’t really want to take this class. I was kind of like, “I just need to get out of
here.” I didn’t even know the power or how important it was to have an internship and
now I’ve been applying like crazy to so many...I’m not the 4.0 best student, but I can do
what I want because I have a different life and I’m happy where I am.
Laura remarked,
Looking back, I think there’s a way that class prompted a lot of other things. I was able
to do research with the professor which was a really cool opportunity and then I did study
abroad after that. I didn’t really think that was going to be possible. I also did an
internship. I wouldn’t have attempted any of them before. Even the resources that I knew
about on campus are more accessible because of the class.
Survey responses reiterated the idea that even familiar resources like the UU Career
Center seemed easier to navigate and more valuable after completing the course. Over the
course of the four cohorts, fewer than 50% of course enrollees on average reported familiarity
with the Career Center in their pre-survey. However, by the close of the course and the post
survey, an average of 87% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed they were familiar with and
engaged in the Career Center’s services and resources. This increase was as a direct result of
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sophomore seminar course assignments and conversations with Career Center staff. The post-
survey analysis also indicated that survey respondents reported a higher likelihood to engage in
internships and career planning. Familiarity and engagement with the Career Center can be a
vital source of support for any college student, but for first-generation college students this type
of relationship building goes beyond resource familiarity. This type of involvement helped study
participants establish a sense of belonging, aided in their development of a social network, and
increased their college cultural capital. In this way, the sophomore seminar serves as an
effective example of how the theoretical constructs grounding this study organically intersect to
provide a more comprehensive understanding of the first-generation college student experience.
Many of the study participants reflected on how their experience in the course shaped
their self-image and showed them how to evaluate which activities are most worthwhile to them.
Marco shared,
The class made me more of an active agent in my life through college…I think that class
told me, first of all, that these opportunities are out there and will help shape you more as
a person or equally as much as a person as your major will…It taught me these
opportunities are here but to look beyond what is just given to you. That’s how my
professional aspirations have evolved.
Melissa explained that the course made her more secure and confident in the way she was
approaching mentorship. “I thought long term about ‘who are my peers?’ and ‘how do I develop
productive strategic relationships with people?’” Both of these students highlighted how
reflection about their involvement behaviors helped them examine more critically how, where,
and with whom they spent their time.
While many of the study’s participants began their higher education journey unfamiliar
with the university environment and unsure of what to expect, after participating in the
sophomore seminar course they reported a greater understanding of campus climate and
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resources, and an increased likelihood to engage in both. Student responses shed light on the
importance of the sophomore seminar as a stepping stone to other opportunities. Many of the
students reflected on how their course experience led them to experiment with other high impact
practices, take risks like studying abroad or participating in undergraduate research, and expand
their personal and professional networks. Students who enrolled in the course as juniors or
seniors often mentioned they wished they had taken the course years earlier so they would not
have squandered as much time familiarizing themselves with campus resources and instead
focused on the experiences that really mattered most to them.
The sophomore seminar course encouraged first-generation college students to not only
expand their involvement at UU beyond their comfort zone but to also expand their career
aspirations beyond those with which they were familiar. Raven summarized the course value
saying, “Experiences like this, you learn how to talk, how to respond, how to be, and also how to
live.” Site visits, a way of aiding students in developing a strategic social network and career
applicable skills, were also highly engaging and practical in helping students define action steps
for their future campus involvement and postgraduate career paths:
• I took [site visits] seriously and was able to see what it is I am looking for in a work
environment.
• [Site visits were] helpful in making a decision because they brought real world
speakers to the course and put things into perspective. The bank I visited was
inspiring and motivating.
• [Site visits were] extremely helpful because I never realized that [Big Entertainment
Company] considered and had internship offers for a wide range of students majoring
in different areas.
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• [Site visits were] useful because, although it was very broad, [the site visit]
introduced me to wonderful people and a special program. Gave me more options.
• [Site visits were] useful because I was able to learn that the job is accessible to a
variety of individuals, which led me to apply for an internship.
• [The site visit] gave me a great idea of what I am good at and what I want to do.
• [The site visit] made me realize I can accomplish a lot and it is motivating to strive
for more.
• [The site visit] was extremely informative and encouraging to hear about their
experience and how they got there.
• [Site visits] reinforced why I am here.
• [Site visits] had me thinking about the future.
• [The site visit] was helpful because it gave me good opinions and stories about people
who graduated already.
This course also challenged first-generation college students to develop an action plan to
help accomplish immediate post-graduate goals. The vast majority identified the development of
an action plan as a valuable tangible outcome after participating in the course. On average,
across all four cohorts, 67% more students reported having developed a concrete postgraduate
action plan in their post-course survey when compared to the pre-survey (see Table 5, p. 97).
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Table 5: Students with an action plan to accomplish immediate career-goals upon graduation (pre and
post survey data comparison) (N=90)
Beyond their survey responses, many of the students interviewed spoke of having
established a clearer, more confident vision of their future career plans and the path to achieving
them. From exploration of campus activities and resources to site visits, the sophomore seminar
course aided students in defining their immediate and long term action plans. Emily explained,
“The professor made us map out the next four years and then he had us map out our future. I
ended up applying for a summer internship program even though I heard how competitive it was.
Any opportunity there is it doesn’t hurt to apply. If you don’t apply you already lost it.” Laura
shared that the course felt like a longer term investment in students’ growth and success. “The
career aspiration stuff was really good…just talking about what are the specific challenge we
faced…I think that the class definitely made me feel more secure in taking advantage of every
opportunity that the University had to offer.”
In these ways, site visits and career discussions helped students go beyond imagining the
future and insisted they develop tangible ways to gain applicable experiences to achieve their
goals. Emily shared, “I felt more reassured that even if things didn’t go my way, I already had a
plan…It was also okay to change it, I still had time,” and Tally concluded, “It was really good to
9%
4%
28%
34%
86%
96%
72%
87%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016
Pre-SSEM
Post-SSEM
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be in a community where we could talk about [our action plans] and also discuss ideas and give
each other feedback…Having [an action plan] at the end really made me realize that, ‘Oh this is
real! All these goals and dreams that we talked about are possible, but now it’s time do it.”
As further evidence of how action planning aided alumni of the course with their future
career plans, the professor recently embarked on a new effort to understand where alumni of the
course have begun their careers. While the data is limited in scope, of the 30 alumni
respondents, the majority are in established professional careers or graduate school. Their fields
range significantly from business to education, from health care to research, and as demonstrated
by the aforementioned responses, the experiences they had in the sophomore seminar course
continue to help them define their pathway around their personal values and professional
passions rather than on salary projections alone.
As evidenced by the surveys and interviews conducted for this study, the sophomore
seminar course empowered students to learn about and engage more fully in UU campus
resources and explore careers beyond those with which they had been familiar. In doing so,
students discovered new postgraduate educational and professional opportunities that expanded
their world view and their goals for the future.
Defining Success: A personal narrative. The final theme that emerged from this study
reflects first-generation college students’ evolving definition of success. Participants were eager
to highlight high points along their college journey when they felt pride in where they come
from, who they have become, and what they intend to achieve in the future. As Allison shared:
I’m a first-generation college student and I’m always happy to say that….It’s a source of
pride knowing my parents’ humble roots, knowing that I’ve gotten this far. I wouldn’t
change anything of what I’ve done because all of it has helped me grow. My mindset has
grown a lot. My proudest moment here is just seeing all that growth.
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Laura also expressed a sense of pride in who she has become and what she has accomplished,
“I’m proud of the support and communities I was able to find here at UU, in all the resources and
opportunities that were afforded to me.” These post course reactions are evidence to the
tremendous mentality change students undergo as a side effect of the sophomore seminar course.
Where they enrolled in the sophomore seminar feeling isolated and struggling to survive at UU,
their post course mentality is grounded in their resilience, renewed confidence, and excitement
about the future.
At the same time, Kamilah, Melissa, and Ryanne expressed feeling surprise at how much
they had accomplished at UU with an undertone of the imposter syndrome mentality with which
they entered college. Kamilah shared:
My first gen experience…when I think about how far I’ve made it, I am in shock because
someone like me wasn’t supposed to make it. We never talked about university in my
house and financially it wasn’t something I could even think about. I’m really blessed to
be where I am today. I’m in shock still and the day I graduate I think it’s going to be a
shock that I made it that far.”
Melissa remarked, “I thought ‘I’ll probably just barely make it.’ I literally cried tears of joy
because I could not believe I got a 4.0. I thought this would never happen.” Ryanne explained,
“I think success to me is when you do something really bold that you thought you weren’t going
to be able to do, and you just feel so proud of yourself because you did it, and it makes you feel
like you’re capable of conquering the world.” While these students still had a sense of ‘this is
too good to be true’ they also felt pride in what they had overcome to achieve so much.
According to the course syllabus, the sophomore seminar seeks to help students
understand a wide range of issues related to career advancement for first-generation college
students at UU (Sanchez, 2013, p. 1). In course discussions, students were encouraged to reflect
on how their experiences as first-generation college students helped them develop a unique skill
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set grounded in resilience which will carry them far in achieving their future career goals.
Allison reflected, “I knew all the hard work and stress, sleepless nights, that I went through to get
to that point. I went from failing to bouncing back and that was a success,” while Stefanie
shared, “I felt successful when I finished my master’s degree. It took a lot of tears and a lot of
late nights studying but I was able to do it, and I felt I was successful in finishing something.”
Emily and Marco shared similar sentiments. Emily explained,
There will be struggles getting to the goals I set for myself but in the end…I want to be
happy about what I’m doing because if I’m not why am I doing it? I like the fact that I’m
successful in following a path that a lot of people did, but at the same time deviating from
it a bit.
Marco commented, “I’m getting a degree, something I’ve always imagined as being far away,
that I had to work incrementally toward, and me being here now feels surreal. Success has come
to mean overcoming something I didn’t know I could overcome.” In these remarks, the
respondents demonstrate that they have learned how to contextualize their first-generation
college student experiences as defining but not limiting, empowering rather than disheartening.
The maturity in their reflections helps to illustrate how far they have come from their early days
at UU when they felt isolated and defeated. They have come to know enough about themselves,
their communities, and their futures to be confident in their pathways to success.
As Astin (1984) asserted in his Student Involvement Theory, the value of a particular
involvement experience could be measured by the student’s ability to retain what they learned
from being involved. Raven reiterated this idea through a core lesson of the sophomore seminar
course: Don’t follow the money. Follow your passion. She shared:
When you follow your passion, it gears you towards something that gives you
fulfillment…once you really get it, what you love, no one else can get as vibrant or
excited about it the way you can. Teaching that in the class helped me learn more of
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 101
what I like to do and the class set me on my pathway like, “yeah, I really do love this
area.”
To more fully understand how students’ ideas about success had evolved since taking the
sophomore seminar and in response to this core lesson, respondents were asked to expand further
upon what success means to them. Allison explained, “Success to me means taking advantage of
every opportunity that will help you grow personally, professionally, academically,” and
Kamilah shared,
Success means just being happy and getting the things that actually interest me and that
I’m passionate about, and knowing that it’s going to take me to a place where I’m going
to be happy in the long run. I feel like I used to define success on numbers, like my
GPA, how much money I have or how many internships and things I have listed in my
accomplishments on my resume. Now I realize it doesn’t even matter because I don’t
think I’ll be happy doing a job where I’m not changing someone’s life somehow.
For many of them, the idea of following their passion in their career was only part of
fulfilling the course’s core lesson. In addition, they credited the course for helping them
understand their role as mentors to younger first-generation college students now that they had
acquired the know-how and wisdom to impart. In this way they had come full circle from their
early days at UU. Stefanie remarked, “[After this class] I felt the need to reach out to younger
people, to freshman and sophomores. Now it’s my turn to help those people who are not going
to the class but still might need help.” Raven shared, “Giving back to the community was really
important to me…For a very long time I felt like I was the community that needed giving back
to. Now I feel like I’ve crossed that line saying, ‘Okay maybe now, I’m the giver instead of the
receiver.’”
Laura also found value in overcoming so much as a first-generation college student and
intended to pay it forward to those coming after her,
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The whole time I was questioning, “What am I even doing here? Am I going to make it?
What’s the point in all of this?” I hadn’t found myself fully invested in something, like
fully a part of something…it meant so much to be able to offer something in return, to
offer some advice and be a resource…creating that space and being a community of
support was for me totally worth it. I feel like at that point, I felt more grounded in my
purpose at UU. To feel like there’s a purpose and that there was work to be done and that
I could be a part of that…like I had a voice and I had the opportunity to make a
difference…that I could influence something on this campus. I think I started to see
there’s something beyond the educational aspect….Despite all the struggle, I just felt like
at the same time, I’m so privileged and I’m so blessed to be in this position and this feels
like an achievement not just for myself but for my family and that extends to the first-
generation college students that are coming even after me that may have those feelings as
well of this not being possible. I really feel like if I made it, if this is possible for me, it’s
possible for anybody.
The sophomore seminar course not only involves students on campus, it challenges them
to become their best selves, to reflect on what they have learned, and invest time in those
activities and the communities that are most important to them. Quite notable in these student
responses is an increased sense of ownership over decision making and self-authorship. Alumni
of the sophomore seminar course responded with pride about their first-generation college
student experience, about the resiliency they had developed, and the solidarity they found in
sharing their personal journey with others of a similar background. The course helped them
develop a willingness to branch out and explore beyond their comfort zone, seek out and
understand other cultures, and explore new opportunities beyond their scope. In so doing, they
learned about their own values and priorities, wrote their own definitions of success that honored
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the difficult paths they had overcome, and celebrated the big dreams they envisioned for their
future.
Summary
The sophomore seminar course was designed to support first-generation college students
at UU in their development of individualized pathways to career through discussion and
examination of intellectual interests, goals and skill development, guest speakers, and
exploration of contemporary diverse work environments. As evidenced by the data collected for
this study, the course meets and far exceeds the creators’ initial objectives. Sophomore seminar
alumni reported a more confident sense of self and community, stronger social and professional
networks, increased engagement in campus activities, an expanded world view and a reimagined
definition of success. As explained by Raven,
This has been the first and only class that not only helped me organize and make my
goals more attainable, but also gave us resources and other contacts that helped us
navigate the university and all of the offerings that are available. I feel like it is the most
relevant class that I have taken in my entire time at UU. It actually teaches you about
real life and the readings and goals of the course go way beyond the classroom.
Alumni of the sophomore seminar course translated their early survival mentality into
transferable skills like resilience and flexibility. The course empowered them to find a sense of
belonging in an entirely new higher education world through intentional and strategic
relationship building and exploring campus resources. It introduced them to high impact
practices that could enhance their time at UU and prepare them to be competitive candidates for
graduate school and in their future careers. Perhaps most importantly, the sophomore seminar
created opportunities for students to take ownership over their undergraduate experience and
develop concrete plans for the future.
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This chapter presented the findings and results of this mixed method study based on
quantitative pre and post survey results and qualitative interviews. After a brief biographical
introduction of each participant, the researcher provided a detailed analysis of six emergent
themes deduced from the collected data, two addressing each of the study’s three proposed
research questions. These emergent themes offer insight into first-generation college student
perceptions of campus climate at Urban University, their evolving understanding of and access to
social and cultural capital, and their reflections on how this high impact practice – the
sophomore seminar course – played a role in increasing their likelihood to engage in other high
impact practices and refining their personal and professional definitions of success. The next
chapter will provide a summary of the study’s findings, limitations and delimitations,
implications for practice, suggestions for future research, and concluding remarks.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION
This study utilized a mixed methods approach to explore how first-generation college
students’ perceptions of campus climate, access to forms of capital and involvement behaviors
were influenced by their participation in a specific high impact practice, a sophomore seminar
course. This chapter will present an overview of the study’s findings, implications for practice,
suggestions for future research, and concluding remarks.
Grounded in three theoretical constructs, Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological Model
of Human Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s (1984) Theory of
Student Involvement, I sought to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the first-
generation college student experience at Urban University. Through surveys and interviews with
first-generation college student participants in a UU sophomore seminar course, I assessed how
this particular high impact practice influenced first-generation college students’ perceptions of
campus climate, access to forms of capital, and likelihood to engage in other high impact
practices.
This study was focused on first-generation college students, students whose parents have
not graduated from college (London, 1989; Terenzini et al, 1996; Choy, 1999). According to
Engle (2007) and London (1989), first-generation college students often enter college with
unrealistic educational expectations, a lack of academic preparation, little parental and school
support, and a low socioeconomic status. Research has also suggested that first-generation
college students remain at a disadvantage once enrolled in college (Choy, 2001). These
challenges complicate first-generation college students’ adjustment to and persistence through
college. Terenzini et al (1996) recommended that higher education institutions invest in
providing first-generation college students with intentional institutional interventions, or high
impact practices (Kuh, 2013), to increase their likelihood to persist and graduate.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 106
This study explored one such high impact practice – a sophomore seminar course – at
Urban University, a large, urban, private, research university with a growing number of first-
generation college students. The study examined how participation in a sophomore seminar
course targeting first-generation college students might influence student perceptions of campus
climate, access to forms of capital, and likelihood to participate in other high impact practices. A
review of the literature confirmed the significance of understanding the first-generation college
student experience through various theoretical lenses, including social ecology, forms of capital
and student involvement (Dennis, Phinny & Chauateco, 2005; Hurtado, Carter, & Spuler, 1996).
However, research that considers all three constructs simultaneously is absent, and the purpose
of this study was to explore the first-generation college student experience at these theories
points of intersection.
I hoped to understand how, if at all, student perceptions of campus climate, access to
forms of capital, and involvement behaviors changed over time as a result of their participation
in the sophomore seminar course. I sought to address the following research questions:
1. How do first-generation college students perceive campus climate at Urban
University before and after participation in this seminar course?
2. How does first-generation college students’ access to forms of capital impact their
success at Urban University and beyond?
3. How does engagement in the sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influence
first-generation college student involvement and achievement at Urban University
and beyond?
For the purposes of this study, a mixed methods research framework was the applied
approach. A mixed methods approach allowed me to employ the benefits of both quantitative
and qualitative methods while also balancing either approaches limitations (Merriam, 2009). I
utilized separate instruments for the quantitative and qualitative methods to offset any
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 107
weaknesses among them. This approach was also valuable because, while there has been
extensive study of the first-generation college student experience from a quantitative or
qualitative approach, very little has been done in a mixed methods format. For all of these
reasons, I chose a mixed methods approach with a concurrent triangulation design to cross-
validate my findings.
This particular sophomore seminar course provided a convenience sample as I have a
close working relationship with the course instructors. They invited me to present my study to
the class, survey enrollees, evaluate longitudinal survey data they had collected from earlier
cohorts, attain alumni contact information, and interview alumni of the course. In the four
semesters of the course to date, a pre-established pre and post survey was completed by course
participants. My study built upon this assessment in two ways. First, I coded the data from the
first four years of collected assessment (approximately 150 surveys) to develop a series of
themes among student responses. Second, I developed a survey addendum to be distributed with
the pre-established pre and post surveys for the fall 2016 cohort. This addendum survey
addressed the specific research questions driving this study (see Appendix C & D, p. 136-137).
This sampling approach guaranteed me access to quantitative data as the survey collection was
incorporated into class sessions. I then used a priori coding to identify emergent themes
(Maxwell, 2013).
In order to capture first-generation college student experiences in greater depth, I also
interviewed alumni of the seminar course. With access to contact information, I emailed nearly
100 former enrollees and invited them to participate in an interview. In total, I interviewed 10
alumni of the course. Each interview lasted between forty minutes and one hour and fifteen
minutes, after which the collected data was transcribed and coded consistently with the
previously collected survey data. Six emergent themes were deduced.
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Discussion of Findings
This study exposed six emergent themes in the collected data, two associated with each
of the study’s three proposed research questions:
1. How do first-generation college students perceive campus climate at Urban
University before and after participation in this seminar course?
a. From Survival to Resilience: A validating experience for first-generation college
students
b. Sense of Belonging: Establishing community in an unfamiliar environment
2. How does first-generation college students’ access to forms of capital impact their
success at Urban University and beyond?
a. Social Capital: Building strategic social networks
b. Cultural Capital: Understanding and utilizing campus resources
3. How does engagement in the sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influence
first-generation college student involvement and achievement at Urban University
and beyond?
a. High Impact Practices: Learn more, do more
b. Defining Success: A personal narrative
Grounded in Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological Model of Human Development
and subsequent related research studies, this study sought to explore how environmental
influences impact an individual, in this case how campus climate directly impacts first-
generation college student perceptions of self and belonging. Bronfenbrenner’s theory
emphasizes that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to student engagement; instead,
universities have a responsibility to create personalized approaches and intentional pathways for
students to connect with their campus community (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). The need for tailored
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 109
opportunities for different student populations, specifically first-generation college students, is
evidenced by this study’s literature review and reconfirmed by my findings.
This study demonstrated that first-generation college student persistence and academic
success is correlated with students’ perceptions of campus climate and their interactions (positive
or negative) with peers and faculty (Terenzini et al. 1996). Upon arriving at UU, study
participants faced a new unfamiliar reality, which left them feeling isolated and underprepared.
They hoped to build a community of trusted peers and informed mentors to guide them along
their college journey but were unsure how to do so (London, 1989; Engle, 2007). Earlier
research by Terenzini et al. (1996) argued the importance of university-sponsored bridge
opportunities that provide academic support and “validating experiences” to help reassure first-
generation college students of their competence to succeed in higher education. This study
confirmed the importance of university interventions like the sophomore seminar course, which
helps first-generation college students to transition from a mindset of survival to one of
resilience. Study respondents identified the course as an effective validating experience which
helped them build community at UU, especially among peers and faculty who share their
experience as a first-generation college student.
Study participants also highlighted a strong relationship between their sense of belonging
and their self-confidence. Early research about first-generation college students highlighted the
acculturative stress (Rudmin, 1991) first-generation college students are under as they attempt to
prepare for, transition to, and persist through college. Study participants reflected on their own
experiences with mental health issues, feelings of isolation, and imposter syndrome. Sherrod
(2016) suggested that the sooner a person recognizes their own self-doubt the sooner it may be
addressed; however, for first-generation college students in this study this journey of self-
actualization was drawn out. The unique complexities UU first-generation college students face
leaves them straddling two worlds – at home and at school – constantly trying to negotiate
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 110
conflicting priorities (Choy, 2009; London, 1989). For first-generation college students to feel
they belong at UU, the larger UU community must develop targeted efforts to intentionally
incorporate them into campus culture, and celebrate how their membership in the UU community
is essential to its identity as a higher education institution (Terenzini et al., 1996).
This study’s findings also reaffirmed Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler’s (1996) research that
suggested student background and structural characteristics accounted for a smaller impact on
student adjustment, while student perceptions of the college environment revealed a significant
effect on student transition and adjustment. While earlier studies about underrepresented
students emphasized pre-college factors like academic preparedness and managing resources as
primary influences on student adjustment, this study’s findings suggest that in-college
experiences around campus climate and building a sense of belonging are equally, if not more,
significant for successful first-generation college student adjustment to higher education than
those prior to enrollment.
UU, a premier research university with less than a 7% admission rate, is in the position to
admit only the most qualified applicants each year. By this standard alone, all UU students,
including those that identify as first-generation college students, are by definition high-
achieving. However, despite the fact their own competence earned them admission to UU, and
therefore legitimate membership in the UU community, the first-generation college students in
this study often expressed feelings of inadequacy as if their admission to UU had been solely
based on good fortune.
This study confirmed the sophomore seminar course helps first-generation college
students establish a community of their peers and discover more confidence in themselves and
their membership at UU. Study participants shared that after the course they felt less like
imposters on campus and more a part of the UU Family (Clance and Imes, 1978; Kuh, 2013).
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 111
They started to see their experiences as value-added to the UU community, and overcame earlier
feelings of isolation.
Beyond Bronfenbrenner’s theory (1977), this study was also grounded in Pierre
Bourdieu’s (1986) forms of capital theory and subsequent related research studies. This study
sought to explore how access to forms of capital influenced first generation college student
success at UU and beyond. Research has confirmed that college graduates with a bachelor’s
degree, no matter the field, earn at least $1.3 million more in their lifetime than their peers with
only a high school diploma or some college (Burnsed, 2011). While the sophomore seminar
course was not explicitly designed to increase first-generation college student access to financial
capital, study participants reported enrolling in the sophomore seminar course as a vehicle to
support them toward degree completion and ultimately a more secure financial future.
Beyond financial capital, Bourdieu’s (1986) theory suggested that a person could also
develop non-economic forms of capital by investing time in strategic relationship building to
grow a stronger social network. First-generation college students are often at a disadvantage in
the higher education landscape as they lack social networks to assist in navigating college
bureaucracy (Jenkins et al., 2013). As such, first-generation college students often face greater
levels of acculturative stress (Rudmin, 1991) than their non-first-generation college student peers
leaving them frustrated and at a greater risk to fail (Jenkins et al., 2013.) First-generation college
student participants in this study reaffirmed earlier research by highlighting how their lack of
access to established higher education social networks limited their ability to take full advantage
of resources at UU.
Study participants were often unsure of how to start to expand their social network. They
were aware of the personal and professional value of developing a strong social network of
mutually beneficial strategic relationships with their peers, advisors, professors, and mentors but
were hesitant to do so. The sophomore seminar course offered a safe space, and a trustworthy
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 112
and reliable community, in which they could practice developing their networking skills. Course
assignments like office hour visits and site visits also challenged them to step outside their
comfort zone to create strategic relationships with faculty and professional mentors at UU and
beyond. In these ways, the sophomore seminar course proved to be an effective method by
which first-generation college students could expand their social network and build social
capital.
Bourdieu’s (1986) third form of capital, cultural capital, was evidenced in this study as
the education system itself, an example of an institution whose offering of qualifications and
credentials intends to reward cultural capital. Beyond introducing students to campus resources
and helping them utilize them for their future benefit, the sophomore seminar empowered
students to make progress toward degree and career goals to ultimately increase their cultural
capital. The course helped students recognize that as first-generation college students, they have
developed a unique alternative form of cultural capital in character traits like resiliency,
adaptability, cultural competence, and compassion derived from their experiences. Additionally,
the sophomore seminar course introduced first-generation college students to research
opportunities, study abroad experiences, and campus resources like the career center, which
contribute to their overall success in college and career.
Finally, this study was also grounded in Astin’s (1984) Theory of Student Involvement
and subsequent related research studies. This study sought to explore how engagement in the
sophomore seminar, a high impact practice, influenced first-generation college student
involvement behaviors and likelihood to persist in college. Astin (1984) suggested that a
student’s learning and development would be proportionate to the quality and quantity of their
involvement, and asserted that a policy or practice’s effectiveness was directly related to its
ability to increase student involvement and eventual student achievement (Astin, 1984). His
(1984) theory spurred significant research on student engagement on college campuses,
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 113
including George Kuh’s (2013) theory on high impact practices which are those activities that
require students to invest time and effort, interact with faculty and peers on substantive topics,
experience diversity, receive feedback, reflect and integrate learning, and discover learning
applied in the real world.
High impact practices have been shown to have the greatest impact on underserved
populations, and Kuh (2013) has asserted that universities have a responsibility to encourage
underserved students, including first-generation college students, to participate in these practices.
As evidenced by the data collected for this study, the sophomore seminar course empowered
first-generation college students to learn more about and engage more fully in UU campus life.
In doing so, first-generation college students discovered new postgraduate educational and
professional opportunities that expanded their world view and their goals for the future. In these
ways, the sophomore seminar serves as an effective high impact practice that required students to
invest time and effort, interact with faculty and peers on substantive topics, reflect and integrate
learning, and discover learning applied in the real world.
Astin (1984) and Kuh’s (2013) theories also emphasize that strategic involvement
behaviors lead to future achievement. As alumni of the sophomore seminar course, interview
participants responded with pride about their first-generation college student experience, the
resilient mentality they had developed, and the solidarity they found in sharing their personal
journey with others of a similar background. They sought opportunities to understand other
cultures and explore new possibilities beyond their own communities. In so doing, they learned
more about their own values and priorities and wrote their own definitions of success that
recognized the difficult paths they had overcome and celebrated the big dreams they envisioned
for their future.
First-generation college students at UU enrolled in the sophomore seminar, a high impact
practice, to establish a community of their peers, develop strategic professional networks, learn
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 114
how to take full advantage of campus resources, and find support in defining their future goals.
This study’s six emergent themes underscore how first-generation college student perceptions of
campus climate, access to forms of capital, and engagement in high impact practices influence
their personal and academic confidence, sense of belonging, development of social networks,
ability to navigate university life, likelihood to engage and definitions of success. While
previous research on first-generation college students has often explored the influence of social
ecology, forms of capital, or involvement behaviors upon student success, these theoretical
constructs dynamic interplay as highlighted by this study provides a powerful justification for
future research about first-generation college students grounded in a three-dimensional
theoretical framework (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Intersections of Theoretical Constructs influencing the First-Generation College Student
Experience
Perceptions of
Campus Climate
Engagment in
High Impact
Practices
Access to
Forms of
Capital
1
st
Gen
College
Experience
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 115
This sophomore seminar course was designed to support first-generation college students
at UU in their development of individualized pathways to career. As evidenced by the data
collected for this study, the course meets and far exceeds the creators’ initial objectives. Alumni
of the course reported a more confident sense of self and community, stronger social and
professional networks, increased engagement in campus activities, an expanded worldview and a
reimagined definition of success. Their early survival mentality had been transformed into an
appreciation for life skills like resiliency and adaptability that invited them to engage more fully
in the UU Family. Through intentional and strategic relationship building and exploration of
campus resources, first-generation college students enrolled in the sophomore seminar increased
their non-economic forms of capital. Finally, the sophomore seminar course served as an
effective high impact practice that empowered students to take ownership over their
undergraduate experience and establish an action plan for success in the future.
Implications for Practice
This study explored the experience of first-generation college students, students whose
parents have not graduated from college (London, 1989; Terenzini et al, 1996; Choy, 1999),
enrolled in a sophomore seminar course at Urban University. The study confirmed the
sophomore seminar as an effective high impact practice, an activity that requires students to
invest time and effort, interact with faculty and peers on substantive topics, experience diversity,
receive feedback, reflect and integrate learning, and discover learning applied in the real world
(Kuh, 2013). Grounded in three theoretical constructs, Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Bioecological
Model of Human Development, Bourdieu’s (1986) Forms of Capital, and Astin’s (1984) Theory
of Student Involvement, this study developed a more comprehensive understanding of the first-
generation college student experience at Urban University.
According to Engle (2007) and London (1989), first-generation college students often
enter college with unrealistic educational expectations, a lack of academic preparation, little
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 116
parental and school support, and a low socioeconomic status. Terenzini et al (1996)
recommended that higher education institutions invest in providing first-generation college
students with intentional institutional interventions, or high impact practices (Kuh, 2013), that
increase their likelihood to persist and graduate. University administrators, faculty members,
academic advisors, support staff, and peers can play a pivotal role in encouraging first-generation
college students to participate early and often in high impact practices to ensure their ultimate
success in college and beyond.
This study recommends four specific implications for future practice:
1. Transition the sophomore seminar course from fall of the sophomore year to spring of
the freshman year.
2. Increase the number of sections and regularity of the course offering.
3. Decrease the number of first-generation college students admitted to the University
with a spring semester start.
4. Develop a structured first-generation college student peer mentor program.
The first recommendation supports transitioning the sophomore seminar course from the
fall of the second year to spring of a student’s first year. By offering the course in the spring of
freshman year, first time freshman would not delay enrollment until after an entire year of
college and spring admits would be able to enroll in their first term at UU. Many of the study’s
participants enrolled in the course much later than fall of their sophomore year and suggested
that earlier enrollment in the course would have been valuable in supporting their transition to
and through university life. The developmental experience they gained, social networks they
established, and campus resources they learned of were assets in their journey at UU, and
students could have benefited from them earlier had they been aware of them. While the course
was originally designed along with other sophomore seminar career development courses, based
on this study’s assessment of the course, it could have a greater impact on first-generation
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 117
college students if enrollment took place in their first year of college. This change would be in
the best interest of the first-generation college student population at UU, but would only be
possible with the support of university faculty and administrators as the course is one of several
sophomore seminars offered by the University.
Another recommendation would be to increase the number of sections, regularity of the
course, and number of faculty involved. Each fall’s cohort was significantly larger than the
typical student-to-faculty ratio at UU (9:1) with an average of thirty-nine students in each cohort.
While 61% of classes at UU enroll fewer than twenty students, the sophomore seminar has
nearly twice as many enrollees. The course is also only offered in the fall semester rather than in
the fall and spring terms, limiting the total number of students that can participate and the
number of faculty that are involved. If the course was offered in each term and co-taught by two
faculty members who identified as first-generation college students themselves, twice as many
students could participate and they would have four times as many faculty mentors to whom
students could expand their social network. This point was made on several occasions by study
participants, with many study respondents sharing concern about over-burdening the course’s
professor because he seemed to serve as a mentor to all first-generation college students at UU.
With nearly 14% of UU students identifying as first-generation college students
(approximately 4,500 graduate and undergraduate students in total) increasing the size and scope
of the course could impact many more in the UU first-generation college student community and
even incorporate first-generation college students at the graduate level. If proven valuable, the
University could expand this idea further as a course requirement for all entering first-generation
college students regardless of their familiarity with college campus. UU does not currently host
a formal first year experience program as many other universities have adopted, and this course
could serve as a model for that type of first year program.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 118
A third recommendation would be to decrease the number of first-generation college
students admitted with a spring semester start. Nearly one quarter of those surveyed and two-
thirds of those interviewed for this study reported admission with a spring semester start. While
fall admits attend a two-day summer orientation and are introduced to the UU family with a
formal Welcome Week of academic and social activities, spring admits attend only a single-day
orientation before starting their first day of class. The transition for first-generation college
students is often a culture shock, no matter the start date, but without the luxury of starting with
most of their peers, first-generation college students with spring admit status seem to have an
even more difficult time establishing a sense of belonging at UU. The University boasts a large
first-generation college student population. If the percentage of spring admits found among
study participants is reflected among the entire first-generation college student community at
UU, the University should provide a comprehensive orientation experience for first-generation
college students who start in the spring to ensure their successful transition into the University.
A final recommendation would be to develop a structured first-generation college student
peer mentor program at UU. Many of the resources available to first-generation college students
at UU are set within a format where faculty and staff convey information to students. However,
over the course of this study, students often discussed the significant role peer mentor
relationships played in their development. As alumni of the sophomore seminar course, they
highlighted their readiness to serve as mentors to their peers and conveyed a responsibility for
contributing back to younger first-generation college students. Study participants were inspired
by the professionals they met during site visits, and the professionals’ willingness to serve as
mentors. Study respondents were eager to find opportunities to give back to their first-
generation college student peers in a similar way.
The sophomore seminar course could serve as an impetus for an organically developed
network of first-generation college student mentors and ambassadors. Alumni of the course
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 119
could be paired with first-generation college students in their first semester at UU to serve as a
contact and mentor. This would positively benefit both new students and alumni of the course.
New students would have an immediate connection at UU which could quickly develop into a
larger social network. Alumni of the course could reaffirm their newly developed self-
confidence and have the satisfaction of passing on the lessons they learned to those beginning
their college journey.
Recommendations for Future Research
Because the findings from this study may not be generalizable to all first-generation
college students, applicable in every higher education institution, or attributable to every high
impact practice, this study recommends the following areas for future research:
1. Encourage more research about first-generation college students to be grounded in
three theoretical frameworks, rather than two.
2. Examine if other high impact practices like research and study abroad have a similar
effect on first-generation college students.
3. Apply a three-dimensional theoretical framework to the first-generation college
student experience in a different campus setting (e.g. historically black colleges and
universities or Hispanic-serving institutions).
The study’s outcomes demonstrate the value of developing a more robust understanding
of the first-generation college student experience through a three-dimensional theoretical
approach. More research on first-generation college students that considers all three theories is
warranted and would aid university administrators in the development of effective practices that
better support this student population’s unique perceptions and experiences. My literature
review failed to identify any examples of first-generation college student focused research
studies that took all three of these theoretical constructs into account. As evidenced by the rich
data compiled in this study, there is much more to learn from comprehensive approaches that
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 120
assert a more holistic understanding of the first-generation college student experience. More
studies that consider how perceptions of campus climate, forms of capital, and involvement
behaviors collide to impact first-generation college student development could lead to more
effective strategic planning and new ideas for supporting first-generation college students in
higher education.
Another recommendation for future research is to examine alternative high impact
practices such as research, study abroad, or senior theses to see if they have a similar impact on
first-generation college student development. Kuh’s (2013) definition of high impact practices
identifies as many as 10 interventions that elicit a similar profound growth experience when
underserved student populations choose to engage. In addition, while this high impact practice
was targeted at first-generation college students, most are designed for the larger campus
community. Assessment of how these non-targeted practices impact first-generation college
students would likely look substantially different from a course geared at first-generation college
student development. For example, research can be done to examine how a first-generation
college student and their non-first-generation peer experience a study abroad trip differently
based on their perceptions of abroad culture, access to forms of capital, and previous abroad
experiences. This research would be different still from exploring the impact of on-campus
research or a senior thesis course on first-generation college student development. This type of
research would be valuable when informing first-generation college students about the unique
benefits high impact practices provide underserved populations, especially those students that
participate in three or more over the course of their college career (Kuh, 2013).
Finally, further research on first-generation college students through a three-dimensional
theoretical perspective could be valuable if conducted in a different campus setting such as at an
historically black college or university or Hispanic-serving institution. Many of the students in
this survey faced challenges in acclimating to a predominantly white and wealthy campus
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 121
culture. If their racial or socioeconomic identity was reflective of a majority population on
campus, further research can be done to explore how student perceptions of campus climate,
access to forms of capital, and involvement behaviors differ, if at all, from when these students
are members of the minority. This type of research would benefit researchers seeking to
understand the value of high impact practices in different higher education settings which could
lead to tailored recommendations for implementing effective high impact practices across
diverse types of institutions.
Conclusion
This study was first imagined nearly six years ago when I was first introduced to high
impact practices at a higher education conference. It was there that I first learned about the
significant value these practices can contribute to a student’s college experience, value that was
found to be even more significant among students of color and underserved populations. I felt
compelled to expand the research further and explore how high impact practices influenced first-
generation college students in particular, a growing population of students enrolling in higher
education, in their preparation for, transition to, and persistence through college.
In these last six years, understanding the first-generation college student experience has
been at the forefront of student development research. However, I found there was a gap in
research that considers how the first-generation college student experience is influenced by the
intersection of campus climate, forms of capital, and involvement behaviors. This study sought
to examine how social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1986), and
engagement behaviors such as high impact practices (Astin, 1984; Kuh, 2013) influence the first-
generation college student experience at UU. Through the lens of a specific campus
intervention, the sophomore seminar course, this study explored the relationship between these
three theoretical constructs and their impact on first-generation college student success at UU
and beyond.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 122
Six themes emerged from this study, two addressing each of my three research questions,
which highlighted how first-generation college student perceptions of campus climate, access to
forms of capital, and involvement behaviors evolved over the span of a sophomore seminar
course. These themes included the transition from survival to resilience, finding a new sense of
belonging, establishing strong social networks, building and utilizing cultural capital, engaging
in more high impact practices, and redefining success for the future. While this study may not be
generalizable to every student population or higher education institution type, it confirmed the
sophomore seminar course has been an effective high impact practice for first-generation college
students at UU. I am confident this study will serve as a call to action for UU administrators,
challenging them to think critically about the development of additional high impact practices
tailored to support first-generation college students’ transition to, through, and beyond Urban
University.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 123
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APPENDIX A
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ALIGNMENT MATRIX
Research Question Theoretical Framework Data Instrument Questions
1. How do first-generation
college students perceive
campus climate at Urban
University before and after
participation in this seminar
course?
Bioecological Model of
Human Development
(Bronfenbrenner, 1977)
Pre-established Pre Survey
Questions: 7-18,
Pre Survey Addendum
Questions: 1, 4, 5
Post Survey Addendum
Questions: 1, 4, 5
Interview Questions: 1-4
2. How does first-generation
college student access to
forms of capital impact their
success at Urban University
and beyond?
Social Capital Theory
(Bourdieu,1986)
Student Involvement Theory
(Astin, 1984)
Pre-established Post Survey
Questions: 19-23
Pre Survey Addendum
Questions: 2, 4-6
Post Survey Addendum
Questions: 2, 4-8
Interview Questions: 5-14,
23-24
3. How does engagement in
the sophomore seminar, a
high impact practice,
influence first-generation
college student involvement
and achievement at Urban
University and beyond?
Social Capital Theory
(Bourdieu,1986)
Student Involvement Theory
(Astin, 1984)
Pre Survey Addendum
Questions: 3-6
Post Survey Addendum
Questions: 3, 4, 5
Interview Questions: 15-22
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 128
APPENDIX B
INFORMATION SHEET FOR SUBJECTS
University of Southern California
(Rossier School of Education, Los Angeles, CA
First-generation College Students: Perceptions and Participation at Urban University
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Erica Lovano McCann under the
supervision of Dr. Patricia Tobey at the University of Southern California for the purposes of a
dissertation. You are invited to participate because you are a first-generation college at Urban University.
In order to qualify for this study, you must have completed Sophomore Seminar 200: Pathways to Career
Success for First-generation College Students. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the
information below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to
participate. Please take as much time as you need to read the consent form. You may keep a copy of this
form.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to explore how first-generation college students’ perceptions of higher
education and involvement behaviors are influenced by campus climate, social and cultural capital, and
engagement in high impact practices. The researcher hopes to learn more about how first-generation
college students navigate the university environment, identify campus resources, and build a network of
support.
STUDY PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to answer a series of interview questions
over a period of approximately 1 hour. The interview will be audio-recorded and will be conducted at a
location of your convenience. If you do not wish to be audio-recorded, you may not participate in the
study. There may be an opportunity for a 1 hour follow-up interview. Participation is completely
voluntary.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks. You do not need to answer any questions you do not want to.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
There are no direct benefits to participants. The anticipated benefits to society are the opportunity to
better understand the first-generation college student experience so that higher education institutions can
better serve their interests and needs in the future.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
While there is no compensation for participation, the researcher will be sincerely grateful for your time
and willingness to share.
INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 129
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information collected from this interview or subsequent interactions will be kept confidential as far
as permitted by law. However, if we are required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential
information about you. The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s
Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors
research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
The audio data may be transcribed by a transcriptionist who has signed a confidentiality agreement. The
audio data will be stored in a password protected computer and the interview notes will be stored in a
locked filing cabinet. Your responses will be coded using a participant ID, and maintained separately
from your identifiable information. The coded data will be secured in a password protected file.
At the completion of the study, audio recordings will be destroyed. Identifiable data will be destroyed
three years after the study has been completed, per university policy. The remaining de-identified data
may be maintained indefinitely and used in future research studies. If you do not want your data used in
future studies, you should not participate.
When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable information
will be used. Confidentiality will be maintained by using pseudonyms in the written report.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your participation is voluntary. Your decision whether or not to participate will involve no penalty or loss
of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your consent at any time and
discontinue participation without penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies
because of your participation in this research study.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with your university or the instructor of this
course will not be affected whether or not you participate in this study.
INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Erica Lovano
McCann at (213) 740-6680 or lovano@usc.edu.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the research
in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone independent of
the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South
Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 130
APPENDIX C
PRE-ESTABLISHED PRE & POST SURVEY
1. Name
2. Student ID#:
3. Major(s):
4. Minor(s):
5. Did you transfer to UU?
6. Do you have International student status?
7. Who is the most influential person in your life regarding your career choice(s)? Describe briefly.
8. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how highly do you value working for an
employer compared to working or being in business for yourself?
9. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how knowledgeable are you with the purpose
of Graduate or Professional School?
10. What is your immediate career goal upon graduation from UU?
11. I have an action-plan to help me accomplish my immediate career-goal upon graduation from UU.
12. I am familiar with the UU Career Center services and resources.
13. I participate in UU Career Center workshops or events.
14. I have conducted an informational interview to further my career exploration.
15. I have engaged or conducted a Self-assessment exercise with the following (Indicate all that apply):
MBTI Type indicator Dialog with a UU Academic advisor
Strong interests Inventory Dialog with a UU Faculty
Career Beam Dialog with UU Alumni
Dialog with a UU Career counselor Other:
16. Are you first-generation to attend college? (First-generation defined as “someone whose parents did not
attend college"
17. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how likely are you to consider graduate or
professional school upon graduation from UU?
18. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how do you rate your knowledge of the
criteria needed for successful admission to graduate or professional school?
(Post Assessment Only)
19. Participating in this course helped me identify or make contact with a new mentor.
20. As a result of this course, I have met and interacted with successful first gen professionals who have faced
similar concerns as me regarding their academic and professional goals. Rate from 1-5, 1 being the lowest
rating; 5 being the highest rating.
21. As a result of this course, I feel better prepared to determine the direction of my career path even with the
understanding that my goals may change. Rate your preparation since the beginning of the course with 1
being the starting point and 5 being the highest rating.
22. Would you recommend this course to other first-generation students?
23. What are the two most important things you learned from your experience in this course, academically and
otherwise?
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 131
APPENDIX D
PRE & POST SURVEY ADDENDUM
1. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how much do you feel a part of the
Trojan Family?
1 2 3 4 5
2. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, how important do you feel the
Trojan Family Network will be in navigating your future career?
1 2 3 4 5
3. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest, and 6 being already participated
how likely are you to include the following activities in your undergraduate career at UU.
1 2 3 4 5
6 -Already
Participated
1st Year Seminar
(eg. Freshman Seminar/ENGR Honors)
Thematic Option
Living Learning
Residence Hall Community
Writing-intensive course
(in addition to WRIT 150 and 340)
Interdisciplinary major(s) and/or
minor(s) (eg. biology & music)
Undergraduate Research
Study Abroad
Non-required diversity coursework
JEP courses
Internship
Senior Thesis
4. Why did you register for this course? (short answer)
5. What do you hope to gain/learn this semester while in this course? (short answer)
6. Do you have a faculty mentor? If yes, how did you meet him/her? If no, share why not? (short
answer)
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 132
APPENDIX E
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
I. Introduction:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study…. I appreciate the time that you have set aside
to answer my questions…. The interview should take about an hour, does that work for you?
Before we get started, I want to provide you with an overview of my study and answer any
questions you might have about participating…. I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program at
UU… the primary purpose of this study is to collect and analyze data for my dissertation. I will
be conducting surveys and interviews to better understand the experience of first-generation
college students at UU. I am particularly interested in learning about your experiences in and
since your participation in this seminar course.
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. What this means is
that the nature of my questions are not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on you as
an individual…. None of the data I collect will be shared with your professors, peers, advisors or
your family…To reconfirm, your participation is entirely voluntary throughout this process.
Do you have any questions about the study before we get started? …. If you don’t have any
(more) questions I would like to have your permission to begin the interview…. I have brought a
recorder with me today so that I can accurately capture what you share with me. May I also have
your permission to record our conversation?
II. Setting the Stage
I am hoping we could start with you telling me a little bit about yourself…
1. Tell me a little about your family and where you grew up.
2. What exposure did you have to college before arriving at Urban University (UU)?
3. What support did you have in applying to college?
4. Why did you decide to come to UU instead of another institution?
5. What does it mean to be part of the Urban University Family?
6. Follow up: Tell me about a time when you felt you were really a part of the UU Family.
7. Share about a time when you felt less connected or included in the UU Family.
III. Heart of the Interview
8. Do you identify as a first-generation college student, someone who’s parents did not earn a
bachelor’s degree in the U.S.? Follow up if yes: Tell me about your experience as a first-
generation college student.
9. Describe a time when you were made acutely aware of your first-generation college student
status at UU.
10. What unique challenges do you believe first-generation college students at UU face compared
to their non-first-generation college student peers?
FIRST-GEN AND HIGH IMPACT 133
11. In an ideal world, where the barriers you just mentioned (xyz) were removed, what difference
may it make on your success? (Ideal Position)
12. Some people believe first-generation college students get special treatment and that you have
an unfair advantage. How would you respond? (Devil’s Advocate)
13. Define what success at UU means to you.
14. Describe a time when you felt successful at UU.
15. What campus resources do you rely on to achieve this success?
16. Describe a time when you felt unsuccessful at UU and how you handled the situation.
17. Why did you decide to enroll in this seminar course? What did you hope to learn?
18. Were your expectations for the course met? Why or why not?
19. What UU campus resources, if any, were introduced to you for the first time in this course?
20. Have you tried anything new as a result of having completed this seminar course?
21. Have you changed or redefined your academic programs (major/minor) or your long-term
career goals after having participated in this seminar course?
22. Since taking this course, have you developed any intentional mentorship relationships? If so,
how did you go about doing so and has it been useful? If no, why do you think you have not
yet sought out a mentor?
23. Looking back on your college career, is there anything you would do differently? If so, what
and why?
24. Looking back on your college career, what is your proudest moment?
IV. Closing Question:
Is there anything that you would add to our conversation today that I might not have covered?
V. Closing:
Thank you so much for you sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate your time
and willingness to share. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study. If I find
myself with a follow-up question, I am wondering if I might be able to contact you, and if so, if
email is ok? Again, thank you for participating in my study.
VII. Special Considerations and Probing
1. Transition Statement:
So, we have spent most of our time talking about …. Now I would like to change gears a little bit
and ask about…. (Is there anything else you would like to add before we transition?)
2. Probing Statements/Questions:
That is interesting, could you please tell me a little bit more about…
I want to make sure I understand; could you please tell me what you mean by…
I am wondering how you were feeling in that moment?
It would be great if you could walk me though…
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Lovano McCann, Erica Lauren
(author)
Core Title
First-generation college students: perceptions, access, and participation at urban university
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Leadership)
Publication Date
07/25/2017
Defense Date
05/30/2017
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
campus climate,cultural capital,first-generation college students,high impact practices,OAI-PMH Harvest,persistence,social capital,social ecology,student involvement
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Tobey, Patricia (
committee chair
), Picus, Lawrence (
committee member
), Tambascia, Tracy (
committee member
)
Creator Email
elovano@gmail.com,lovano@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-417578
Unique identifier
UC11214652
Identifier
etd-LovanoMcCa-5642.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-417578 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-LovanoMcCa-5642.pdf
Dmrecord
417578
Document Type
Dissertation
Format
application/pdf (imt)
Rights
Lovano McCann, Erica Lauren
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
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Repository Location
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Tags
campus climate
cultural capital
first-generation college students
high impact practices
persistence
social capital
social ecology
student involvement