University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Amplifying the counter-narratives of first-generation college graduates of color as they navigate the journey toward decent work

(USC Thesis Other)

Amplifying the counter-narratives of first-generation college graduates of color as they navigate the journey toward decent work

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

Amplifying the Counter-Narratives of First-Generation College Graduates of Color As
They Navigate the Journey Toward Decent Work

Hayley A. Haywood

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

December 2022

© Copyright by Hayley A. Haywood 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Hayley A. Haywood certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Esther Kim
Mounira Morris
Melanie Brady, Committee Co-Chair
Alan Green, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
Dominant narratives about college outcomes assert that a bachelor’s degree is a conduit to
gainful employment and upward mobility. Such narratives are based upon aggregated indicators
of college outcomes, which erase the ongoing barriers that inhibit access to equitable career
development and decent work for first-generation college graduates of color (Espinosa et al.,
2019). Research has demonstrated the role of systemic oppression in shaping access to decent
work for minoritized college graduates (Duffy et al., 2018; Holder et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2022).
However, related career development research has either centered current college students,
seasoned professionals, or neglected the intersection among race and first-generation status. The
current study used critical race theory to examine how 13 first-generation college graduates of
color used community cultural wealth and normative forms of capital to persist through
structural barriers in pursuit of decent work. Findings revealed participants’ use of diverse forms
of capital to navigate prevalent structural barriers at each of the following milestones: pre-
college experiences, navigating predominately White institutions, the college-to-work transition
and the ongoing pursuit of decent work throughout one’s career. Barriers were reinforced by six
key areas of school and work environments: the perspectives centered, policies, practices,
people, programming, and narrow measures of organizational progress. Due to pervasive racism
and classism, participants reported working up to 10 years prior to accessing mostly decent work.
The study offers actionable insights that can help higher education leaders and employers expand
equitable pathways to decent work for first-generation college graduates of color.
Keywords: first-generation, professionals of color, career development, decent work,
community cultural wealth

v
Dedication
To my ancestors, who fought oppression with ambition and fortitude so I could have the
privilege to achieve this milestone.

vi
Acknowledgements
This research has inspired me to reflect on the community cultural wealth that propelled
me through each professional and academic milestone. My grandfather, the late Paul Haywood,
was one of the first Black men to become an executive in his field. He contributed to my
education in a multitude of ways. My great uncle, Dr. Julian Haywood, was my inspiration to
attend the University of Southern California, as he started the coronary unit at the university
hospital and changed the lives of thousands through his research. My parents have been
unconditional champions and have supported me in every goal I set. My mother Sondra
Haywood, a first-generation college graduate, taught me to read at the age of three, and
continued to educate me about generosity and giving to others. My father Alan Haywood
modeled leading with your passion. My family collectively continues to challenge convention
with creativity and ambition, and I am proud to be part of our legacy.
I have been privileged to receive ongoing nurturing through education, including the
science research program in my high school where I conducted my first study. I was supported as
a scholar through access programs such as the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program and the ACE
Summer Institute where I discovered my passion for access work. These influences have
informed my commitment to fight oppressive systems while celebrating and amplifying the
power of the people of color who navigate them.
My deepest source of education on this topic has come from the students I have been
privileged to work with. Thank you all for sharing your stories and for inspiring me with your
bold, beautiful tenacity. Our collective learning served as my guide throughout this research, and
I hope the study demonstrates that you are seen, heard, and appreciated. Relatedly, completing a
dissertation has taught me about the relational nature of qualitative research. I would have no

vii
study without the generosity, reflexivity, and vulnerability of the participants. I hope you read
this and are reminded of how remarkable you are.
Throughout this doctorate, I have also received an outpouring of support from a
community of scholars, within and beyond the Organizational Change and Leadership Program.
My group chat ladies are a true embodiment of sisterhood. We were each others’ village, and
your support has been remarkable. Further, I am grateful to work with a community of
colleagues who embody “scholactivism” and foster generative learning spaces with finesse and
compassion. Thank you to Dr. Raphael Rogers, Dr. Jie Park, and Dr. Nicole Overstreet for being
champions of my work and holistic wellbeing. I appreciate working for a leader who values my
scholastic growth as much as my professional growth; thank you, Dr. Esther Jones. My
dissertation committee has offered encouragement, feedback, and insights that have challenged
me to mature as a writer and scholar. Special thank you to Dr. Morris who nurtured the seeds of
this doctorate by calling me Dr. Haywood for over a decade.
Lastly, the limits of the written language inhibit my ability to adequately express how
transformational it is to have a true life partner when embarking on such an endeavor. Seth, you
continue to be the best part of my world. Thank you for the care, concern, venting space, food,
laundry, reference checking, and encouragement you have so generously offered since I began
this journey in the middle of a pandemic while planning a wedding and searching for a home.
You continue to inspire me to lead with love, and I am grateful to be part of our team.

viii
Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. xi
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii
Chapter One: Introduction to the Study ........................................................................................... 1
Problem of Practice ............................................................................................................. 2
Why First-Generation Graduates of Color? ........................................................................ 3
Study Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 8
Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 9
Overview of the Theoretical Framework and Methodology ............................................... 9
Key Definitions and Constructs ......................................................................................... 10
Chapter Two: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 15
Chapter Overview .............................................................................................................. 15
Race as a Construct for Difference .................................................................................... 16
The Impact of Race and Capital at Today’s Private Institutions ....................................... 22
Navigating the Transition to Post-graduate Employment ................................................. 49
Navigating Race and Class in the Workplace ................................................................... 57
Summary ............................................................................................................................ 76
Synthesizing the Literature Through a Conceptual Framework ........................................ 78
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 85
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 85
Overview of Design ........................................................................................................... 85
Narrative Research and Counter-Storytelling ................................................................... 86

ix
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 88
Data Sources ...................................................................................................................... 91
Data Collection Procedures ............................................................................................... 94
Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 94
Credibility, Trustworthiness and Positionality .................................................................. 97
Ethical Considerations ....................................................................................................... 98
Summary .......................................................................................................................... 101
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................ 102
Brief Introduction to Participants .................................................................................... 103
Findings ........................................................................................................................... 122
Pre-college Experiences .................................................................................................. 123
Navigating Barriers at Predominately White Colleges and Universities ........................ 134
Navigating the College-to-Career Transition .................................................................. 160
The Ongoing Pursuit of Decent Work ............................................................................. 173
Progressing Toward Decent Work .................................................................................. 201
Participants’ Recommendations for Change ................................................................... 210
Summary of Findings ...................................................................................................... 218
Chapter Five: Discussion ............................................................................................................. 228
Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................... 228
Implications for Future Practice ...................................................................................... 232
The Six Ps of Equity Priorities to Promote Decent Work ............................................... 238
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 248
References ................................................................................................................................... 250
Appendix A: Eligibility Survey (Exported From Qualtrics) ....................................................... 269
Appendix B: Semi-structured Interview Protocol ....................................................................... 275

x
Conclusion to the Interview ............................................................................................. 277
Appendix C: Transition Trajectory Visual .................................................................................. 278

xi
List of Tables
Table 1: Data Sources 88
Table 2: Participant Demographics and Eligibility Information 104
Table 3: The Use of Diverse Forms of Capital to Navigate Pre-college Barriers 133
Table 4: Structural Barriers and Employed Forms of Capital During College 159
Table 5: Barriers to Decent Work and Participant-Reported Impacts 209

xii
List of Figures
Figure 1: A Conceptual Framework for Diverse Capitals As Contributors to Decent Work 79
Figure 2: Use of Diverse Capitals to Navigate Barriers to Decent Work 200
Figure 3: The Six Ps of Equity Priorities 239
Appendix C: Transition Trajectory Visual 277

1

Chapter One: Introduction to the Study
A college degree is an increasingly expected credential for those seeking to obtain decent
work. First-generation college graduates pursue diverse journeys, yet they have one thing in
common—all are among the first in their families to earn a bachelor’s degree (United States
Department of Education, 2018). Although college graduation is a significant milestone for
students and families, universities are graduating a disparate percentage of first-generation
students (Cataldi et al., 2018; Whitley et al., 2018). First-generation college students comprise
about one third of the college student population. However, due to both systemic and personal
barriers, less than one third of first-generation collegians earn a bachelor’s degree within 4 years
(Whitley et al., 2018). Given pervasive structural barriers, such as institutional racism, even
fewer proceed on to achieve fulfilling, gainful employment (Espinosa et al., 2019).
Although numerous studies have documented the diverse experiences and needs of first-
generation college students, no universally agreed upon definition exists, making it challenging
to compare data across different institutions or assess the national outcomes of this community.
A landscape analysis revealed that 14% of universities use different definitions of first-
generation across departments (Whitley et al., 2018). Inconsistent definitions mean disparate
access to services and inaccurate assessment of outcomes. Further, there may be considerably
more first-generation students than are reported, as some institutions define first-generation
students as those whose parents have no postsecondary experience, which excludes students who
may have guardians who only completed a month of college (Whitley et al., 2018). Other
institutions consider students first-generation if no guardian completed a 4-year degree within the
United States. Additionally, there is a lack of intersectional analyses exploring the post-graduate
outcomes of first-generation graduates of color across and within universities.

2

The first-generation collegian community is extremely heterogeneous, and students
experience varying access to capital that is traditionally valued at private predominately White
institutions (Patfield et al., 2020). Forty two percent of United States bachelor’s degree graduates
in 2015–2016 were first-generation (Valez et al., 2019). The majority of first-generation
undergraduates are identified as students of color (RTI International, 2019). In 2015–2016, most
college graduates who identified as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander were first-
generation, and 39% of Asian Americans and 36% of White college graduates identified that
way (Hinz et al., 2021). However, few studies examine the post-graduate experiences of first-
generation college graduates of color. Despite the common belief that a college degree will yield
economic benefits, not all college graduates have equitable access to the anticipated financial
gains (Espinosa et al., 2019; Fry, 2021).
Problem of Practice
Although college is often framed as an on-ramp toward decent work, evidence highlights
the restricted access to career literacy that results from a lack of accessible career development
support while in college (Haeger & Gresquez, 2016; Parks-Yancy, 2012; Tate et al., 2015).
Without such supports, first-generation college students often face barriers when transitioning
from school to the workplace, post-graduation (Masdonati et al., 2021). Due to structural barriers
such as implicit bias, lack of mentorship and limited access to career-oriented information, some
first-generation college graduates of color remain underemployed, holding jobs that do not
require a bachelor’s degree for several years after graduation (Espinosa, et al., 2019; Hirudayaraj
& McLean, 2018; Vallejo, 2015). The issue extends beyond the act of career coaching, as
institutional barriers within higher education extend to the workplace, limiting access to gainful
employment and disproportionately impacting first-generation college graduates of color (Frett,

3

2018; Garriott, 2020; Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Hora et al., 2019; Vallejo, 2015). As such,
the current study will explore how first-generation college graduates of color navigate such
structural barriers as they pursue decent work.
This problem is important to address because without institutional support from
universities and employers, first-generation college graduates of color are more likely to
experience barriers toward accessing gainful employment. Barriers often result in jobs that do
not require a bachelor’s degree, resulting in unrealized financial and wellbeing gains (Aronson et
al., 2015; Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012). Career pathways can be negatively
impacted by institutional inequities throughout the educational pipeline (Masdonati et al., 2021).
Upon graduation, opportunities continue to be restricted by discrimination and structural
inequities within the workplace (Duffy et. al, 2018; Howard & Borgella, 2020). Addressing these
disparities can improve institutional effectiveness by developing and supporting a pipeline of
emerging diverse leaders on college campuses and within the workplace.
Why First-Generation Graduates of Color?
An ongoing tradition of racist policies and laws have restricted access to basic needs for
communities of color, including education, healthcare, safety, and housing security (Kendi,
2019). In the United States, access to fundamental needs is often determined by wealth, race, and
employment (Duffy et al., 2018; Woolf et al., 2015). In 2020, with rising public demands for
racial equity, universities and workplaces across the United States pledged to address racism and
anti-Blackness (Weiser, 2020). However, many organizations have approached equity efforts
from a reform perspective, often focusing on individual supports without committing to
transformative actions to address power dynamics that perpetuate structural inequities (de
Oliveira Andreotti et al., 2015; Weiser, 2020). Scholars assert that dismantling the current power

4

structures and root causes of institutional oppression is a key element of sustainable, justice-
centered organizational change (Kezar, 2014; Patton, 2016; Stewart, 2018). The assertion is
supported by diverse scholarly arguments and disparate college outcomes across race and class.
Changes are necessary for first-generation graduates of color to access the full benefits of a
conferred degree (Espinosa et al., 2019; Garriott, 2020; Institute for College Access and Success,
2020; Stewart, 2018).
The Arguments for Increased Racial Diversity and Equity
In management and higher education literature, three arguments for focusing on diversity
within organizations are prevalent: the business case, the social justice case, and the promotion
of learning (Weisinger et al., 2016). A business case centers organization profits, promoting
diversity as a compliance measure or driver of financial benefits to organizations, which renders
people of color to a financial commodity. The social justice case underscores the moral
imperative to address persisting oppression and create equitable access to fundamental needs.
Relatedly, the learning case for racial equity is based on the notion that organizations and the
public both benefit from the growth afforded by improving racial diversity (Weisinger et al.,
2016). While improving racial representation is an important dimension of racial equity,
organizations cannot stop there.
Transforming institutions toward racial equity requires centering communities of color,
dismantling practices and policies that promote White supremacy, and re-distributing access,
opportunities, and resources through the creation of new systems (de Oliveira Andreotti et al.,
2015). Race-based class stratifications have led researchers to call for further examination of the
ways race and class intersect to shape the experiences of first-generation people of color
(Garriott et al., 2021; Silver & Roksa, 2017). Valuable learning can emerge through taking a

5

critical look at systems and recognizing one’s role in the creation and replication of ongoing
mistakes that perpetuate harm (de Oliveira Andreotti et al., 2015). Engaging in efforts to
reimagine anti-racist institutions requires wrestling with tensions and contradicting, co-existing
needs such as societal reliance on capitalistic gains and the harm of such systems.
Positioning first-generation college graduates of color as experts of their lived
experiences can deepen understandings of the ways first-generation college graduates of color
employ community cultural wealth to resist and navigate through marginalizing systems that
exploit them for financial gain (Yosso, 2005). The current study acknowledges the role of
economic capital in providing access to basic needs that impact quality of life for many people of
color. As such, the accrual of both normative capital and community cultural wealth are
considered. Access to wealth does not preclude people of color from enduring the physical or
emotional violence of institutions rooted in White supremacy (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001;
Holder et al., 2015; Pitcan et al., 2018; Vallejo, 2015). The racial diversity among the first-
generation collegian population necessitates race as a key dimension of any exploration of
differences among first-generation and continuing-generation students (Silver & Roksa, 2017).
Interrogating Disparate College Outcomes
Given racial wealth disparities and corresponding levels of debt incurred by students of
color, differences among graduates’ financial outcomes are more pronounced across racial lines.
The mean wealth for White families in 2016 was $919,336 compared to less than $200,000 of
wealth for both African American and Hispanic families (Espinosa et al., 2019). Further, the
aggregated data on Asian American income erases the inequities faced by certain Asian ethnic
groups such as those who are Mongolian or Burmese, who face poverty rates greater than twice
the national average (Budiman & Ruiz, 2021). Black college graduates are overrepresented in the

6

lowest earning categories, with 40% struggling to meet their federal loan payments, as compared
to 22% of their White counterparts reporting similar challenges (Institute for College Access and
Success, 2020). This demonstrates how racism can create stratifications within the first-
generation population. However, multiple studies promote a color-blind narrative about the
positive impacts of college, which serves to erase potential race and class differences (Patton,
2016).
According to a National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE; 2021) analysis
of over 500,000 bachelor’s degree recipients, 60% of bachelor’s degree recipients were
employed within 6 months of graduation, while about 20% pursued continued education. The
average reported salary for 2019 graduates with full-time employment was $52,714, which is
40% higher than the average salary of full-time workers with a high school diploma in the United
States between the ages of 25–34 (NACE, 2021; National Center for Education Statistics, 2021).
The NACE report contains disaggregated data based upon school classification and region yet
does not include an analysis based on identity demographics. Many universities use the NACE
national report for benchmarking, which masks inequitable outcomes and promotes a skewed
understanding of the power of a college degree. Such majoritarian narratives reinforce colorblind
ideologies that render educational credentials a means to eradicate the economic impacts of
racism. Overly generalized outcome data then distorts the needs of minoritized communities. The
erasure of racial inequities perpetuates the under-resourcing of first-generation college students
and graduates of color and blames them when structural barriers impact performance (Patton,
2016).
Race and class disparities impact access to college, methods of financing a degree, and
degree attainment across different racial groups (Espinosa et al., 2019; Jack, 2016; Parks-Yancy,

7

2012; Tran et al., 2019). Racialized class disparities continue post-graduation. Of 2016
bachelor’s degree recipients across institution-types, 60% of recipients were White while 6.7%
were Asian, 9.4% were Black, 11.6% were Hispanic, 3% were multiracial and less than 1% were
Indigenous or Pacific Islander (Espinosa et al., 2019). Data indicates that 12 months after
graduation, there are already salary disparities across different demographics, including by race
and class (Espinosa et al., 2019; Velez et al., 2019). The representation of communities of color
continues to decline when exploring the racial diversity of executive leaders across different
sectors (Espinosa et al., 2019; Hernandez, 2020; Holder et al., 2015; Yu, 2020). Financial
disparities impact access to basic needs, recreational experiences, and can impact physical and
mental health (Duffy et al., 2016). Because extant analyses of recent graduates’ career outcomes
do not appear to explore the intersections of race and generation status, the outcomes of first-
generation graduates of color are largely missing from the literature.
Critical race theorists posit that racism is a normal, ubiquitous feature of society that
people of color contend with daily (Ladson-Billings, 2013). This normalization is not meant to
justify its presence or abdicate responsibility for educators and institutional leaders to work
toward racial justice. Addressing the ubiquitous nature of racism requires the need for both
cultural and structural changes (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). However, an analysis of a decade
of literature in higher education journals revealed that across 255 articles centering race or
campus climate, authors only used the words “racism” and “racist” 21.6% of the time, often
explaining identity-related phenomena without a critical analysis of power structures and racist
practices (Harper, 2012). The findings support critical scholars’ calls to disrupt racelessness in
narratives regarding the educational and career success of people of color (Flores, et al., 2019;
Patton, 2016). To achieve equitable outcomes for college graduates, university stakeholders and

8

employers must first address the racist realities that continue to restrict access to college and
subsequent gainful employment.
Study Purpose
The purpose of this critical narrative study is to analyze the transition stories of first-
generation college graduates of color as they prepare for and transition to full-time employment
and navigate inherent power dynamics in pursuit of decent work. The study focuses specifically
on graduates’ experiences obtaining employment directly after graduating with a bachelor’s
degree. Research on underrepresented communities often erroneously draws from deficit
perspectives without accounting for the environmental conditions and power structures that
shape disparate access to opportunities (Garriott, 2020).
The current study will highlight the ways first-generation college graduates of color
employ community cultural wealth to navigate structural and interpersonal barriers within
universities and employment organizations, providing recommendations to improve equitable
support for first-generation college graduates of color. Underlying this study is a theory of
change that centers structural shifts as necessary to prioritize the needs of those most
marginalized. Through re-distributing power and enacting equity-centered change within
institutions, access to decent work may be improved (Duffy et al., 2018; Stewart, 2018).
Critically analyzing access to various forms of capital and the influences of race and power on
the experiences of first-generation college graduates of color may provide valuable insight
regarding strategic approaches to addressing classism and racism within universities and the
workplace.

9

Research Questions
1. How do structural barriers impact access to decent work for first-generation college
graduates of color?
2. What are the diverse forms of capital (e.g., normative capital and cultural wealth)
first-generation college graduates of color employ to navigate school and work
environments?
a. What types of capital do first-generation graduates of color accumulate while
in college to support the attainment of decent work?
3. What changes in universities and workplaces would further support first-generation
college graduates of color in obtaining decent work?
Overview of the Theoretical Framework and Methodology
The current qualitative study will use critical race theory (CRT) and theories of capital to
analyze the experiences of first-generation graduates of color as they navigate the transition from
predominantly White universities to workplaces. This section will provide a brief overview of
the theories that drive the design and purpose of the current study. Normative capital theories
place value on assets deemed important by socialization practices (e.g., education systems,
media, relationships) rooted in White, middle and ruling-class norms (Bourdieu, 1986). Using
normative framing, assets include prestigious credentials, connections to people in influential
positions, and economic capital. However, this lens is limited and contributes to the erasure of
valuable attributes possessed by many communities of color (Yosso, 2005). A shift toward an
inclusive understanding of capital is offered through Yosso’s model of community cultural
wealth, rooted in critical race theory. Critical race theory positions racism as normative, socially
constructed feature of the everyday experiences of people of color within the United States. A

10

critical, inclusive understanding of capital will facilitate a deeper understanding of the rich
experiences and assets of first-generation college graduates of color.
To honor the nuanced, diverse lived experiences of people of color, I am utilizing
qualitative methodology. Through interviews and intentionally crafted open-ended questions, I
seek to create space for participants to share their rich, intersectional experiences. Given the
pervasive nature of racism, the experiences of first-generation college graduates of color cannot
be disentangled from their racial identities, especially for those navigating the transition from a
predominantly White university to organizations with similar demographics (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001). The integration of theories of race and capital allows for a power-conscious
analysis of institutional barriers that have restricted access to gainful employment for first-
generation college graduates of color through counternarratives that disrupt deficit perspectives
and underscore the cultural wealth held by members of the community.
Key Definitions and Constructs
Although there are many diverse ways of defining the term first-generation, in the current
study, the word refers to students and college graduates who earn a bachelor’s degree prior to
their parents or guardians. This definition is commonly adopted by scholars due to the predictive
relationship of parental degree attainment and college enrollment and persistence (Garriott,
2021). Continuing-generation students and graduates have earned college degrees after at least
one parent or guardian graduated with a bachelor’s degree.
In this study, when I refer to graduates of color, I am specifically referencing people who
identify as a person of color, have earned a 4-year college degree and who spent most of their
lives in the United States. Much of the data from federal sources utilizes the census definitions of
race, yet I depart from these definitions due to their erasure of certain groups (Allen et al., 2019).

11

For example, the census definition of people of color does not include Middle Eastern or North
Africans, who are federally identified as White. The census definition has received extensive
critique given that it does not include descendants from the Middle East and Northern Africa,
many of whom identify as people of color and encounter institutional racism and xenophobia
(Alshammari, 2020).
Further, as of 1997, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, those who
identify as Hispanic or Latino are included in an aggregated separate category, regardless of race,
though experiences within this group vary greatly based on phenotype (Vargas et al., 2019).
Although the terms are often conflated, the government-imposed term Hispanic refers to those
whose lineage extends from Spanish-speaking countries (Hernandez & Ortiz, 2016). Latinx is a
pan-ethnic construct that includes people who hail from Latin America, inclusive of geographic
regions in the Caribbean, Mexico, South and Central America. Neither Hispanic or Latinx are
predicated on a specified racial identity, as both terms include representation of people who hail
from all regions of the world and represent a diversity of races, including many with mixed
ancestry (Delgado & Stefancic, 2011). Hispanic or Latinx individuals who concurrently identify
as people of color will be included in the current study.
Additionally, it is important to note the diverse experiences both across and within
racialized groups in the United States, often shaped by intersectionality. Intersectionality refers
to the inextricable tensions of holding multiple marginalized identities within a single lived
experience (Crenshaw, 1989). Kimberly Crenshaw (1989) used intersectionality to highlight how
Black women experience the tensions of navigating both sexism and racism. Crenshaw argued
that a one-dimensional analysis distorts and erases the nuances of people navigating multiple
marginalized identities. By exploring the intersectional experiences of first-generation college

12

graduates of color, I hope to highlight distinctions as well as commonalities of participants’
racialized experiences. This approach is by no means an attempt to erase or diminish distinctions
of culture and socialization across racial identity. The goal is to obtain a textured account of
participant stories while exploring whether there are common themes that emerge from
navigating a pervasive, White supremacist society.
The key concepts guiding this study are normative capital, structural barriers, cultural
wealth, and gainful employment. Normative capital refers to the resources, insights and skillsets
students are expected to have as they navigate school and professional contexts, rooted in
dominant, middle-class, White norms (Garriott, 2020). This includes economic, social, and
cultural capital. According to Bourdieu (1986), economic capital includes goods that are readily
convertible into money. Cultural capital exists in three forms: our dispositions and worldviews;
our accumulated tangible goods, such as access to art and music; and institutional accreditations
that deem one “qualified” for certain social roles. Social capital describes the value afforded to
someone based on their relationships or membership in a powerful group or community
(Bourdieu, 1986). Economic, social, and cultural capital are generally valued by institutions and
can impact one’s career trajectory as they navigate educational institutions, job explorations, and
career advancement (Ardoin & martinez, 2019; Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018, Parks-Yancy,
2012; Yosso, 2005).
Members of the wealthy class have the most societal influence and establish their norms
as legitimate, which serves to maintain social class-based hierarchies (Bourdieu & Passeron,
1977). Access to positional power within the workplace is further restricted by structural
barriers, which are inherently biased dynamics that have become normalized through practices,
policies and laws (Jones, 2000). Structural barriers are informed by and sustained through

13

institutional racism and classism, which impact the material conditions of low-income
communities and people of color, systematically excluding them from societal benefits (Ardoin
& martinez, 2019; Garriott, et al., 2021). Critical race theory explores how structural barriers are
reinforced by institutions, ideologies and interactions among groups (Delgado & Stefancic,
2001). Structural barriers impact the psychosocial experiences of people of color, which
according to Masdonati et al. (2021) refers to self-efficacy, identity negotiation, and career
adaptability. Additionally, in the current study, psychosocial experiences encompass Garriott’s
(2020) social-emotional experiences such as sense of belonging, and resulting emotional impacts
such as racial battle fatigue (Okello et. al, 2020).
In resisting normative constructs of capital, Yosso (2005) defined cultural wealth as
overlooked assets communities of color have developed from cultural lineage and experiences
navigating oppression. Yosso distinguished between income and wealth, noting that wealth can
be viewed as a holistic representation as one’s assets and resources. Such examples of resources
that are often underrecognized include: linguistic capital, aspirational capital, resistant capital,
and navigational capital. Further, Yosso asserted that the systemic valuing of normative capital
diminishes the familial capital, cultural capital, and social capital that people of color develop,
mostly because it does not resemble the capital valued within middle to upper-class
environments. In the current study, the construct diverse forms of capital includes both
normative capital and community cultural wealth.
Gainful employment is measured by students’ ability to repay their loans after graduation
(Institute for College Access & Success, 2019). For the purposes of this study, I am expanding
the definition of gainful employment to include the factors of decent work (Duffy et al., 2016, p.
130). In the current study, the phrases ‘gainful employment’ and ‘decent work’ are used

14

interchangeably. According to the psychology of working theory, decent work includes access to
employment that provides a workplace free of physical and mental abuse, a work schedule that
allows for rest and recreation, adequate compensation and healthcare coverage, and
organizational values that are generally aligned with workers’ personal values. Masdonati et al.
(2021) asserted that an effective transition from school to work ideally includes jobs that hold
personal meaning and provide fulfillment, which is included in the current definition of decent
work. In consideration of the diverse journeys of college graduates, transitions are
conceptualized as the duration of time when one begins applying for post-graduation jobs until
one has been onboarded in a full-time role that satisfies the elements of decent work.

15

Chapter Two: Literature Review
Universities have yielded layered, complex impacts on communities of color with mixed
contributions to career development. On one hand, universities foster student development and
access to new opportunities (Nunez & Sansone, 2016; Parks-Yancy, 2012). Concurrently,
universities serve as sites for gatekeeping, perpetuation of the status quo and institutional
oppression (de Oliveira Andreotti et al., 2015; Garriott, 2020; Patton, 2016). The lived
experiences and benefits of a college education do not always align with mainstream narratives,
especially for first-generation graduates of color.
Chapter Overview
A contemporary analysis of the power structures within higher education requires a brief
introduction to the historical and contemporary impacts of racism and classism on college
campuses in relation to the career development and capital of first-generation college students of
color. The chapter begins with an introduction to race as a construct of difference and the
historical roots of higher education as a place of violence, exploitation, and forced colonization.
The next section explores the impact of race and capital at today’s private institutions,
highlighting how first-generation college students of color employ elements of community
cultural wealth (e.g., family support and self-advocacy) to resist and navigate structural barriers.
In addition to encountering financial challenges, first-generation students of color face on-
campus discrimination and receive mixed benefits from campus resources, such as career
services and student employment.
The third section of the literature review discusses how first-generation college graduates
of color navigate the transition to postgraduate employment. The section offers a review of the
literature on how race and capital impact the job search strategies and outcomes for first-

16

generation college graduates of color. The final section of the literature review illuminates how
first-generation college graduates of color may navigate race and capital in the workplace.
Specifically, this section highlights the ways professionals of color have been impacted and
forced to navigate racial abuses that stem from structural inequities, including classism. The
section concludes with an overview of the resistance and coping mechanisms employed by
professionals of color as they strive toward decent work.
Across our nation, college is framed as a conduit toward social mobility and professional
success. As such, first-generation graduates of color often obtain college degrees with the goal of
obtaining decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). Students are led to believe that earning a bachelor’s
degree will provide them with access to work opportunities, financial mobility and ultimately—a
higher quality of life (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016). However, due to inequities that persist in the
college to career pipeline and continued discrimination in the workplace, first-generation college
graduates of color encounter ongoing barriers in pursuit of decent work. Although race is a
socially constructed category, such barriers create harm by negatively impacting the mental
health, financial resources, and social experiences of first-generation graduates of color (Delgado
& Stefancic, 2001; Duffy et al., 2016; Hirudayaraj, & McLean, 2018; Holder et al., 2015; Okello
et al., 2020; Pitcan et al., 2018).
Race as a Construct for Difference
In the United States, race is a socially constructed means of creating a social order that
uses White supremacy as a tool of maintaining historical power structures (Allen et al., 2019;
Kendi, 2019). Such hierarchies yield adverse economic, social, and political impacts on
communities of color. In higher education, race has been used to categorize, discriminate, and
shape disparate outcomes for students, staff, and faculty (Allen et al., 2019; Dancy et al., 2018;

17

Patton, 2016; Patton & Njoku, 2019). Race is a complex unit of analysis due to changing
political interests that have shifted societal understandings of racial categories over time.
According to the U.S. Census and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS),
two key sources of national data, Hispanic is classified as an ethnicity, and is used as a unit of
analysis to compare racial outcomes. However, people are placed into the Hispanic category,
regardless of reported race (Espinosa et al., 2019). Aggregating all Hispanic people into one
category conflates potential racial differences within an extremely diverse grouping, masking the
demonstrated impacts of colorism and anti-Blackness by grouping darker-skinned Latinx people
with those who are White-passing.
Further, quantitative aggregation of groups with different national backgrounds, cultures
and histories can lead to problematic distortions of racialized experiences within the United
States (Allen et al., 2019). By grouping individuals with rich, diverse experiences into broad
categories, researchers may draw conclusions based upon skewed numeric data. The resulting
policy decisions on the aggregated experiences of broad racial and ethnic categories can further
marginalize groups who are most vulnerable. This is especially true for racial groups that are
significantly underrepresented and thus grouped with dissimilar individuals, such as combining
mainland indigenous students with Native Alaskan and Pacific Islanders, or worse, eliminating
the communities from the data. Although the data aggregation of small populations is often
rooted in a desire to protect anonymity of individuals, it also contributes to statistical erasure
(Allen et al., 2019).
Similar erasure exists when exploring the racialized history of postsecondary institutions,
with communities of color often left out of the narrative or cited only as examples that position
higher education as a pathway to equality (Hutcheson, 2020). Given the socially constructed

18

nature of racism, breaking communities of color into specific units of analysis proves
challenging, especially with growing multiracial and multiethnic populations (Allen et. al, 2019;
Espinosa et al., 2019). The current study is inclusive of participants of color across race, not to
essentialize their experiences, but for the purpose of demonstrating the ubiquitous nature of
White supremacy (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001).
Historical Examples of Racism in Higher Education
Since inception, higher education has centered the education and development of White
men (Hutcheson, 2020). The postsecondary educational system was built using structural and
ideological foundations that centered Whiteness and exploited Black bodies through slavery,
violence, and torment (Dancy et al., 2018). Although many historical texts erase their labor,
Black people made significant contributions toward the foundation of higher education by
constructing the buildings, cooking meals, and maintaining the facilities (Wilder, 2013). Many
college presidents enslaved Black people, who were relegated to serving the leadership’s
personal needs without payment. When Black women were admitted to universities, they were
often required to serve in domestic roles as a condition of enrollment (Hutcheson, 2020). Black
laborers endured violence and torture, sometimes perpetuated as a form of sport by students and
administrators (Dancy et al., 2018). These examples highlight the interconnected history of
education, labor, and violence toward Black Americans. For other communities of color, such as
indigenous peoples, universities were a means of forced assimilation and stripping of Native
culture (McClellan et al., 2005). Similar assimilation was required of Asian and Latinx
communities, yet such history is often left out of historical narratives (Hutcheson, 2020).
Early colonial colleges were used to promote colonization of Indigenous peoples,
undermining tribal governance structures, ideologies, and methods of education (McClellan et

19

al., 2005). As such, three out of the original nine colonial colleges included educating Indigenous
peoples as part of their mission statements. However, only four Indigenous students graduated
between the 80 total years between the institutions’ founding and the late 1700s. This may be, in
part, due to the high mortality rates and violence in response to active Indigenous resistance to
forced assimilation practices (Hutcheson, 2020). As identity-based institutions began to educate
women and African Americans, Eurocentric educational services for Native Americans
continued to focus on Christian conversions and assimilation, leading many Indigenous
communities to reject this education. In the 1850s, the Cherokee developed the first tribally led
schools, which marked a milestone in what is known as the self-determination era, providing
greater sovereignty to indigenous nations. However, this was undermined shortly thereafter once
the Curtis Act of 1898 allowed the United States government to seize control over tribal
governments. Almost a century later, the first tribally led community college was founded.
Research on the history of Asian American access to higher education is relatively
limited (Hutcheson, 2020; Lee, 2013). Available literature conveys a history of exclusion
through anti-Asian policies, segregation, and using education to force Asian assimilation and
U.S. patriotism. As far back as the 1800s, there are supreme court cases of Asian immigrants
challenging segregation policies that barred their American-born children from White schools.
Similarly, there is notable erasure of the history of Latinx communities within higher
education research, despite college enrollments dating back to the mid-1800s (Tudico, 2013). In
the new text A People’s History of American Higher Education, Latinx and Asian students are
mentioned less than 10 times combined (Hutcheson, 2020). These few examples highlight a
persistent incomplete racial analysis of the historical and contemporary impacts of White
supremacy on college campuses. Despite ongoing discrimination and colonization, it is evident

20

that for centuries, U.S. higher education has been used by many communities of color as a
method of social mobility and professional success (Hutcheson, 2020; Tudico, 2013).
Unmet Promises of Higher Education
The longstanding history of exploitation, abuse, and violence against people of color in
higher education continues to persist today (Dancy et al., 2018; Patton & Njoku, 2019). As
university credentials have become increasingly sought by employers, inequitable campus
conditions create barriers for people of color seeking gainful employment (Duffy et al., 2018). A
critical historical and contemporary analysis illuminates higher education as a means of
gatekeeping, removing talented people of color from the pipeline to decent work (Garriott, 2020;
Masdonati et al., 2021). The graduation and preparation of diverse students can yield significant
gains for a diverse global workforce. Yet, access to decent work continues to be restricted by
ubiquitous racism and classism in the workplace (Duffy et al., 2018; Hirudayaraj, & McLean,
2018; Vallejo, 2015).
Higher education continues to be perceived as a conduit toward equal opportunity, with
many communities of color associating freedom, success, and individual worth with educational
attainment (Frett, 2018; Hutcheson, 2020; Okello et al., 2020). However, to successfully navigate
through predominately White institutions, first-generation students of color often experience
pressure to align themselves with dominant norms. This can be seen through the code-switching,
self-policing, and assimilation behaviors of students of color who attempt to prove their worth
through exceptional work ethic and assimilation (Williams et al., 2020). However, even these
navigational strategies do not always yield equitable outcomes.
In addition to the dimensions of decent work, scholars exploring the school-to-work
transition have deemed meaningful and fulfilling work as intended outcomes of the job search

21

process (Masdonati et al., 2021). Purpose-centered employment can promote wellbeing,
engagement and belonging within the workplace. To provide all graduates with access to gainful
employment, higher education practices will need to break from historical traditions whereby
students were White, wealthy, and often guaranteed a job at a family business post-graduation
(Bluestein, 2006). As industries and job types have expanded, universities have followed suit.
Such industry changes have contributed to the current public understanding of higher education
as a means for career preparation.
Authors in vocational psychology assert the importance of employment that offers
alignment with one’s abilities and training, meaningful work, and appropriate compensation
(Masdonati et al., 2021). Critics caution against employing “upward mobility bias” by promoting
professional pursuits and higher education as a means to life fulfillment, which contributes to the
stigmatization of working-class workers and jobs (Flores et al., 2019). The intent of the current
study is not to position bachelor’s level employment as the only conduit toward a meaningful,
generative life.
Studies have shown that underrepresented populations face disproportionate barriers,
restricting access to these financial and wellbeing outcomes (Duffy et al., 2018). Given the
potential financial and wellbeing benefits associated with decent work, and importance of
identifying barriers inhibiting access to work opportunities, this study centers access to decent
work for those who seek professional career paths, while recognizing the multiple conduits to
achieving a valuable work experience. A race-conscious analysis of first-generation college
graduates adds perspective to previous discussions of gainful employment, providing insight into
the barriers that impact wealth and wellbeing disparities.

22

A Pew Research analysis of 7,429 participants between the ages of 22 and 59 found that
the median household income of first-generation college graduates was over $35,000 less than
households headed by offspring of a college graduate. Guardian degree attainment can also
influence the wealth accumulation of college graduates across generations (Fry, 2021). The
median wealth of households led by the adult child of a second-generation college graduate was
$244,500, significantly more than the $152,000 median wealth of households led by those whose
parents were first-generation college graduates.
Race and capital-related barriers are prevalent during students’ college experience and
continue as they navigate career experiences. Racism can yield adverse impacts on students and
professionals of color, inflicting physical and mental harm (Duffy et. al, 2018; Okello et. al,
2020; Patton & Njoku, 2019; Vallejo, 2015). The following section will discuss the experiences
of first-generation college students of color as they navigate predominately White institutions to
build the knowledge and skills for post-graduate success.
The Impact of Race and Capital at Today’s Private Institutions
While many studies examine the first-generation student population through a deficit
lens, it is important to examine and identify the cultural, economic, and structural barriers that
prevent many students from earning postsecondary credentials (Garriott, 2020; Patfield et al.,
2020; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018). However, in addition to structural barriers, researchers are
remiss to exclude an exploration of how first-generation graduates of color draw from their lived
experiences to demonstrate community cultural wealth and persist through oppressive
institutions. The following sections demonstrate how institutional norms rooted in upper-class,
White ideologies restrict access to university navigational knowledge. The resulting lack of
college-related insight and personal encounters with bias can inhibit student engagement,

23

limiting access to career development and leadership experiences while causing dissonance and
harming the wellbeing of first-generation college students of color (Jack, 2019; Parks-Yancy,
2012).
Structural Barriers and Community Cultural Wealth
Institutional racism has continued to shape educational pipelines, as White students are
more commonly continuing-generation college students, and Black and Latinx students are more
commonly first-generation (Redford, et al., 2017). A greater proportion of first-generation
students also identify as low-income and students for whom English is not a first language. Thus,
many first-generation collegians of color are entering private universities that are a stark contrast
from their home environments (Jack, 2019). Additionally, as previously stated, first-generation
college students encounter financial barriers, lack of racial representation across the university,
and on-campus discrimination. Such barriers can restrict access to career and college-related
knowledge. Despite barriers, first-generation college students are often able to employ resistance
and navigational capital as a means of persisting through challenges during college (Yosso,
2005). Some students utilize campus resources due to familiarity with such resources during high
school (Jack, 2019). Others access support through inclusive mentors (Luedke, 2017). Each of
the stated barriers and resources are discussed throughout the following section.
It is worth noting that not all first-generation students view first-generation status as a
salient part of their identities, especially those who are racially minoritized (Williams, et al.,
2020). This underscores the importance of employing an intersectional approach to
understanding the experiences of first-generation college students and graduates of color. Many
of the studies on first-generation college students apply an oversimplified, Eurocentric lens to
assess their capital and assets (Garriott, 2020).

24

Drawing from critical race theory, Yosso’s (2005) model of community cultural wealth
can be used to highlight the ways communities of color have built diverse forms of capital rooted
in rich heritage and resistance to institutional oppression. The six types of capital Yosso names
are: aspirational, linguistic, resistant, navigational, familial, and social. Aspirational capital
manifests in the ability to envision a better future beyond one’s challenging circumstances. First-
generation college students demonstrate aspirational capital by pursuing college degrees and
professional pathways that are uncommon in their families (Garriott, 2020). Linguistic capital
exists among those who can speak multiple languages and dialects. For many first-generation
college students, English is a secondary language (Redford, et al., 2017) which enables
communication across cultural communities. Resistant capital is built through the ways
communities of color resist oppression and subordination, including outward expressions, self-
advocacy, and internal healing work (Yosso, 2005). Navigational capital is utilized when first-
generation students and graduates of color identify ways of maneuvering through institutions that
marginalize and exclude them (Garriott, 2020). For some first-generation collegians of color,
navigational capital is utilized to access career development resources outside of their home
institutions, such as through non-profit organizations (Frett, 2018). Familial capital is
distinguished from social capital, as the family can play a critical role in one’s formation of
identity, culture and history (Yosso, 2005). Family is often a site of one’s values, ethics, and
consciousness. Social capital refers to a broader network of resources that one can access to
receive support.
Yosso’s position is the basis of this study—it is not that communities of color lack
capital; the issue is that the types of capital embedded in power structures of universities and
predominately White organizations continue to privilege and center behaviors, customs, and

25

ideologies birthed from White, upper-class norms and values. Accordingly, the privileging of
Eurocentric norms concurrently dismisses or punishes the assets and habitus of communities of
color (Yosso, 2005). Hidden norms, insights and expectations account for varied access to capital
across race and class. Inequitable access to capital on campus may mean first-generation
collegians of color receive disparate levels of career preparation.
Garriott (2020) built on Yosso’s model and synthesized the literature on first-generation
college students, racism, classism to develop the critical cultural wealth model of academic and
career development. According to the model, structural barriers and cultural wealth impact the
social-emotional experiences of first-generation college students as they navigate their college
experiences, shaping their sense of agency regarding careers and academics. Garriott’s model
differs from previous career development models by naming institutional oppression and
environments as key influences, but not determinants, of first-generation college outcomes. By
using cultural wealth as a framework, one can identify diverse strategies employed by first-
generation college students to develop networks and obtain resources they believe will be useful
in pursuit of career success.
Diverse Experiences of First-Generation Status
Patfield et al. (2020) critique the construct of a first-generation identity due to the
inherent assumption that “young people are a by-product of their parents’ relationship with
others,” which often dismisses the role other family members, advisors or teachers could play in
supporting students’ access to various forms of capital (p. 5). Such framing centers an
individualistic lens, however, many cultures view extended relatives as a core part of the family.
Patfield et al. (2020) suggest first-generation student status should be understood as a continuum,
comprised of “inheritors, opportunists, and outsiders” (p. 6).

26

“Inheritors” benefit from a close relationship with a college graduate other than a parent
or guardian. Youth in this group may develop a realistic understanding of the challenges of
college from siblings who have shared their experiences. “Opportunists,” meant as a descriptive
term, include those with no familial ties to university graduates who have built their networks
through other supports such as teachers, community members, or college access programs. One
student cited her job as a place that has connected her to people in her field of interest, while
another used social media to build connections. “Outsiders” refer to students who have no first-
hand connections to university life. Some students in this category are conscious of their parents’
educational experiences and may view this as a deficit as they begin college.
The categories offered by Patfield et al. (2020) depart from deficit-based, static
depictions of first-generation students, and demonstrate the ways under-resourced students
exercise agency in building their own support networks. Although these categories may
necessitate re-naming from a strengths-based lens, the authors underscore the heterogeneity
among first-generation students and the fluid, diverse ways capital can be accrued. The study
was based in Australia and did not account for the role of intersectionality, which may further
contribute to diverse experiences among first-generation students. Based on the heterogeneous
experiences of being first-generation, qualitative methods can add insight by drawing attention to
the intersectional stories of students as they navigate pervasive, structural barriers such as
financial strains and institutional racism in pursuit of decent work (Creswell & Creswell, 2018;
Duffy et al., 2018).
Common Barriers Across Diverse Experiences
Despite the diverse, intersectional experiences of first-generation college graduates of
color, national data suggest there may be some common barriers faced by a significant portion of

27

the community, especially during college. Barriers include limited financial resources, racial
enrollment disparities, exclusive campus climates, and ongoing discrimination. First-generation
college students of color are often navigating multiple contexts, at times with conflicting values
systems (Stephens et al., 2012), which can create dissonance or tensions with family members.
The challenges above are discussed throughout the following sections.
Financial Barriers
The majority of financially dependent collegians who identified as students of color came
from families within the two lowest income quartiles, with 52% of Black dependent bachelor’s
degree recipients coming from families with an annual income of less than $39,200 (Espinosa et
al., 2019). Forty-two and 36% of Hispanic and Asian college graduates came from families in
similar income brackets. This trend was the inverse for dependents who identified as White, with
the greatest proportion of college graduates from this racial group coming from families earning
over $136,200 annually.
College Affordability and Access. One analysis of national education data revealed that
in high school, first-generation students most frequently envision obtaining a bachelor’s degree,
yet actual graduation rates for this group are lower than continuing-generation peers (Redford et
al., 2017). Persistence disparities were driven by structural barriers such as college affordability,
which was reported as a reason for departure by 54% of first-generation students who had not
earned a postsecondary degree within a decade of their sophomore year of high school, a
proportion 9% greater than continuing-generation peers. Conversely, continuing-generation peers
were slightly more likely to cite a desire to work and make money as a reason for departure (49%
versus 46%). This suggests that structural barriers shape the choices available to first-generation
students, as many left due to an inability to afford college as opposed to a desire to earn income

28

instead. Additionally, first-generation students more commonly departed from college due to
family-related responsibilities, which may be impacted by financial constraints associated with
child or family care needs. Other frequently reported attrition reasons related to injury or illness.
Related findings suggest that structural barriers may lengthen the time it takes first-generation
students to complete a college degree (Velez et al., 2019) which can impact wealth attainment
and career mobility over time (Espinosa et al., 2019; Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018).
In addition to college affordability, financial barriers inhibit participation in high-impact
practices that enable first-generation students to gain direct career-related experiences or
mentorship (Parks-Yancy, 2012; Tate et al., 2015). However, first-generation students are hard-
working, with the average employed student working 20 hours per week, in addition to fulfilling
their coursework and personal obligations (RTI International, 2019b). These varied commitments
result in less time for first-generation students to access resources on campus, which may
partially explain lower usage rates of academic advising, academic support, and career services
(RTI International, 2019b).
Financial Barriers and Race. According to the 2019 American Council on Education
report Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, students of color are underrepresented across
private institutions, especially those who are low-income (Espinosa et al., 2019). More than half
of the students of color enrolled in postsecondary institutions are from the two lowest income
quartiles. Regardless of students’ qualifications, as Jack (2019) notes, “money remains a
requirement for full citizenship in college, despite institutional declarations to the contrary” (p.
22).
Economic capital can impact student access to basic needs, such as food, shelter, and
healthcare. Further, access to financial resources can determine how much time a student is able

29

to invest in their studies, as opposed to working to obtain income (Jack, 2019). Financial
resources can also impact students’ ability to enroll and persist through institutions. Given the
intersection of race and class, finance-based attrition can impact racial demographics on college
campuses, and the subsequent makeup of the workforce (Espinosa et al., 2019). One illustration
of how racism and classism impact leadership pipelines can be seen by examining the higher
education pipelines.
Racial and Intragroup Enrollment Disparities
Enrollment disparities exist within racial groups, given their heterogeneity. When
disaggregating the U.S. census racial data on enrolled Hispanic collegians between the ages of
18–24, one can see the prevalence of ethnic disparities ranging from less than 35% of Puerto
Rican and Salvadorian citizens as opposed to over 50% of Dominican and South American
citizens (Espinosa et al., 2019). Similarly, much of the data on Asian Americans shows high
rates of college enrollment. However, upon disaggregating the data by ethnicity, it becomes clear
that those numbers are elevated by certain ethnic groups.
In 2016, 73.2% of Korean Americans and 68.8% of Chinese Americans aged 18–24 were
enrolled in college, compared to 44.3% of Filipinos and 43.4% of “other Asians” from less
represented ethnic groups (Espinosa et al., 2019, p. 42). Descendants from China, India, the
Philippines, Vietnam, and Korea account for the majority of the Asian immigrant population and
83% of the U.S. Asian population (Tran et al., 2019). These ethnic groups are often advantaged
by the hyper-selective nature of immigration, which prioritizes those who are more highly
educated than non-migrants of the same ethnicity and the overall native U.S. population. Despite
these intragroup differences, the literature on the career development of Asian American ethnic
groups is relatively limited (Huang, 2021).

30

The enrollment of Hispanic and Black collegians had the most growth between 1996–
2016. However, the largest gender gaps were found among Black college goers, with women
representing almost two thirds of Black collegians. These demographics are important to
consider as degree inflation, or the increasing expectation that applicants should hold a college
degree for jobs that previously did not require one, becomes increasingly prevalent (Fuller et al.,
2017). As a bachelor’s degree becomes increasingly required to obtain jobs that provide financial
stability and access to middle-class incomes, disparities in college enrollment will have direct
implications for the diversity within the workforce as well as continued racial stratification. It is
important to consider the political, institutional, and economic factors that contribute to
differences in college enrollments, as well as the ways intersectional identities can impact
students’ access and persistence through college.
In addition to being underrepresented in the classroom, students of color are unlikely to
experience a racially representative faculty, with only 21% of full-time faculty positions held by
scholars of color (Espinosa et al., 2019). Similar trends exist across professional leadership,
which is comprised of over 80% White senior leaders and about 20% of professionals of color
across student and academic affairs. However, service staff tend to be the most racially diverse
constituency on college campuses, with 42% of these employees identifying as people of color.
The statistics above demonstrate how employees of color in higher education may face
barriers to accessing decent work and upward organizational mobility. The underrepresentation
of faculty, staff, and administrators of color means that first-generation students of color are most
often contending with leadership and support services that reflect Eurocentric ideologies,
practices, and power structures. Lack of representation can greatly depreciate students’
assessment of whether they belong within the institution, which can be further compounded by

31

implicit expectations, commonly referred to as the hidden curriculum (Walton & Brady, 2017).
These next sections will outline modern day manifestations of anti-Blackness and other forms of
racism in higher education, demonstrating how race and class continue to impact the career
trajectories of first-generation students of color enrolled in private institutions.
Exclusive Campus Climates and On-Campus Discrimination
First-generation students of color often encounter discrimination based upon intersecting
identities (Williams, et al., 2020). As critical race theory asserts, experiences with racism are
commonplace in most student of color narratives, varying from microaggressions, to erasure, to
violent physical or emotional encounters (Garriott, 2020; Patton & Njoku, 2019; Williams, et al.,
2020). These harmful encounters can result in students of color feeling betrayed by their
institutions, which failed to protect them or offer generative resources following inequitable
treatment (Williams, et al., 2020). One Black student recalled how the institution responded to
the death of White students with vigils and institutional messages but did not engage in these
same practices when Black and Asian students passed away. For some first-generation students
of color, the lack of institutional response serves as a reminder that their needs are not a priority,
creating a feeling of weariness about institutions in general. This warrants further exploration of
whether this learned skepticism of institutions impacts first-generation students of color as they
explore places of employment.
Given the differing historical and contemporary contexts of diverse racial groups,
students of color have varied experiences navigating predominately White institutions. Sue et al.
(2009) conducted a study exploring the racialized microaggressions experienced by Asian
American students and professionals. Participants described comments that led to them feeling as
if they were perceived as foreigners, even though they all were born in the United States. The

32

Asian American students felt pressure to conform to expectations of high levels of intelligence
and were aware that this was often ascribed in contrast to their Black and Latinx counterparts,
thus creating tensions with peers. Because of these stereotypes, several Asian Americans were
forced to navigate the erasure of their racial identity through comments that invalidated their
experiences with racism (Sue, 2009).
Students’ perception of belonging can also be impacted by the perceived dissonance
between their experiences in college and family norms, especially when one’s parents are
immigrants (Storlie et al., 2016). Some students endure isolation when navigating environments
with norms that differ from familial customs. As a result of negative interactions, students of
color may feel pressured to change behaviors or speech patterns in order to align themselves with
White faculty, staff or peers (Williams et al., 2020).
Some students of color find themselves self-policing and code-switching to avoid
judgment or receive the support they are entitled to. As one Black first-generation student noted,
“I’ll just make myself as White as possible, like I try to emulate them as much as possible almost
to an extreme because I have to. I cannot just speak well; I have to speak amazing” (Williams et
al., 2020, p. 9). This quote illustrates the pressures students feel to convince others of their
worthiness. Meanwhile, the survival-based diversion of mental energy used to navigate and resist
racism could be used to enhance student academic or professional success.
Building Career and “College Knowledge”
As the following sections illustrate, there is a relationship between one’s ability to
navigate universities and access to opportunities to develop career competencies (Hirudayaraj, &
McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012). When students are provided with insights on how to
navigate different services within the university or receive culturally relevant support, such

33

resources can positively influence student engagement and career preparedness (Frett, 2018;
Jack, 2019; Parks-Yancy, 2012). However, ineffective or inaccessible resources can lead to first-
generation college students of color entering the labor market without clear knowledge of
expectations (Hirudayaraj, & McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy & Cooley, 2018).
Inequitable Belonging and Student Engagement
Sense of belonging refers to the way one experiences an environment as a place where
one is accepted, respected, valued, and able to contribute (Walton & Brady, 2017). Sense of
belonging is fluid, determined based on interactions, environmental cues, and the perceived
alignment among institutional practices and one’s abilities or identities. Students can cultivate a
sense of belonging when they can identify commonalities with peers and institutional agents and
receive affirming messages about their value within the institution. Sense of belonging may be
reinforced for underrepresented students if they feel they are more than just a token of diversity
(Walton & Brady, 2017). Both race and class can impact students’ sense of belonging on
campus, particularly when navigating campuses that are predominately White and wealthy
(Garriott, 2020; Jack, 2019; Williams et al., 2020). Students may struggle to find a sense of
belonging if they lack a connection to the university or feel insecure within the environment
(Walton & Brady, 2017). Related feelings are often birthed in response to environmental and
social cues, relating to one’s sense of connection, recognition, and acceptance by peers, staff, and
faculty. Sense of belonging in academic settings is particularly important for students, as these
environments can contribute to one’s sense of agency over career choices and perceived efficacy
(Duffy et al., 2020). For low-income students and students of color, belonging can be further
corroded by experiences of institutional discrimination, which can result in perceived sense of
institutional betrayal (Williams et al., 2020).

34

Campus Activities. Negative campus experiences can reduce underrepresented students’
engagement with campus events, leadership opportunities or resources (Tate et al., 2015;
Williams et al., 2020). For example, multiple studies have demonstrated how first-generation
students of color encounter exclusion, bias or other forms of hostility when attempting to engage
with on-campus activities or services (Storlie et. al, 2016; Jack, 2019; Williams et al., 2020).
Since experiential opportunities are often desired by employers, a lack of engagement can inhibit
the opportunity to develop related job experience (Hirudayaraj, & McLean, 2018). However,
students who are involved on campus often articulate social benefits and the ways these
opportunities provide valuable insight on career skills and future opportunities (Nuñez &
Sansone, 2016; Sklarz, 2019).
Involvement on campus can provide training and leadership opportunities that translate
into workplace competencies (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016). Some students learn new skillsets
through attending workshops relative to their leadership roles, while others benefit from
exposure to tasks that require learning new types of software or strategies (Nuñez & Sansone,
2016; Sklarz, 2019). Learning new skillsets can also facilitate students’ ability to obtain
employment while in college.
Student Employment. In 2015–2016, 66% of first-generation college students were
employed while pursuing undergraduate degrees, working a median average of 20 hours per
week (RTI International, 2019b). Demanding work schedules partially account for lower
participation rates in on-campus leadership opportunities such as student organizations and
faculty research (RTI International, 2021b). However, students can also obtain similar leadership
and professional growth through employment experiences (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016).

35

For some students, work opportunities are a chance to learn new skills and build a
network. In a study exploring the work experiences of Latinx sophomores, students reported
developing new competencies, building confidence, learning how to navigate new social settings,
and for those with on-campus jobs—a greater sense of belonging (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016).
Student employment can provide benefits such as normative forms of capital that may prove
beneficial in the workplace (Garriott, 2020; Nuñez & Sansone, 2016). Work achievements can
provide underrepresented students with a sense of pride, meaning and purpose, which can
contribute to academic and career goal persistence. Additionally, for some students, employment
while in college can provide exposure to potential career pathways (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016).
It is important to note that not all student employment experiences are positive. In one
study, a first-generation Latinx student noted how she removed her racial identity from a job
application to avoid potential hiring discrimination (Storlie et al., 2016). After indicating a White
racial identity, the student began to receive opportunities, thus reinforcing her belief that to be
successful, she would need to align herself with Whiteness. Similarly, one study of Black first-
generation women demonstrated how racist interactions with on-campus employers can hinder
students’ access to financial capital, as some left their jobs to preserve their mental health
(Williams, et al., 2020). In addition, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may not
have as much flexibility to choose their work locations and may end up with jobs that are more
transactional (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016).
Further, the significant hours students work can impede their ability to take advantage of
on-campus resources to facilitate career development. Parks-Yancy (2012) studied how African
American first-generation college students developed social capital and found that demanding

36

work schedules inhibited opportunities to establish relationships with faculty and staff. As one
student noted:
I pretty much keep to myself at school, I don’t really talk to too many people. I got bills
to pay. I haven’t been to [career placement office]. Naw, I haven’t really visited my
professors. I’ve been getting Bs and just a few Cs in all my classes. I’m doing good after
all I been through. (p. 516)
The quote demonstrates how a student’s context may impact their priorities and
assessment of what is most important in college. Some students measure their progress relative
to previous life experiences that may have been more taxing than college. First-generation
college students are often navigating a tension between responding to immediate needs within
their lives and preparing for the future with limited time (Parks-Yancy, 2012). The quoted
student was planning to continue with a part-time job after graduation because it would lead to a
$2 hourly wage increase after graduation, totaling $14 an hour.
For many first-generation college students, success is making it to and through college
(O’Shea & Delahunty, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012). Although there is value in recognizing one’s
personal progress, without context, college graduates may underestimate the job opportunities
and financial gains available to them post-graduation and remain in hourly jobs that do not offer
the full benefits of bachelor’s-required roles (Hirudayaraj, & McLean, 2018). Before one enters
the workforce, it can be challenging to uncover the heightened standards to which one will be
held during the application process, or the benefits to finding bachelor’s-level employment.
Missing context and time constraints are two barriers that can inhibit engagement with career
services and job preparation events (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012).

37

Barriers to Using Career Services
First-generation students of color may not use career services due to a lack of awareness
of the benefits of on-campus resources, especially career-related programs and advising (Parks-
Yancy & Cooley, 2018). Studies have shown that in retrospect, first-generation college graduates
noted that they did not previously realize the utility of career services in obtaining employment
(Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Sklarz, 2019). Asking for help and fear of judgment can be
barriers as well; students may not want to admit they could benefit from assistance, especially if
they do not think their peers utilize the supports.
Even in instances where students take advantage of on-campus career events, they may
not always have time or support to fully prepare for such engagements (Parks-Yancy, 2012). The
significant demands of students’ work schedules result in less time to use career-oriented
mentorship or identify related opportunities. The previous work experience of many first-
generation students of color may lead to an underestimation of the time and attention required to
prepare for interviews for post-graduate jobs, and post-graduate interview processes are
frequently more rigorous (Parks-Yancy & Cooley, 2018).
Even if students utilize professional development-related support, if advice and coaching
does not account for positionality, the resources are perceived as less effective (Luedke, 2017).
Career service staff is often not representative of the students of color on campus (Hirudayaraj &
McLean, 2018). A predominately White staff can create barriers for understanding, building
rapport and connecting with students in a holistic, culturally relevant manner. Further, it is
possible that the lack of diversity among career services staff shapes outreach strategies that do
not reach first-generation students or students of color.

38

Varied Impacts of Career Services
Students of color and recent graduates commonly share ambivalent sentiments about
university-related career resources (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Luedke, 2017; Parks-Yancy,
2012), including graduates who successfully secured jobs through those offerings (Huang, 2021).
According to a national Gallup (2016) poll of over 11,000 college graduates, students who
majored in the social sciences, arts, and humanities least frequently found career services to be
helpful. First-generation college graduates used career services at lower rates, yet a racial
analysis revealed that Black and Asian students more commonly utilized career services when
compared to their White and Latinx peers. Graduates with the greatest debt rated career services
least favorably. Poll results indicated that using these resources did not significantly impact
graduates’ perceived preparedness for life after college, except for those who rated their
experience as “very helpful,” who were almost 6 times more likely to feel prepared for life after
graduation. This finding indicates the need for future research to further examine what diverse
graduates have gained from career services, and what accounts for disparate perceived benefits
among those who use this type of support.
Alternatively, Frett (2018) interviewed 23 Black and Hispanic college graduates who
participated in a non-profit career preparation program for students of color, unaffiliated with
their alma maters. Participants overwhelmingly noted benefits and enthusiasm for such a
program, citing the network of similarly identified mentors, honest individualized coaching, and
peer networks as sources of inspiration. Notably, participants sought this support from an
external organization and the findings indicate inadequate support from on-campus career
development resources. All participants in the study had completed internships while in college,

39

which demonstrates the power of the social network obtained through culturally relevant career
development programs.
Disparate Access to Internships
Internships can provide students with a chance to build capital that leads to future job
opportunities (Sklarz, 2019). Internship experiences offer first-hand insight into workplace
norms, opportunities to build new skillsets, and available career paths. Although internships can
significantly contribute to students’ success in obtaining post-graduate employment, these
opportunities are often inaccessible to low-income, first-generation students, and students of
color (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2017; Ro et al., 2020). Through a survey of 1,060 students across
geographic regions and institution types, Hora et al. (2019) found that 64% (n = 676) of those
who had not completed an internship wanted to, but were unable to participate due to various
barriers. The most common barrier first-generation students faced was the need to work.
Many internships are unpaid, which means that students who use the summer to earn
income are typically unable to take advantage of these opportunities due to time or financial
constraints. Even paid opportunities may include financial barriers such as travel and lodging
costs, as desirable internships may be situated in cities outside of the students’ homes.
Additionally, there is a degree of social and cultural capital required to identify the value of
internships and understand the process to obtain these positions (Parks-Yancy & Cooley, 2018).
Even if a student is actively applying for internships, exclusive practices prevail, as
students from elite institutions tend to receive priority for roles at top companies (Hora et al.,
2019; Jack, 2019). Consequently, the benefits of an internship at a well-known company may be
restricted to students who have the resources to attend highly selective institutions. Internships
allow for students to build connections at future potential employment destinations, but if

40

opportunities are mostly provided to those who already have the capital to obtain such roles,
minoritized students are prevented from obtaining access to significant paraprofessional
experiences. As such, 23% of first-generation students had a paid internship during college,
compared to 33% of continuing-generation students (RTI International, 2021). For those who
complete an internship, positive outcomes include increased confidence, new skills, and a more
positive outlook on future career successes (Hora et al., 2019).
For some first-generation students of color, internships are perceived as unattainable due
to a lack of privilege (Williams et al., 2020). After returning from break and learning about
peers’ experiences at parents’ law firms, or prestigious companies, first-generation students can
begin to feel they are behind, which can stimulate feelings of insecurity or disadvantage.
However, one study of rising sophomores found internship participation disparities only among
first-generation students and those whose parents obtained a graduate or professional degree;
they found no differences in internship participation rates of first-generation students and
students whose parents had obtained a bachelor’s degree (Ro et al., 2020). This may be because
internships are generally more common after the second year of college. Students from
underresourced communities may obtain the social and cultural network advantages leading to
job opportunities due to their pre-college preparatory experiences (Jack, 2019). Mixed findings
suggest the need for further inquiry into internship and related opportunities that promote the
career development of first-generation collegians of color.
Employing Cultural Wealth to Navigate Racism and Classism
Students of color often find the fortitude to persist through harmful institutional
experiences through the creation of counterspaces where they can build and benefit from
supportive communities or engage in activism (Linder et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2020). The

41

need for counterspaces that promote belonging may be influenced, however, by students’ social
class (Jack, 2019). For some first-generation college students, family is a source of support and
motivation, although familial relationships can be layered and complicated (Hirudayaraj &
McLean, 2018). Other students persist through support obtained from inclusive mentorship
(Luedke, 2017) or elite high school networks (Jack, 2019). The following sections describe the
sources of social and familial capital that influence first-generation students of color as they
identify and pursue career aspirations.
Complicating the Narrative of First-Generation Family and Social Capital
Mainstream media on student and family relationships often focuses on negative aspects
of familial ties, with contrasting portrayals of helicopter parents who do not enable students to
take agency over their own education, or parents who are largely absent. While similar
relationships exist, research on first-generation families may misrepresent familial support.
Previous research suggests that relatives are disconnected and disengaged from first-generation
students’ experiences in college, however, relatives are often an important source of motivation
and encouragement for first-generation students of color (Garriott, 2020; Silver & Roksa, 2017;
Storlie et al., 2016). Previous analyses center a Eurocentric perspective of familial support that
centers procedural advice and normative capital, often erasing the sacrifices made and
significance of the cultural wealth first-generation families contribute to students’ success
(Yosso, 2005). Although many first-generation families may not have readily available
internships for their students, families can provide support by providing verbal affirmation,
access to basic needs like food, or provide reminders of one’s rich heritage (Silver & Roksa,
2017; Storlie et al., 2016).

42

Sometimes, when comparing received familial support to that of White or continuing-
generation peers, students may internalize feelings of inferiority because the support does not
look the same. For example, one study described first-generation families as a “weak link,”
suggesting that students lacked a “valid network” (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018, p. 96).
According to Yosso’s model of community cultural wealth, familial capital is a means of
nourishment and kinship, especially within communities of color. These forms of kinship,
knowledge and culture affirmation can be critical for students and professionals to find
affirmation and combat the isolation they may face when navigating predominately White
institutions (Okello et. al, 2020).
Family as a Source of Support. The literature suggests varied influences of familial
relationships on student career development. In a survey of over 2,100 college students, Raque-
Bogdan and Lucas (2016) found no differences of reported career support received from
continuing-generation and first-generation families. Qualitative studies have illuminated the
significant variance among support offered by families without collegiate experience
(Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2017; Nuñez & Sansone, 2016; Storlie et al., 2016). Some students
identify family as a main source of support (Storlie et al., 2016), while others experience intense
pressure to achieve to provide stability for family members to access a more economically
fruitful life (Frett, 2018; Tate et al., 2015).
Family Influences on Career Planning. Family can be a positive source of career
motivation for students seeking to serve as role models to younger siblings (Storlie et al., 2016;
Tate et al., 2015). Many first-generation students of color, especially those from immigrant
families, are appreciative of the privilege to obtain a college education and are aware of the
sacrifices their families made to provide educational opportunities. Children of immigrants

43

commonly witness relatives working multiple jobs or leaving their native countries to provide
education opportunities for future generations (Frett, 2018; Nuñez & Sansone, 2016). In some
cases, parents use their own experience with physical labor as a cautionary tale, stressing that
college provides alternatives to working excessive hours or engaging in manual labor (Nuñez &
Sansone, 2016). While such insight can be motivational and contribute to a strong work ethic, for
some students, familial expectations foster high standards which can feel daunting to achieve.
Students from low-income immigrant families tend to view college as a conduit to a lucrative
degree, which they expect will facilitate upward mobility (Storlie et al., 2016).
In a study comparing first-generation college seniors to continuing-generation peers,
Silver and Roksa (2017) found both race and generation status shaped the 62 participants’
approaches to making post-graduation plans. Continuing-generation students across race more
commonly sought to avoid committing to long-term plans, expecting financial support from
parents while they evaluated their career options. Students’ parents impacted actualized career-
planning behaviors, which varied by race. The parents of continuing-generation students of color
pushed for firm job commitments, while the parents of White students more commonly
supported open-ended explorations. Across race, continuing-generation students’ sense of
security was seemingly connected to the ability to rely on parental social and financial capital.
The participants of color used related privileges to minimize uncertainty through familial
connections, while the White participants more commonly used parental support as an
opportunity for extended exploration through participation in gap years, internships, or traveling.
Alternatively, first-generation seniors leaned into future responsibilities, seeking to
secure stable employment, often without the prompting of their parents (Silver & Roksa, 2017).
Although many of the first-generation students planned to move back with their families, the

44

authors noted that the sentiments behind these plans differed by race. Students of color conveyed
a strong commitment to family responsibilities, while the White participants expressed less of an
emotional duty and were more commonly driven by the desire to prove their adulthood.
Although the authors observed relationships among identity and familial responsibility,
the sample size limits generalizability. The socioeconomic status of participants was not
reported, so continuing-generation participants may have access to above average wealth,
lessening financial pressures of post-graduate employment. Further, it does not appear that
participants were asked explicitly about their racial identities. The researchers call for future
research exploring how race moderates the experiences of first-generation students, noting that
race-neutral analyses may lead to inaccurate conclusions (Silver & Roksa, 2017). Findings
highlight the importance of family in students’ decision-making regarding post-graduate plans,
as well as an intersectional exploration of student identities as they navigate career decisions.
Negotiating Different School and Familial Contexts. Some family members of first-
generation students are invested in students’ success but may offer incomplete advice based on a
lack of context. For example, Parks-Yancy (2012) found that instead of accessing career
services, some first-generation students of color sought advice from family members. In one
example, a student noted that her mother was the only person she discussed post-graduation
plans with. The student’s mother encouraged her to accept an offer from the retail job she held
throughout college. Instead of interviewing with firms on campus, the student was planning to
follow her mother’s advice and remain at the retail job after graduation. In this example,
although likely well-intentioned, familial advice was contributing to underemployment. Due to
lack of access, neither the student nor her mother were provided with knowledge of clear
pathways toward stable, higher-paying opportunities available through campus resources.

45

Cultural norms and internalized oppression can also impact the support first-generation
students of color receive from their families. Through interviews with Black first-generation
collegians, Williams et al. (2020) found that some participants’ Blackness was questioned by
community and family members who did not have a college education. As students are
socialized within academia, they can develop ideas, speech patterns, or behaviors that are
perceived as being in opposition to familial norms. In some instances, students who adapted to
college norms were accused of distancing themselves from Blackness or aligning with Whiteness
(Williams et al., 2020). However, code-switching behaviors are often deemed by seasoned Black
professionals as strategies for success in predominately White workplaces (Holder et al., 2015;
Okello et al., 2020). Additionally, some first-generation college graduates have reported familial
ridicule for complaining about work that is deemed less stressful (Olson, 2016).
The examples above highlight a common tension first-generation students may
experience as they navigate the different social contexts of school and family. Stress can result
from having to choose to code-switch at home as well as within school to avoid social or
academic consequences for not assimilating (Williams, et al., 2020). Such findings demonstrate
how racial identity may complicate one’s experiences navigating college as a first-generation
student. The current study seeks to examine the intersections of these identities further.
Moreover, students’ racial identities may facilitate the ability to communicate across
contexts, which Yosso (2005) refers to as linguistic capital. Linguistic capital enhances the
opportunity for students of color to relate to a broader base of constituencies, an asset that may
distinguish them from peers. Linguistic capital can be exercised by students who speak multiple
languages, as well as those who speak using different communication styles or dialects. Bilingual
abilities can later serve as a marketable asset in a global workplace, leading to future job

46

opportunities for those who know how to frame their experiences as strengths. Some first-
generation students of color benefit from early exposure to related navigational capital through
attendance at elite high schools (Jack, 2019).
Counternarratives of the “Privileged Poor.” Through a 2-year ethnographic study at a
prestigious institution, Jack (2019) found that students’ diverse high school experiences can
distinguish the ways students navigate university environments. Students Jack deemed as doubly
disadvantaged came from schools that lacked resources, which may have meant less interactions
with teachers and a more transactional learning environment. Students deemed the privileged
poor attended resource-rich college preparatory institutions that offered supportive relationships
with faculty. Positive relationships with faculty allowed the privileged poor to develop capital
and comfort engaging with authority figures. Related experiences allow students the opportunity
to adopt academic strategies that will parallel the expectations of most postsecondary
institutions. Further, students at well-resourced high schools can benefit from early exposure to
study abroad or internships, providing a sense of familiarity with the language, benefits and
processes to obtain rich, co-curricular experiences.
The majority of low-income Black students and one third of low-income Latinx students
at selective universities were admitted from elite, well-resourced high schools (Jack, 2019).
These statistics counter the common generalization that first-generation college students of color
do not have access to social and cultural capital that they can leverage to navigate career
development experiences. Further, findings also underscore the potential role institutions can
play in creating supportive, accessible environments to connect students to resources that will
facilitate future employment opportunities. Despite the systemic advantages the privileged poor
may obtain through high school, those who identify as people of color are still navigating

47

predominately White institutions and the barriers that stem from institutional racism. As such,
the current study seeks to examine how diverse forms of capital may translate into workplace
gains. Students often persist despite barriers because they are able to identify personal needs and
exercise agency to find and access relevant resources through navigational capital (Yosso, 2005).
However, regardless of positionality, not all students are comfortable engaging with authority
figures such as faculty and administrators (Jack, 2019). Staff of color can play a role in helping
to bridge support gaps by providing accessible, inclusive mentorship (Luedke, 2017).
Inclusive Mentorship As Capital. First-generation college graduates across race assert
that universities should provide targeted, accessible opportunities for mentorship, career
preparation experiences, such as internships, and identity-specific career supports (Hirudayaraj &
McLean, 2018). It is important to offer culturally relevant mentors, including those from
minoritized groups (Luedke, 2017). In many cases, staff and administrators of color play a
unique, pivotal role providing students of color with holistic support.
On one campus, students of color felt that administrators and staff of color offered
refreshing honesty, insight into the hidden curriculum of college, and genuine care that provided
students a space for authentic self-expression (Luedke, 2017). Students contrasted such support
with inadequate interactions with predominately White offices, characterizing those services as
more transactional. Findings conveyed the beneficial impact of advising students through a
holistic lens that responds to positionality and student circumstances. Generative, culturally
relevant relationships can lead to students learning about career options they may not have
previously considered, or even changing post-college plans (Parks-Yancy, 2012).
Mentors with lower perceived levels of cultural competency tend to be perceived as less
beneficial (Haeger and Fresquez, 2016). Owens et al. (2010) addressed the need for culturally

48

inclusive advising, stating that many first-generation students, especially African American men,
are navigating an institutional environment with greater barriers and discrimination than their
peers. The authors assert that career services professionals must acknowledge these contextual
differences, and account for them through identity-specific outreach, mentorship and advising.
Tate et al. (2015) similarly found that first-generation students experienced
marginalization due to assumptions that academic advisors made about familial access to
professional networks. As a result of experiences with discrimination and lack of perceived
supports, first-generation students tend to perceive greater career barriers and concerns (Raque-
Bogdan & Lucas, 2016). Without access to professional mentorship, many first-generation
students make career decisions independently or with more restricted knowledge, relying on
members of their social network who have not had first-hand experiences in the workplaces they
are striving toward (O’Shea & Delahunty, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012). Professional mentors may
also provide students with the support to persist amidst ongoing discrimination (Luedke, 2017).
Resistance As Capital
Continuing to persist despite institutional barriers serves as a source of pride and
resistance for some first-generation students of color (Williams et al., 2020). Yosso (2005)
identified two unique forms of capital that communities of color adopt in response to oppressive
conditions—navigational capital and resistance capital. Students of color use navigational capital
to navigate through the nuances of dominant social institutions, especially those with hostile
environments. Although deficit models focus on the ways first-generation students and students
of color struggle, scholarship also has documented the ways students persist, develop and
counter oppressive conditions through activism (Fernandez et al., 2018; Linder et al., 2019).

49

Resilience through resistance enables students to process stress-inducing events, make
meaning of those experiences, and use the learning to enhance success in subsequent interactions
(Williams et al., 2020). Resistance capital is developed through challenging dominant norms and
institutional inequity. This type of capital can be cultivated through behaviors such as
community activism, authentic self-expression, or participation in affinity spaces. First-
generation students of color who navigate predominately White institutions have had to develop
coping strategies to recover from and persist after negative interactions on campus (Yosso,
2005). Related challenges are ongoing, and practices utilized by students often mirror those
employed by professionals of color as they navigate the job search and subsequent work
experiences.
Navigating the Transition to Post-graduate Employment
Scholars have deemed the school-to-work transition a unique milestone, impacted by a
myriad of contextual, personal, and social-cognitive factors (Masdonati, et al., 2021). As first-
generation college graduates of color begin the job search, they often encounter unanticipated
barriers due to limited access to informed mentorship (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Parks-
Yancy, 2012; Sklarz, 2019). Lack of knowledgeable mentors can lead to latent or ineffective job
search strategies, impacting employment offers and salaries (Parks-Yancy & Cooley, 2018).
Further, implicit bias can compound the challenges accessing sustainable, gainful
employment for those with limited exposure to the workplace (Duffy et al., 2018; Howard &
Borgella, 2019). In fact, one national study of 2015–2016 graduates revealed that 12 months
after bachelor’s degree completion, 9% of Black graduates were unemployed, along with about
8% of Asian and Hispanic graduates (Velez et al., 2019). The national unemployment rate of
high school graduates in 2016 was 5.1% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). In contrast, only

50

4.2% of White bachelor’s degree recipients were unemployed (Valez et al., 2019). Despite
demonstrated inequities, the school-to-work transition has been underexplored through an
identity and power-conscious lens (Masdonati et al., 2021).
Theorizing the School-to-Work Transition
Recently, Masdonati et al. (2021) expanded the psychology of working theory (PWT) to
propose a conceptual model of the school-to-work-transition (STWT). According to the STWT
model, socioeconomic background, experiences with marginalization, and the labor market are
key contextual influences on one’s transition to gainful employment. Echoing the psychology of
working theory, the transition to employment is further impacted by psychosocial resources,
social support, and individual perceptions such as perceived employability and one’s vocational
identity. The authors distinguish the STWT from PWT because they assume specific age-related
challenges associated with identity and cognitive development that are likely different for those
transitioning jobs later during their career. Unlike the psychology of working theory, conditions
of one’s former education system are explicitly noted as moderators of successful transitions to
the workplace. In the STWT model, education is broadly considered to account for career paths
from high school to the workplace as well as work pathways after college. Thus, there is a need
for future research to explicitly explore the moderators, supports, and experiences of college
graduates as they enter the workplace upon graduation.
According to the STWT model, psycho-social resources such as self-efficacy and
support, experiences with marginalization, and one’s work identity all contribute to the transition
from school to gainful employment (Masdonati et al., 2021). Previous research on the
experiences of racially diverse working adults demonstrated a direct negative correlation
between experiences with marginalization and work volition, the perception of having career

51

options despite barriers. The findings illustrate how structural barriers on a macro-level can
impact individual experiences as one attempts to navigate immediate contexts related to school
and work. The substantive marginalization and lack of institutional support experienced by many
first-generation college graduates of color underscores the need for research that centers the
experiences of such communities.
Additionally, the STWT is influenced by individuals’ critical consciousness, which refers
to one’s ability to critically analyze surrounding social conditions and take action to address
experienced inequities (Masdonati et al., 2021). One study cited critical consciousness as a
protective defense mitigating the negative impacts of racial marginalization on workers of color
adaptability (Diemer et al., 2017). Thus, promoting cultural wealth and awareness of systemic
injustice may serve to enhance the resistance capital among first-generation college students and
graduates of color. Future research may further examine the exclusive institutional practices of
employers and how biased structures may create barriers for first-generation college graduates of
color who are often navigating the bachelors-level employment process with fewer insights into
hiring expectations and workplace dynamics.
Unanticipated Barriers During the Job Search
First-generation college graduates often enter the workforce immediately after graduation
due to financial needs (RTI International, 2019b). Financial pressures can lead recent graduates
to accept jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree or that may not be aligned with related
career ambitions (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012; Sklarz, 2019). Hirudayaraj
and McLean (2018) conducted interviews with 14 first-generation employees who identified as
Black or White. All participants viewed their initial career transition as challenging, noting they
had originally believed that after a bachelor’s degree employers “were just going to give me a

52

job [saying] ‘welcome, here’s 60 grand a year for your bachelor’s” (p. 98). In contrast, it took
participants at least 3–5 years before they obtained a position that required a 4-year degree.
Participants cited lack of familiarity with corporate expectations, lack of internships, and
the undervaluing of working-class job experience as barriers toward entry into the corporate
sector (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018). These first-generation college graduates all had years of
professional experience at the time of the study, which enabled them to articulate additional
insights gained through working in the private sector, such as what to put on a resume and how
to convey qualifications during interviews. Some professionals returned to school to obtain
additional credentials, while others committed energy to building networks within their
organizations. Building networks across class required learning new skills like golf, volunteering
for activities that allowed proximity to managers, or socializing even when it was uncomfortable.
None of the participants had received mentorship through career services during college. As
such, several did not plan for the career transition until late in the college process. All
participants in the study were employed at a multinational company. The findings suggest the
need for research that explores experiences of diverse first-generation college graduates across
employment contexts. Additionally, the study reinforces the need for accessible career coaching
to support first-generation college students in developing job search strategies to obtain gainful
employment.
Job Search Strategies
Lacking access to mentorship, many underrepresented college graduates rely on internet
searches and professional websites to identify job opportunities (Huang, 2021; Parks-Yancy &
Cooley, 2018; Sklarz, 2019). Parks-Yancy and Cooley (2018) conducted a survey of 115 college
juniors and seniors to assess what screening methods are most impactful in a job search. Most

53

participants identified as first-generation, yet the racial demographics of the sample were
unreported. Participants overwhelmingly cited resumes and interviews as the most important
aspect of employer screenings. The researchers found that participants generally underestimated
the importance of referrals and social media as factors that would impact employment. Referrals
and social media review are two practices that are not formally part of the interview process but
can support or hinder one’s candidacy. This is one example of how a “hidden curriculum” can
present continued barriers as first-generation college graduates enter the workforce. Despite
abilities and related work experience, some applicants are disadvantaged due to unspoken
expectations and implicit biases of hiring managers.
Implicit Bias
Implicit bias can impact first-generation college graduates of color when attempting to
access employment opportunities, and the bias can continue after hiring. In one landmark study,
two professors investigated how the name on a resume impacts callbacks for an interview
(Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004). Researchers sent over 5,000 resumes to jobs in Boston and
Chicago using randomly assigned, stereotypically assumed “African American sounding” or
“White sounding” names (p. 992). Findings revealed significant racial disparities despite
applicants having the same qualifications. A statistically significant callback gap of 50%
translated to a Black applicant sending an average of five additional resumes to receive an
interview invitation. The stereotypical White names resulted in callbacks equivalent to 8
additional years of work experience for Black applicants. The researchers varied the quality of
resumes submitted and found that having a higher quality resume yielded less benefit for the
fictional African American applicant resumes than it did for the White resumes. Additionally,
findings revealed the role of class, as White applicants living in areas more commonly known as

54

prosperous received more callbacks than other White or Black applicants. The bias persisted
across industry, job type (e.g., government contract or private companies) and differently sized
companies—racial disparities were present across all dimensions of analysis (Bertrand &
Mullainathan, 2004).
A similar study identified intraracial disparities regarding callbacks for Black applicants,
with names commonly associated with African Americans (e.g., Jamal and Lakiesha) being
disadvantaged at greater rates than applicants with names associated with White citizens or
African immigrants (Howard & Borgella, 2019). The authors looked at raters’ determinations of
employability, potential starting salary, and overall evaluation of applicants. Further, raters were
asked to identify the race or ethnicity most commonly associated with a list of names that
included the fictitious applicants to verify stereotypical associations. Results demonstrated
raters’ bias toward perceived White applicants. Additionally, findings revealed a preference for
those perceived to be African over assumed African American applicants. Further, while there
were no biases revealed in willingness to work collegially with prospective applicants, the raters
were more likely to envision working as a direct report of the perceived White applicants than
both Black ethnicities. The findings demonstrate how the pervasive nature of racism impacts
qualified professionals of color when attempting to access decent work.
Given the advantages received by referrals, one’s personal network can be an important
source of capital when navigating the job search process (Parks-Yancy & Cooley, 2018).
Referrals tend to start their jobs faster, earn higher starting salaries, and remain at their place of
employment longer than non-referrals. Given that White people, especially those in middle-class
or wealthier neighborhoods, typically belong to networks that are majority White (Bonilla-Silva,
2006; Menendian et al., 2021), the prioritization of referrals can systematically disadvantage

55

first-generation college graduates of color. Access to informed, connected networks can impact
recent college graduates’ attainment of bachelor’s level employment after graduation
(Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018).
The Role of Networks for Communities of Color
In certain instances, recent college graduates of color benefit from referrals and advice
from the diverse peer connections they developed while in college (Huang, 2021). For some
graduates of color, membership in an identity-based fraternity or sorority provides an impactful
network for career development and job attainment (Miller & Bryan, 2020). Social capital from
organizations or relationships can provide insight into career pathways, referrals for specific job
opportunities, or insight into career strategies.
Sklarz (2019) conducted a dissertation study on first-generation college graduates’
perspectives on the most impactful job search resources and found that several participants were
able to leverage connections made in college. Interviewees cited resume critiques, advice, and
internships as benefits derived from social networks, however, it is unclear whether connections
were advantaged by participants’ racial identities, as racial demographics of participants were
not reported. In a study of Asian American alumni, many of whom were continuing generation
students, Huang (2021) found that graduates from elite institutions may commonly use university
events and resources to identify professional opportunities. However, it is possible that such
behaviors are impacted by students’ class status, given that sense of belonging and comfort with
authority can impact interactions with campus resources, disadvantaging those who are first-
generation or low-income people of color (Jack, 2016; Luedke, 2017; Vallejo, 2015). When
considering both of the above studies, it is evident that an intersectional exploration of the impact
of social networks for first-generation graduates of color is warranted.

56

For some Asian American professionals, the networks that supported previous
educational success do not extend beyond college graduation (Huang, 2021). Most participants,
including first-generation graduates, did not receive career advice or connections from family
networks. Some participants attributed the lack of counsel to parents’ limited awareness of career
options in the United States, while others felt their families exclusively encouraged a limited list
of career options commonly associated with status and high compensation. Second-generation
Asian Americans also explored a wider diversity of careers than their parents, which meant that
families may have not been able to offer contacts from personal work experiences. Nevertheless,
participants commonly reported receiving moral support from families. The findings underscore
previous claims that the educational achievements of Asian Americans may not result in
proportionate workplace gains as these graduates navigate the job search process and strive
toward career advancement (Tran et al., 2019).
Of the literature on the early career professionals, first-generation college graduates of
color are underrepresented. This is a contrast to the expanding literature on the college
experiences of the first-generation student population (Nunez & Sandone, 2016; Storlie et al.,
2016). Much of the research on working professionals centers those with several years of
experience, as outlined in the following section. Overall, there appears to be a dearth of literature
focusing on the diverse racialized experiences of first-generation college graduates of color as
they transition into post-graduate full-time employment and transition into the workplace (Frett,
2018).

57

Navigating Race and Class in the Workplace
Although there is a wealth of literature documenting the experience of Black employees
within the workplace, the research often does not look at intersecting identities beyond race and
gender (Tatli & Özbilgin, 2012). Further, research on Asian American and Latinx professionals
in the workplace is relatively limited (Liang & Peters-Hawkins, 2017; Rosette et al., 2018).
These gaps highlight the need for further exploration of the rich, diverse identity-related
experiences of first-generation college graduates of color as they pursue gainful employment.
The following section highlights some of the common racial dynamics within
predominately White work environments. The discussion begins with an overview of structural
barriers and related impacts on representation and earnings in the workplace. Understanding race
within the workplace requires an analysis of structural issues, the impacts of implicit bias which
often result in racial abuse, and the subsequent racial battle fatigue (Duffy et al., 2018; Huang,
2021; Okello et al., 2020). I include brief accounts of racial distinctions among the experiences
of Asian, Black and Latinx Americans to illustrate how White supremacy impacts all
communities of color but may manifest in diverse ways. Such accounts are meant to be
illustrative of the pervasive nature of racism but not exhaustive, given the nuances and
complexities of racial identification. The section continues with an overview of additional
contributing factors to one’s experience within the workplace, such as the influences of
intersectional identities on workplace barriers such as marginalization or stereotype threat. The
impacts of racial abuse on wellbeing and decent work are then discussed. Further, underscoring
communities as agentive requires taking stock of the ways professionals of color utilize
community cultural wealth to navigate experiences with workplace discrimination. Thus, the
section concludes by applying Yosso’s (2005) cultural wealth model to illustrate the ways

58

professionals of color have utilized diverse forms of capital to resist and navigate workplace
discrimination.
Structural Inequities and Disparate Representation in the Workforce
With a sample of 526 professionals of color, Duffy et al. (2018) tested how racial and
class-based marginalization can contribute to the attainment of decent work and related
cognitive-behavioral attributes such as career adaptability and work volition. Researchers used
measurements with high internal reliability such as the General Ethnic Discrimination Scale,
Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale, Work Volition Scale among others, with the goal of
assessing the impact of race and class on the dimensions of decent work. Findings demonstrate
that racial marginalization can have a negative impact on work outcomes such as sense of
agency, safety, and perceived workplace values alignment (Duffy et al., 2018) all of which can
impact employee hiring, engagement and retention (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999).
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020), across sectors, 79% of the
management, professional, and related occupations (e.g., marketing managers, legislators, human
resources managers, food service managers and social service managers) were held by White
employees. About 10% of these roles were held by Hispanic or Latinx professionals, who were
able to identify as any race. Less than 10% of professional management roles were held by Asian
and Black professionals, respectively. Black and Latinx workers were overrepresented in the
service, transportation, and material moving industries, and underrepresented in management,
professional and related industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Asians most commonly
held professional-related occupations and least frequently held sales and offices positions, which
scholars have asserted may be a byproduct of stereotypes (Huang, 2021).

59

Data on the intersection of ethnicity, race and class highlights the importance of
interpreting aggregated quantitative statistics with caution. The majority of the Hispanic
population in the workforce is racially identified as White (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018).
Further, 46% of participating Asians were ethnically Indian or Chinese, which may not represent
the experiences of other ethnic Asian communities. Indian and Chinese Americans tend to attend
college at the highest rates among people of color and earn higher salaries than many other Asian
ethnic groups on average (Espinosa et al., 2019). By only examining career experiences through
aggregated quantitative data, the disparities across phenotype, ethnicity, and intersectionality are
lost.
Although some may cite lack of applicants as a barrier to diverse hiring, evidence
suggests that hiring disparities persist even among similarly credentialed college graduates
(Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004; Espinosa et al., 2019). According to a 2018 Bureau of Labor
Statistics report, key factors for hiring disparities included: educational attainment, geographic
areas where groups are concentrated (read: segregation), and workplace discrimination. The
statistics provide a brief window into how structural issues such as education disparities and
segregation can impact employment opportunities. Even beyond hiring, employment disparities
persist through salary and workplace experiences (Espinosa et al., 2019; Okello et. al, 2020;
Vallejo, 2015).
Racial Income Disparities Among College Graduates
One year after college graduation, Black college graduates are overrepresented in the
lowest earning categories (Institute for College Access & Success, 2020). In 2016, the earnings
of Black Americans between the ages of 25 to 34 were 15% lower than similarly credentialed
peers (Espinosa et al., 2019). There is limited data on American Indian and Pacific Islander

60

outcomes, however, there appear to be income gaps ranging from 16.2–28.5% when comparing
the income of these groups to the national median income. As professionals progress through the
workforce, it appears that Hispanic bachelor’s degree recipients in their forties begin lagging
behind the annual earnings of other contemporaries of color. This may be due to disparities in
promotion rates, workplace discrimination or shifting to part-time work to account for familial
responsibilities, which can be a common expectation for Latinx women (Storlie et al., 2016).
Some may attribute salary disparities to different earnings across industries. This would
make sense given racial trends across student major choices. However, racial income disparities
prevail even within similar industries (Espinosa et al., 2019). For example, men of color across
all races commonly majored in STEM fields. When comparing salaries of bachelor’s degree
recipients in STEM, American Indian and Alaskan Natives obtain the lowest salaries, earning
approximately $66,000, yet the median earnings of Asians in this field is over $82,000. Business
was the most common major among Black 2016 college graduates, however, these professionals
are taking home approximately $14,000 less than their White colleagues each year (Espinosa et
al., 2019). Such disparities are increasingly striking when considering that during college, first-
generation college graduates of color more commonly participated in career fairs and resume
reviews than White first-generation peers (RTI International, 2021).
Further, the unemployment rates for college graduates are significantly higher for people
of color. An analysis of bachelor’s degree recipients between the ages of 25–34 revealed that
while an average of 89.4% of adults held full-time jobs, the unemployment rate was highest for
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders—8.8% compared to 2.9% of White degree recipients
(Espinosa et al., 2019). Disparities can be partially attributed to the role of implicit bias, which

61

can impact hiring practices and fuel other discriminatory behavior such as racial abuse
(Williams, et al., 2021).
Microaggressions As Racial Abuse
Scholars have defined microaggressions as daily slights, comments, interactions, or
environmental indignities that associate inferiority, otherness, and stigmas with racialized groups
(Williams et al., 2021; Sue et al., 2009). Chester Pierce (1995), who originally coined the term to
describe his experiences as a Black man, asserted that the sustained psychological burden
associated with microaggressions can result in “diminished mortality, augmented morbidity, and
flattened confidence” (p. 281). Some forms of racial abuse vary across racial groups, while
others are more commonly experienced. For example, in 2020, hate crimes increased
significantly, especially against those identifying as Asian or Black (Federal Bureau of
Investigation, 2021).
Additionally, because of the underrepresentation of professionals of color in leadership
positions, professionals of color are often tokenized at work (Holder et al., 2015; Pitcan et al.,
2018; Williams et al., 2021; Vallejo, 2015). Tokenization can manifest when people of color are
ghettoized within race-related roles, called upon to speak as a racial ambassador, or represent
their race at events that trivialize and exploit their culture or background. Such asks are often due
to the organization’s desire to access the economic benefits of appearing to be racially inclusive,
but can harm the wellbeing of employees of color (Quaye et al., 2019; Weisinger et al., 2016).
Fifty years after the introduction of the term “microaggressions,” Williams et al. (2021)
conducted a literature review of empirical studies that provided a taxonomy of the ways people
of color encounter racial abuse. The researchers assert that professionals of color across race
commonly encounter minimization of race, stereotyping, assumed homogeneity, and othering by

62

criticizing or diminishing cultural differences. Detailed experiences of related workplace abuses
are provided later in this section. In addition to interpersonal microaggressions, professionals of
color can endure environmental exclusion, which might manifest in the artifacts or symbols
employed in the workplace. The literature review was imbalanced; many studies focused on
students, two studies centered the experiences of Latinx people, and single studies centered
Multiracial people and Indigenous people, respectively. Limited empirical documentation of
microaggressions across race underscores the need to explore the diverse experiences of first-
generation college graduates of color at work.
Microaggressions are nuanced for different communities of color due to the distinct
methods of historical and contemporary racialization within a U.S. context (Williams et al.,
2021). Although microaggressions are deemed ‘everyday racism,’ this framing can serve to
minimize the ways microaggressions can contribute to structural barriers, continuing the
stratification of access and capital within the workplace. In the book How to Be an Antiracist,
Kendi (2019) critiques the name of microaggressions, arguing that there is nothing minor about
persistent racial abuse. He elaborates to state that abuse adequately represents both the action,
and the ways these ongoing actions impact the people of color, leading to mental and
physiological harm. Henceforth in this dissertation, the term racial abuse is used synonymously
with microaggressions.
Diverse Manifestations of Racial Abuse
Although there are some shared encounters with White supremacy at work, the distinct
histories, media portrayals, and cultural stereotypes of different races result in some distinct yet
related experiences across race. The following sections highlight a few key issues relevant to the
work experiences of Asian Americans, Black Americans and Latinx Americans. The sections

63

below are not meant to provide a comprehensive literature review for each racial community.
Due to the limited recent research on early career experiences of first-generation college
graduates of color, the findings shared below are offered to provide insight into diverse
manifestations of race and capital, which will be explored further across expanded racial groups
through the current study.
Erasure of Asian Americans and the Model Minority Myth
Asian Americans have been exploited as a universally high-achieving, hard-working
community (Sue et al., 2009). This assumption is harmful for several reasons, as it erases ethnic
differences and supports the notion of Asians as a monolith. Asians who do not uphold this
stereotype are often subject to feelings of pressure, ridicule, invalidation of their Asian identity,
or shame. A belief that Asians are naturally intellectually talented erases their agency and the
effort extolled toward professional achievements. Further, this narrative is used to counter the
need for race-related support programs and further subordinate other communities of color,
blaming them for their own disadvantage (Allen et al., 2019).
Concurrently, some scholars have noted that assumptions of intelligence may advantage
Asian Americans relative to other communities of color through “stereotype lift” which stems
from the expectation that Asian employees will be competent, affording them grace in the wake
of challenges (Huang, 2021; Park, 2019). Relatedly, stereotype promise is a performance boost
some experience from being viewed as talented (Tran et al., 2019). Such racial stereotypes may
have contributed to the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in workplace literature (Yu,
2020). High achieving stereotypes do not account for the ways racist immigration policies have
fueled such narratives because of limited U.S. entry that privileged Asians with high levels of
education credentials (Park, 2019; Tran et al., 2019). Promoting Asians as a model also further

64

subjugates other communities of color, while masking the workplace discrimination faced by
Asian Americans (Arañez Litam & Chan, 2021; Yu, 2020).
One study on racialized perceptions of promotion inequities highlighted different
perceptions of discrimination across ethnic groups. Based on data from the 2016 National Asian
American Survey, only three Asian subgroups perceived higher discriminatory treatment than
other racial and ethnic groups, which may highlight both a diversity of experience and different
social views on the nature of race (Yu, 2020). Vietnamese and Black women were the most
likely to perceive inequitable promotions were related to racial discrimination. This study
underscores the importance of disaggregating racial data and further examining Asian American
experiences with race and career advancement.
In another study of East Asian and South Asian professionals, some participants
attributed discrimination to other aspects of identity, minimizing the impact of race (Huang,
2021). However, those sentiments conflicted with the prevalence of participants’ reports of
feeling microaggressed in the workplace. Participants shared examples of being confused with
other Asian colleagues, being stereotyped as quiet, and one even recalled being mocked when a
co-worker made fake language sounds, pretending to speak Chinese. While a few felt othered by
racist interactions, participants commonly dismissed the comments as harmless jokes. These
differing reactions demonstrate the ways diverse socialization experiences can impact the way
people of color understand their racial experiences.
Racial biases may contribute to the underrepresentation of Asians in executive positions,
especially those who identify as women (Huang, 2021; Yu, 2020). As Asian Americans are
stereotyped as passive or quiet, the labels contrast with prevalent Eurocentric leadership styles of
being assertive. Ironically, those who identify as Black, however, can be penalized for executing

65

similarly self-assured leadership behaviors. While all groups tend to experience assumptions of
inferiority, people who are perceived as Black experience heightened assumptions of criminality
and aggression, which can translate into consequences at work.
Criminalization and Policing of Black Employees
Pitcan et al. (2018) conducted interviews with 12 Black men with less than 10 years of
work experience across several industries. Participants commonly felt compelled to make
themselves less intimidating by engaging in censorship. Some participants even restricted
interactions with colleagues and developed heightened anxiety and stress as a result. Such
behaviors were not observed by White colleagues who engaged in direct, and oftentimes
offensive, communication (Pitcan et al., 2018). Black employees are often deprived of grace that
is generally extended to White colleagues after a mistake, resulting in heightened pressure to
avoid any missteps (Holder et al., 2015; Okello et al., 2020; Pitcan et al., 2018). Although
Williams et al. (2021) noted that African American and Latino American men tend to be subject
to assumptions of criminality, Black women are concurrently racialized as angry, intimidating,
and aggressive (Holder et. al, 2015) manifesting in a unique form of oppression called
misogynoir.
Misogynoir. Given the distinct nature of the gendered racism experienced by Black
women, Moya Bailey, a Black queer feminist scholar, coined the term misogynoir (Bailey,
2014). This term refers to the distinct ways anti-Black sexism pathologizes Black women
through disproportionate scrutiny, discrediting, lack of protection from violence, and victim-
blaming (Patton & Njoku, 2019). Patton & Njoku (2019) argue that the historical treatment of
Black women has manifested in institutional policies, impacting Black women at school and at
work. The authors assert institutional-sanctioned violence harms Black women through the “use

66

of institutional policies and practices as an act of power to commit violence against people
within postsecondary institutional spaces, resulting in epistemological, emotional, and
psychological damage” (p. 1167). In a review of case studies from the national news, Patton and
Njoku (2019) highlighted several examples of how institutional violence can manifest:
physically through force, through public shame and discrediting, through invalidation that
upholds White power structures, and through disproportionate surveillance of behavior.
Through interviews with Black women in senior-level corporate roles, Holder et al.
(2015) illuminated paradoxical experiences within the workplace. Black women experience both
a hypervisibility and invisibility at work (Holder et al., 2015). For instance, the actions and
authority of Black women were subject to scrutiny, even by junior employees. However, in
meetings, some women noted that they never received eye contact. This behavior was observed
in contrast to the interactions among White men who would face each other when speaking.
Black women were also simultaneously stereotyped as aggressive and unapproachable, while
being expected to serve as an emotional support to White colleagues. Darcy et al. (2018) reiterate
this finding, citing the heightened labor expectations for Black women through additional
mentoring, committee work and caregiving demands that show the persistence of dominant
frames of Black women as domestic servants.
Exclusion. Black women are tokenized when their presence serves a capitalistic value,
but excluded from social engagements, which has relatedly been documented as a common
experience of Black men in the workplace (Holder et al., 2015; Pitcan et al., 2018). The
exclusion of Black people from meetings and work-related social events can have an impact on
their access to the social capital commonly needed for career advancement, which compounds

67

the social and emotional harm resulting from said experiences (Holder et al., 2015; Pitcan et al.,
2018).
Intersections of Race, Class and Colorism for Latinx Professionals
Given the lack of representation of Latinx workers in managerial and executive positions,
much of the research on Latinx experiences at work focuses on working-class employment (e.g.,
Edderth et al., 2019) or first-generation immigrants to the United States (e.g., Linares, 2015). A
recent study suggested that given the significant Latinx representation in service industries, the
job eliminations and salary reductions affiliated with COVID-19 may have had the most
significant job loss impact on Latinx workers (Autin et al., 2021). Working class jobs do not
always provide healthcare benefits, which may account for Latinx workers having the lowest
rates of health insurance—a central aspect of decent work (Berchick et al., 2018; Duffy et al.,
2016). One reason for the lack of literature on Latinx work experiences may be the complex,
inconsistent ways of identifying people within the population. Latinx is commonly used to refer
to those from specific regions in the Caribbean and Latin America, constituting diverse
ethnicities across multiple continents (Delgado & Stefancic, 2011).
The majority of the United States Latinx population are Mexican Americans, with
significant representation from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Central America. According to the
Current Population Survey, 89% of the Hispanic population in the workforce selected White as
their racial identity (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Because of the wide array of phenotypes
emerging from such diverse origins, Latinx individuals experience varying levels of
discrimination, shaped by the ways their racial identity is perceived by others (Vargas, et al.,
2019).

68

In a study of 1,493 respondents, 37% of participants reported experiences with racial,
ethnic, or citizenship-related discrimination (Vargas, et al., 2019). Latinx participants commonly
perceived as Black reported employment discrimination at a rate 2.5 times greater than Latinx
participants commonly perceived as White. Such findings highlight the dynamic relationship
between race and ethnicity, suggesting that examining Latinx individuals as a singular category
may distort workplace experiences rooted in colorism.
Experiences with marginalization have been shown to inhibit access to decent work for
Spanish-speaking professionals (Autin et al., 2021). Marginalization can be compounded by
social class backgrounds, especially for low-income Latinx professionals. Through interviews
with Mexican American professionals of diverse class backgrounds, Vallejo (2015) reported
participant experiences with workplace discrimination through: White colleagues employing
racist ideologies, exclusion due to financial or racial disparities, and ostracization for enacting
culture or speaking Spanish.
Participants shared how xenophobia and harmful media narratives about immigrants
shaped colleague and supervisor conversations. One Mexican professional shared how a
supervisor would make offensive comments about a “Mexican maid” knowing that the mother of
the employee was a domestic worker (Vallejo, 2015, p. 78). Other senior-level Mexican
professionals mentioned the use of slurs at business dinners or work meetings. Additionally,
Latinx managerial-level participants were commonly mistaken for low-credentialed workers,
such as maintenance workers or servers at business events (Vallejo, 2015).
These examples illustrate how majority White leadership creates a power dynamic that
can silence professionals of color when faced with racism from superiors. Racist assumptions
exemplify how dominant narratives can shape the ways professionals of color are viewed at

69

work, thus potentially creating barriers to achieving gainful employment. The majority of
participants noted experiencing social consequences for speaking Spanish at work, and as the
result of colleague complaints, some Latinx professionals were told to refrain from speaking
Spanish unless required by the job (Vallejo, 2015). The linguistic capital some Latinx
professionals can offer to workplaces was therefore punished instead of being celebrated as an
asset (Yosso, 2005). The resulting mental harm is a barrier to decent work (Duffy et al., 2016).
To validate the psychology of working theory with Spanish-speaking Latinx workers,
Autin et al. (2021) administered a survey to 287 employees, most of whom had earned a
bachelor’s degree or above. Marginalization impacted participants’ sense of agency and
perceived ability to persist through barriers at work. Marginalization was not a statistically
significant predictor of career adaptability, however, which may mean these workers will
exercise navigational capital to either persist at work or seek out new employment. The authors
postulate that lower levels of career agency may enhance the negative impacts of economic
constraints, creating additional barriers for Latinx professionals who seek decent work.
Supporting employers and Latinx workers in identifying community cultural wealth may yield
positive implications for gainful employment.
Implicit Racial Bias at Work
The above examples of racial abuse convey internalized beliefs about professionals of
color. These assumptions may reveal implicit bias regarding the content expertise, talents,
background, and leadership capabilities of people of color. For example, stereotyping colleagues
of Asian American descent as timid and passive can translate into assumptions about their ability
to lead a team or assume a role that requires assertiveness (Yu, 2020). Responding incredulously
when a Black colleague knows how to complete a work-related task conveys an implicit

70

assumption that this colleague does not hold knowledge that White colleagues possess (Holder et
al., 2015; Pitcan et al., 2018). Such beliefs about low-income people of color can impact the
projects they are assigned and whether they are trusted to represent the company (Vallejo, 2015).
The stereotypes one encounters grow increasingly complex when one holds multiple
marginalized identities (Tatli & Özbilgin, 2012). For example, in addition to racism, people may
encounter bias based on gender identity, class background, immigration status, sexual
orientation, ability status, religion and age. Varied forms of implicit bias impact the everyday
experiences of first-generation college graduates of color, especially women seeking
advancement.
Intersectionality and Seemingly Impenetrable Ceilings
Crenshaw (1989) illuminated the importance of viewing identities with nuance and
complexity by exemplifying how Black women were dismissed within gender-based advocacy
that prioritized White women and erased within race-based advocacy that centered Black men.
Intersectionality is a key aspect of critical race theory, as “no person has a single, easily stated,
unitary identity, … everyone has potentially conflicting, overlapping identities, loyalties and
allegiances” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 9). Although the current study focuses on the
intersection of race and first-generation status, I would be remiss to neglect the impact of
additional dimensions of identity in shaping the experiences of first-generation college graduates
of color.
It is telling that there are several variations on the concept of a glass ceiling, which
commonly refers to the barriers women face when seeking advancement to high-ranking
leadership positions. Latinas have coined the term adobe ceiling (Hernandez, 2020), while Black
women have referred to a concrete ceiling (Holder et al., 2015), and Asian women have used the

71

term bamboo ceiling (Yu, 2020). These metaphors all depict the challenges women of color have
to break through to executive leadership positions, as well as the lack of clear pathways toward
professional advancement. Lack of explicit advancement pathways can be due to unstated
expectations, and limited visibility or connections to role models who have already secured high-
level positions (Bourdieu, 1986; Hernandez, 2020).
Women of color receive conflicting messages regarding the valued leadership
approaches, such as norms around being assertive, which tend to advantage White men while
yielding consequences for women (Holder et al., 2015; Liang & Peters-Hawkins, 2017). Such
barriers further demonstrate how the systemic valuing of normative capital can impact the career
trajectories of first-generation college graduates of color. Gender pays disparities impact all
racial groups, with the lowest wages earned by Latinx women and the greatest gender-based
wage disparities among Asian professionals (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). The statistics
offered do not account for disparities among those with non-binary or transgender identities, who
are often excluded from workplace literature.
A study on access to decent work for sexually minoritized populations revealed a link
between a heterosexist workplace climate and decent work (Allan et al., 2019). Through
quantitative surveys of 364 working adults identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender,
researchers found that social class and workplace climate predicted one’s sense of agency and
possibilities at work. Further, workplace climate directly predicted decent work, indicating how
structural barriers can restrict wellbeing at work. Less than 4% of participants identified with
non-binary genders and the majority identified as White. Those with non-binary gender identities
are often underrepresented or erased from research on the experiences of professionals of color
(Duffy et al., 2018; Holder et al., 2015; Huang, 2021; Pitcan et al., 2018; Vallejo, 2015). Despite

72

the representation limitations, the findings of Allan et al. (2019) suggest the relevance of
intersecting identities in shaping professionals’ experiences at work. Identities such as sexual
orientation and gender may contribute additional dimensions of marginalization or privilege to
the ways first-generation college graduates of color experience the workplace and navigate
related structural barriers.
Multiple identities add dimension and richness to the experiences of first-generation
college graduates of color. Such identities can also further or help mitigate one’s experiences
with marginalization at work. Vallejo (2015) suggested that greater alignment with White,
middle-class norms may lessen one’s perceived experiences with marginalization at work.
However, even assimilation strategies cannot fully protect against the harmful effects of racial
abuse at work (Frett, 2018; Holder et al., 2015).
Impacts of Racial Abuse on Wellbeing and Decent Work
Racial abuse can have deleterious impacts on the mental health, work outcomes,
educational attainment, and healthcare of professionals of color (Williams et al., 2021). Many of
these consequences are core to the concept of decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). The findings of
Quaye et al. (2019) illuminate the maxim that people of color are often taught: “you have to
work twice as hard to get half as far.” Several Black student affairs professionals in this
qualitative study noted that they were subject to heightened scrutiny due to their racial
background and had to go through extra precautions to demonstrate their value. This meant that
taking time off to re-charge was challenging. Several participants noted that they work during
vacation, on weekends, and after business hours. Demanding work schedules detracts from
employees’ access to time off—a key aspect of decent work (Duffy et al., 2016). Both Pitcan
(2018) and Okello et al. (2020) found that Black employees feel heightened pressure to exceed

73

the work outputs of their colleagues to lessen the likelihood that their value will be questioned by
employers. While this behavior exists across race, for Black professionals, it is often rooted in a
racialized fear of judgement, given the frequency of punitive consequences (Okello et al., 2020).
Related fears may be due to the significant underrepresentation of professionals of color in the
workplace, which can trigger feelings of stereotype threat.
Stereotype Threat
Performance can further be impacted by stereotype threat, where one is hyper aware of
negative stereotypes about an identity they hold, resulting in fear or anxiety about confirming
that negative belief (Casad & Bryant, 2016). This phenomenon can impact the career ambitions,
job engagement, and openness to feedback for those with minoritized identities, thus harming
both individuals and negatively impacting workplace outcomes. Like racial battle fatigue,
stereotype threat can also cause physical reactions, such as high blood pressure and heightened
cortisol, which stimulates stress. When intersecting workplace conditions, underrepresentation,
and stereotype threat, employees of color may begin to question their own abilities (Casad &
Bryant, 2016; McGee et al., 2021). The awareness of one’s underrepresentation can also make
employees of color feel as if they do not belong (Holder et al., 2015).
Psycho-Social Barriers to Decent Work
The psychological impact of workplace stressors influences the physical health of
professionals of color as well. Multiple studies have shown that workplace racial abuse can result
in sleep deprivation, body fatigue, and ailments such as migraines, chronic pain, or digestion
issues (Holder et al., 2015; Pitcan, 2018; Smith, 2004). These experiences are so pervasive that
Smith (2004) coined the term racial battle fatigue. He originally described the term within the
context of the barriers Black faculty are forced to navigate when working on predominately

74

White college campuses. Smith compares this pervasive, ongoing racial strain to combat fatigue
that arises from the stress of having to be constantly alert, even when one is not engaged in direct
altercations.
These forms of trauma reinforce racial battle fatigue and serve as barriers to decent work
(Duffy et al., 2018). Even among well-paying positions of influence within prestigious
organizations, first-generation college graduates express disappointment with careers due to
workplace environments (Frett, 2018). As the literature in this section has demonstrated,
employees of color are negatively impacted by workplace conditions, which detract from
physical health, mental health, feelings of safety at work, time off, and perceived alignment with
workplace values (Holder et al., 2015; Huang, 2021; Pitcan, 2018; Smith, 2004; Okello et al.,
2020; Quaye et al., 2020; Vallejo, 2015). The internalization of racial microaggressions can
detract from one’s focus, resulting in diminished performance (Holder et al., 2015). Likewise,
racial battle fatigue can subsume energy away from creative pursuits, occupying one’s awareness
and requiring time spent agonizing, analyzing, and strategizing how to navigate the racial
barriers in the workplace (Smith, 2004). Community cultural wealth provides a framework for
understanding how first-generation college graduates of color persist in such marginalizing
environments.
Community Cultural Wealth and Coping Strategies
People of color have employed diverse methods of coping to navigate workplace barriers
and facilitate self-care after experiencing trauma (Holder, et al., 2015). Okello et al. (2020) found
that for Black higher education professionals, self-care was seen as a temporary response to
racial stressors, and healing was deemed unlikely amidst the persistent harm of racism. Some
examples of common coping practices include meditation, engaging in therapy, developing

75

affinity spaces, using humor and connecting with loved ones (Holder et al., 2015; Okello et al.,
2020; Pitcan et al., 2018).
Such strategies are examples of community cultural wealth, demonstrating how
professionals of color draw from familial capital, resistant capital, and navigational capital to
persist through marginalizing work experiences (Yosso, 2005). For people of color, engaging in
self-love and maintaining an internal sense of identity can facilitate fortitude in the face of
discrimination (Okello et al., 2020). Drawing from one’s familial and social capital and
reconnecting with family and trusted mentors can also serve as a reminder of one’s rich culture
or leadership abilities (Liang & Peters-Hawkins, 2017; Okello et al., 2020; Yosso, 2005).
Conversely, avoiding harmful social connections may also serve as a coping strategy. In a
study of early career Black women, some participants avoided work settings where they would
be the only Black person to preserve their wellbeing (Dickens & Chavez, 2017). Participants
noted the potential professional consequences of distant relationships with colleagues, yet also
described frustration and anxiety associated with attempting to assimilate or defy stereotypes in
predominantly White work settings. Exercising agency over how one engages at work is an
example of resistance capital, demonstrating how people of color have had to use intentionality
to cope with instances of oppression (Yosso, 2005).
Employing navigational capital, some employees align themselves with co-workers by
highlighting similarities, or seeking out more seasoned leaders for support (Hernandez, 2020;
Holder, et al., 2015; Pitcan et al., 2018). For some professionals of color, navigating spaces of
high scrutiny means “wearing a mask,” or developing the persona deemed necessary to move
through the workday in ways deemed most pleasing to White colleagues (Okello et al., 2020, p.
428). Related practices may involve code-switching or restricting natural behaviors to appear

76

more approachable or meet colleagues’ expectations (Pitcan et.al, 2018). Other professionals of
color place emphasis on working to counter stereotypes about their racial groups (Huang, 2021;
Pitcan et al., 2018). Identity negotiation may facilitate coping but can also create feelings of
exhaustion. Aspirational capital and envisioning one’s educational or career-related goals can
also serve as a distraction from the stressors of racial battle fatigue. Some internalize meritocracy
ideals and believe focusing on career advancement will lead to less racial barriers (Okello et al.,
2020).
Although some studies have highlighted coping mechanisms and navigational strategies
of professionals of color, studies that focus on the sources of capital and learning that have
fueled community cultural wealth for first-generation college graduates of color appear to be
absent from the literature. Further, much of the research cited in this section refers to the
experiences of Black professionals but does not explicitly focus on those who are first-generation
college graduates. By exploring diverse racial experiences of first-generation professionals of
color, the current study serves to address these gaps.
Summary
The literature highlighted throughout this chapter demonstrates how racism and classism
intersect to shape the layered educational experiences of first-generation college graduates of
color. Educational experiences have yielded mixed results in providing first-generation college
graduates of color with access to decent work (Espinosa, et al., 2019; Frett, 2018; Hirudayaraj &
McLean, 2018; Huang, 2021; Parks-Yancy, 2012; Vallejo, 2015). Disparate results are shaped by
structural barriers such as pervasive institutional racism and classism, among other forms of
oppression. Predominantly White leaders shape practices, policies and interactions that
contribute to the exclusion and marginalization of underrepresented students and professionals,

77

whose perspectives are decentered or excluded in common practices (Kendi, 2019; Garriott,
2020; Njoku & Patton, 2019; Vallejo, 2015).
In college, examples of marginalization include homogenous White staff and faculty,
culturally irrelevant support services, and practices that assume White middle-class cultural
dispositions of students and job applicants (Jack, 2019; Parks-Yancy, 2012; Patton, 2016; Tate et
al., 2015). Related barriers impact first-generation college students of color as they attempt to
navigate and access employment after graduation, often with disparate insight into the
expectations of the professional workplace (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Parks-Yancy &
Cooley, 2018). However, even with comparable qualifications and related experience, first-
generation college graduates of color may be disadvantaged by implicit bias impacting job
offers, starting salary and workplace experiences (Howard & Borgella, 2019; Vallejo, 2015).
Unspoken expectations disadvantage those who were not previously socialized to adopt
middle-class, White norms (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Frett, 2018). Further, implicit bias
restricts access to job opportunities for prospective applicants as well as first-generation
professionals of color seeking promotion and professional development opportunities (Vallejo,
2015). Despite deficient institutional conditions, students and families are pathologized as
needing intervention, as opposed to focus on inadequate institutions that exclude and harm first-
generation college graduates of color and their networks (Garriott, 2020). The following
conceptual framework offers an alternative view, centering the structural barriers, such as racist
and classist norms as areas needing intervention. This counter-framing positions community
cultural wealth as an asset that first-generation college graduates of color can use to enhance
personal wellbeing and professional development. By deepening understandings of the lived
impacts of structural barriers and community cultural wealth among first-generation college

78

graduates of color, both universities and employers may be better equipped to recruit, retain, and
support first-generation college graduates of color in accessing decent work.
Synthesizing the Literature Through a Conceptual Framework
The review of literature provided an overview of the pervasive nature of oppression and
its relationship to access to education, wealth, wellbeing, and decent work for first-generation
college graduates of color. Racism and classism are ubiquitous in universities and across
employment sectors, creating barriers that inhibit access to decent work for first-generation
college graduates of color (Garriott, 2020; Howard & Borgella, 2019; Jack, 2019; Patton, 2016;
Patton & Njoku, 2019). Such barriers are strategically maneuvered when first-generation college
graduates of color employ community cultural wealth to resist and navigate these racist, classist
environments in pursuit of decent work (Duffy et al., 2018; Frett, 2018; Garriott, 2020; Williams
et al., 2020). However, even with access to normative capital and community cultural wealth,
structural barriers still can present challenges for first-generation college graduates of color,
depending on their positionality (Frett, 2018; Vallejo, 2015). Further, given the barriers present
in higher education, first-generation college graduates of color may experience inequitable
access to normative capital within predominately White institutions.
Consequently, first-generation college graduates of color may experience stress and racial
battle fatigue that can negatively impact wellbeing and workplace behaviors such as isolating
oneself or engaging in self-censorship (Okello et al., 2020; Pitcan et al., 2018 Vallejo, 2015).
Decent work is predicated on access to adequate compensation, healthcare, and workplace
conditions that promote physical and emotional wellbeing. Given the extant literature on the
harmful impacts of racism throughout every aspect of career pipelines, one must ask—are all the
dimensions of decent work attainable for first-generation college graduates of color employed at

79

predominantly White workplaces? A conceptual framework for viewing the school-to-work
trajectory of first-generation college graduates of color through the lens of critical race theory
and diverse forms of capital is described in the following section and represented in Figure 1.

Figure 1
A Conceptual Framework for Diverse Capitals As Contributors to Decent Work

80

A Critical Capital Model of the Transition to Decent Work
As shown in Figure 1, the conceptual framework for this study draws from critical race
theory, positioning racism and classism as pervasive forms of oppression that influence the
trajectory to decent work (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). Further, first-generation college
graduates of color navigate racism and classism through the development and deployment of
community cultural wealth and normative capital, which is often centered and prioritized in
school environments (Bourdieu, 1986; Frett, 2018; Garriott, 2020; Pitcan et al., 2018; Yosso,
2005). Further, some first-generation college graduates of color may also use community cultural
wealth to access and develop normative capital by taking advantage of institutional resources
provided during high school and college (Jack, 2019). Although normative capital privileges
White, wealthy groups (Yosso, 2005), such capital may be necessary to obtain decent work given
the demographic composition of hiring managers as predominately White. Despite strategic use
of diverse forms of capital, first-generation college graduates of color may still encounter
barriers when attempting to attain decent work. Such barriers persist throughout the educational
system, job search, and experiences within the workplace (Masdonati et al., 2021).
Theoretical Support for Conceptual Framework
In discussing the benefits of symbolic capital such as a college degree, Bourdieu (1986)
states, “the economic and social yield of the educational qualification depends on the social
capital, again inherited, which can be used to back it up” (p. 5). Bourdieu classifies different
types of capital based upon the ways they can yield economic and status benefits within a class-
based hierarchical society. Economic capital relates to the financial resources available which
can build one’s status through property ownership and the rights therein. Social capital refers to
the relationships one has, but through a Bourdieuean perspective, the relationships yield value

81

primarily based upon the status they confer, leading to the opportunity to advance and obtain
greater social mobility. Bourdieu asserts that cultural capital manifests through one’s
understandings of how to navigate institutional settings, familiarity with the metaphorical tools
and byproducts of those settings, and through the institutionalization of dominant, upper-class
values. Symbolic capital is generally manifested as a credential that demonstrates credibility to
those in power, such as a college degree.
Bourdieu asserts that cultural capital is transmitted through socialization in ways that
benefit those coming from families who share norms with the wealthy class. Although he
postulates that cultural capital can be transmitted in other ways, Bourdieu notes that the socially
legitimized means of transferring capital (e.g., through universities) are restricted through
gatekeeping practices. Thus, college graduates coming from families who have access to
normative capital have, on average, over 20 years of advantage of being socialized into these
ways of behaving, speaking, and thinking. Although this view presents a diversion from merit-
based theories of success, this theoretical lens also places greater value on capitals obtained and
rewarded by White, elite, capitalistic professionals.
Such values often remain invisible as they are positioned as the norm. Tatli and Özbilgin
(2012) conducted a literature review of 409 articles focused on workplace diversity across 55
management and business journals. They assert that most articles focus on diversity from a one-
dimensional perspective, without acknowledgement to the fluidity of identity salience and
participants’ experiences with intersectionality. The authors argue for an exploration of the
process of how those lacking organizational power work toward capital accumulation, noting the
role of agency and organizational structures as barriers. Their analysis underscores Bourdieu’s
(1987) forms of capital as a means to explore workplace diversity. The authors note “the power

82

of the power holders to define the rules, norms, and values helps to sustain the status quo and
keep the disadvantaged firmly in their place” (p. 193).
This is a key aspect of conducting an organizational power analysis, however, by
focusing solely on the capital deemed valuable by the wealthy, Bourdieu is contributing to an
erasure of the types of capital disenfranchised communities have developed to survive and thrive
in oppressive systems. Yosso (2005) critiqued this approach and developed a model of
community cultural wealth, stemming from the core tenets of critical race theory (CRT). This
theory emerged from a critical legal studies movement, whereby scholars of color sought to
challenge color-blind interpretations of justice and the law (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). The
core tenets of CRT include the beliefs that (a) racism is part of the everyday experience of people
of color in United States society, (b) race is a social construct, (c) dominant groups require
motivation in order to address issues of racism, and (d) the importance of avoiding essentialism
and understanding people of color within the context of multiple intersecting identities (Ladson-
Billings, 2013).
CRT tenets contribute to the formulation of this research study, which draws from
Yosso’s (2005) model of community cultural wealth. According to Yosso, wealth refers to one’s
collective accumulated resources and assets, while income specifically refers to the economic
capital received in monetary form. Core to this model is the belief that communities of color
develop strategies, agency, and knowledge despite, and often in response to their oppression.
Resistance then manifests through cultural wealth, which encompasses forms of capital
commonly overlooked by the majority.
Scholars have called for future research that explores the role structural barriers and
capital can play in shaping one’s intersectional experiences within the workforce (Duffy et al.,

83

2018; Flores et al., 2019; Silver & Roksa, 2017; Tatli & Özbilgin, 2012). A CRT perspective is
valuable in examining various forms of capital, due to the inextricable nature of racism and
classism within the context of the United States. Through a CRT lens, one’s ability to obtain
capital is impacted by race and intersecting identities. Based on the literature, racism is a key
influential factor in the lives of first-generation college graduates of color; such oppression is
further compounded by class disparities (Duffy et al., 2018; Parks-Yancy, 2012; Vallejo, 2015).
However, communities of color have demonstrated persistence, ingenuity, and power to build
strategies to navigate oppression using community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). Diverse racial
communities have been racialized differently and individual participants may hold varied
perspectives on the impact race has had on career development experiences. Community cultural
wealth capital have been underexplored as part of first-generation college graduates’ pursuit of
decent work and personal fulfillment.
The research on first-generation career development mostly samples from students who
are still enrolled in the university (Carr, 2020; Garriott, 2020; Nunez & Sansone, 2016; Storlie et
al., 2016). Thus, empirical evidence includes career exploration in college, but not the ways such
knowledge is tested when first-generation college graduates of color begin to navigate full-time
employment. Moreover, several studies center a homogenous White sample or lack a nuanced
racialized analysis which contributes to an erasure of the differences among post-graduate
outcomes (Cataldi et al., 2018; Eismann, 2016; Raque-Bodgan & Lucas, 2016; Toyokawa &
Dewald, 2020). Thus, the experiences of recent first-generation college graduates of color
navigating their first job remain understudied.
The two recent studies that have centered the employment experiences of recent first-
generation college graduates of color solely included professionals in the private sector

84

(Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018; Frett, 2018). First-generation college graduates are more likely
than their continuing-generation peers to pursue careers in non-profit and government
organizations (Eismann, 2016; RTI International, 2019). However, social science and humanities
majors tend to have less career support, as compared to career tracks such as business and
management (Parks-Yancy, 2012). Thus, for the purposes of this study, I will be exploring the
experiences of first-generation college graduates of color across employment sectors, as racism
and classism are pervasive (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001).
The current study addresses the above gaps by providing narratives on the diverse
experiences of first-generation college graduates of color as they transition into the workplace
and pursue decent work. The research questions are as follows:
1. How do structural barriers impact access to decent work for first-generation college
graduates of color?
2. What are the diverse forms of capital first-generation college graduates of color
employ to navigate school and work environments?
a. What types of capital do first-generation graduates of color accumulate while
in college to support the attainment of decent work?
3. What changes in universities and workplaces would further support first-generation
college graduates of color in obtaining decent work?

85

Chapter Three: Methodology
The intent of the current study was to explore the transition experiences of first-
generation college graduates of color as they prepared for and pursued decent work upon earning
a bachelor’s degree. Central to the analysis was how first-generation college graduates of color
use diverse forms of capital (e.g., cultural wealth and normative capital) to navigate structural
and personal barriers within universities and employment organizations. The following chapter
provides an overview of the methods, modes of inquiry and epistemological decisions involved
in the current study. After summarizing the study design, a brief description of participants,
recruitment strategies, data collection and analysis is offered. Efforts to promote credibility and
support the trustworthiness of the study are then discussed. The chapter concludes with ethical
considerations and reflections on the impact of positionality in the current study.
Research Questions
1. How do structural barriers impact access to decent work for first-generation college
graduates of color?
2. What are the diverse forms of capital first-generation college graduates of color
employ to navigate school and work environments?
a. What types of capital do first-generation graduates of color accumulate while
in college to support the attainment of decent work?
3. What organizational changes in universities and workplaces would further support
first-generation college graduates of color in obtaining decent work?
Overview of Design
The current study used qualitative methods, which allow for detailed, inductive
approaches to understanding rich experiences (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Research questions

86

were explored using a critical narrative inquiry approach, which focused on stories and events in
relation to first-generation college graduates of color, through the lens of identity and decent
work (Bold, 2012). Narrative inquiry aligns with a critical research paradigm as it provides an
opportunity to disrupt dominant assertions of college outcomes that erase the stories of first-
generation college graduates of color through counternarratives. The methodological approach
has been used to “facilitate occupational scientists’ critique and redress of structures, systems,
processes and practices that form and perpetuate occupational inequities and injustices”
(Rudman & Aldrich, 2017, p. 478).
In the current study, a critical narrative approach allowed for the situating of individual
narratives within a larger social context, examining the connections among story, identity, and
societal discourses about college, work, and capital. Solorzano and Yosso (2002) assert that
counter-narratives can subvert dominant ideologies that serve to fuel and promote racism.
Accordingly, the researchers place value on storytelling and center the lived experiences of
communities of color as a source of knowledge. Dominant approaches to research normalize
privilege and often dismiss the role of structural barriers in shaping disparate outcomes (Patton,
2016). Instead, scholars advocate for the use of counter-narratives, which are considered a form
of resistance to the status quo (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002).
Narrative Research and Counter-Storytelling
Counter-narratives support the empowerment of first-generation college graduates of
color in several ways. Such stories challenge the assumed wisdom of dominant scholars,
facilitate storytelling, which is a common practice in many communities of color, and create
intentional space for authentic voices to emerge through research (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002).
Through counter-storytelling,

87

those injured by racism and other forms of oppression discover they are not alone in their
marginality. They become empowered participants, hearing their own stories and the
stories of others, listening to how the arguments against them are framed, and learning to
make the arguments to defend themselves. (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 27)
Further, counter-stories present possibilities for new approaches to supporting the school-
to-work transition of first-generation college graduates of color by providing personal accounts
of navigating structural barriers as well as drawing from cultural wealth and capital. Such
accounts may inform future directions for career and professional development.
Narrative research frames peoples’ lives as a series of interconnected stories in relation to
a particular phenomenon (Creswell, 2007). Using this approach, the researcher’s role is to
methodically collect stories to create a cohesive representation of experience that centers
participant voices. The researcher then may engage in an analysis of such narratives, creating
themes that emerge across stories or illustrate taxonomies of such stories (Creswell, 2007). Thus,
narrative research includes “a process of collaboration involving mutual storytelling and
restorying as the research proceeds” (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 4). Restorying is one aspect
of narrative analysis in which the researcher reorganizes and situates stories into a larger account
with a beginning, middle, and end (Creswell, 2007). The resulting qualitative analysis emerges
through the stories presented and the themes that emerge from them, when considered within a
larger social and political context. In the current study, observation notes, interviews and
participant resumes are considered sites of stories. Table 1 depicts the data sources relative to the
research questions. Such sources of data were synthesized to create a cohesive story arc that
explores the use of diverse forms of capital drawn upon by first-generation college graduates of
color in pursuit of decent work.

88

Table 1
Data Sources
Research questions Document analysis Interviews
RQ1 X
RQ2 X X
RQ2a X X
RQ3 X

Participants
Thirteen first-generation college graduates of color participated in the current study. All
participants graduated from a private institution with a bachelor’s degree between 2011–2018.
All participants identified themselves as first-generation, a U.S. citizen, and a person of color.
Details on participant demographics and eligibility information are provided in chapter four.
Given the study focus on gainful employment, participants each attained at least one of the
elements of decent work after graduating from college: access to employment that provides a
workplace that provides physical and emotional safety, a work schedule that allows for rest and
breaks, adequate compensation, adequate healthcare coverage, meaning, and organizational
values that are generally deemed to align with one’s social and familial values (Duffy et al.,
2016).
Recruitment
The literature contains varied perspectives on sample size for narrative research.
Saturation was reached after 13 participants, as themes in response to the research questions
begin to be redundant (Kim, 2019). Upon Institutional Review Board approval, participants were
recruited using multiple alumni networks of first-generation college graduates of color. Most

89

recruitment took place electronically through personal emails, Facebook posts, or LinkedIn
messages from myself or forwarded by other equity professionals. Purposeful sampling ensured
that participants offered rich insight into the college-to-work transition, and met study criteria
(Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Additional first-generation college graduates of color were
recruited through snowball sampling, which began with the identification of a few participants
who clearly meet study criteria. The initial participants then forwarded my recruitment message
to others who met study criteria. Eligibility was determined once participants completed a short
form to verify that they met study criteria. See Appendix A for the eligibility form.
Initial participants were recruited through targeted messages to alumni from institutions
in the northeast United States with programs that center first-generation students and students of
color. As a former program administrator at several universities, my positionality allowed for
social capital that provided access to potential participants. Colleagues forwarded my recruitment
message through alumni networks and on LinkedIn. Although I was acquainted with some
participants, I only sampled from students who graduated from college at least 3 years ago, to
mitigate power dynamics. Further, given the nature of the research, sampling from a group where
participants are familiar with my work may have served to establish rapport and support my
credibility as a researcher (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Further, researcher memos allowed me to
record and process any potential biases that emerged due to loose connections with participants.
Upon completion of the eligibility survey, first-generation college graduates of color who met
the study criteria were asked to provide a resume and schedule an interview time.
Forty-three individuals completed the eligibility survey. Eighteen individuals met study
criteria and were invited to schedule an interview. Sixteen interviews were scheduled, however,
two potential participants cancelled prior to the interview. Fourteen interviews were completed.

90

Toward the conclusion of one interview, a participant revealed that her father had earned a
bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in the United States, though she self-identified as first-
generation due to his absence from her life after the age of 12. Based on the father’s role as a
primary childhood guardian, the results of the interview were not included in the current
analysis. Accordingly, all participants met the following criteria.
Eligibility Criterion
Criterion 1: To participate in this study, participants needed to have earned a 4-year
degree from a private institution in the United States between 2010–2018 and entered the
workforce after graduation, as opposed to enrolling in school. Given that some first-generation
college graduates work for 3–5 years before obtaining bachelor’s-level employment (Hirudayaraj
& McLean, 2018), the time frame allowed for a range of trajectories in obtaining decent work.
Criterion 2: Participants were required to identify as a first-generation college graduate,
and a person of color, as this was the target population of the research.
Criterion 3: Participants needed to be legally eligible to work in the United States prior to
college graduation. Work-authorization laws create additional barriers that can inhibit access to
gainful employment. Such experiences are beyond the scope of the current study.
Criterion 4: Participants obtained full-time employment that meets at least one of the
dimensions of decent work: access to employment that provides a workplace that provides
physical and emotional safety, a work schedule that allows for rest, adequate compensation and
healthcare coverage, is fulfilling, and has organizational values that are generally deemed to
align with social and familial values.

91

Data Sources
The eligibility survey, interviews, and document analysis provided data for the current
study. The eligibility survey provided initial data on participant identities and perceived access to
decent work. Each participant was asked to complete an individual interview via Zoom, lasting
up to 3 hours. In addition, participants were asked to submit a resume to provide insight into
their career trajectories, the ways they made meaning of their prior professional experiences, and
the types of roles and employment obtained post-graduation. Such artifacts are considered part of
document analysis.
Document Analysis
Document analysis allows for review of relevant written communication that offers
additional insight into an experience, setting, or phenomenon (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Personal documents provide insight into what the author prioritizes and values. Participants were
asked to share a resume as part of the recruitment process. Resumes are artifacts that provide
access to biographical data from participants, which is a key aspect of narrative research (Bold,
2012). Such documents provided a first-hand account of participants’ descriptions of prior work,
leadership and educational experiences, which served to triangulate interview data. Connelly and
Clandinin (1990) assert that chronologies can be a useful entry point for narrative research,
particularly for those who may be novice storytellers. During the interviews, the resumes assisted
in prompting stories or clarification questions. Resumes further assisted in following and
confirming participants’ career development trajectories when stories were not told in a linear
chronology.
Additionally, resumes offered insight into the ways first-generation college graduates of
color frame and communicate career experiences and situate themselves within the context of

92

each job or role (Laliberte Rudman & Aldrich, 2017). Through the resume, I gleaned insight into
the chronology of participants’ former places of employment, the type of duties they performed,
as well as educational credentials. Documents are framed as unobtrusive aspects of data that can
provide historical context and track change and development over time (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016), which aligns with the common purpose of a resume. As Frett (2018) demonstrated in a
qualitative dissertation on the career experiences of first-generation Black and Hispanic college
graduates, resume data can potentially be used to deepen knowledge of individuals’ career
trajectories, inform specific interview questions and triangulate the data on employment
experiences shared through interviews, as was the case in the current study.
Interviews
Interviews provide useful insight into past experiences, which one cannot observe
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Through interviews, I was able to capture the heterogeneity within
first-generation graduates of color, and obtain rich accounts of participants’ lived experiences
within schools and workplaces (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Narrative interviews have been
used to disrupt traditional power dynamics by empowering participants to use their voices to tell
relevant stories that provide insight into a phenomenon of interest (Kim, 2019). The approach
frames participants as narrators, which is particularly relevant in the context of critical race
theory, as the goal is to create space for accounts that have generally been excluded from
research (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Given such goals and the tenets of critical race theory,
participants were encouraged to claim as much space as needed to share their career development
journey with minimal interruptions. Interviews have been used frequently in research exploring
career development of first-generation college students (Frett, 2018; Sklarz, 2019; Storlie et al.,
2016), however, most of the published literature on decent work, underrepresented workers, and

93

the psychology of working theory has been quantitative or focused on seasoned professionals
(Autin et al., 2021; Duffy et al., 2018; Duffy et al., 2020; Holder, et al., 2015; Pitcan et al.,
2018). The current study provides an additional dimension to the existing body of research
through qualitative exploration of decent work experiences of first-generation college graduates
of color.
Instrumentation
Interview protocols solicited narratives of participants’ career journeys, beginning from
when they first started seriously thinking about careers. Informed by the work of Laliberte
Rudman and Aldrich (2017) who used critical narrative inquiry to explore occupational
experiences and identity, interviews consisted of three parts. The interviews began with an open-
ended question asking participants to describe their career journey from the time they first began
seriously thinking about careers through their first job after graduation. Once participants shared
their initial story, follow-up questions were used to elicit story data that provided further detail
into participant experiences with identity, support, barriers, and resources. Through such
questions, the transition from school to full-time employment was explored. Probing questions
emphasized the key constructs of the study: identity, cultural wealth, and the role of institutions
in shaping participant access to decent work.
Additionally, participants were provided with a list of the dimensions of decent work via
the Zoom chat feature. They were asked to share when they had obtained each dimension and
describe the barriers and contributors that facilitated access to each. Interviews concluded by
participants sharing their recommendations for how their schools and employers could have
improved the transition to decent work. The protocol is included in Appendix B.

94

Data Collection Procedures
Participants each received a recruitment message explaining that the researcher sought
first-generation college graduates of color to share their journey from college to the workplace.
The message directed interested parties to complete an eligibility survey using Qualtrics,
providing basic demographic data to ensure alignment with study criteria. Semi-structured
interviews using open-ended questions took place on Zoom, a virtual video conference software
that allowed for participation from across geographic regions during a global pandemic when
travel was restricted and social distancing was encouraged. Interviews ranged between 93–184
minutes, with the average interview lasting about 120 minutes. In total, an estimated 29 hours of
data were collected. Interviews were recorded to allow for transcription and repeated review.
Questions focused on each participant’s career trajectory, sources of cultural wealth, and
normative capital that assisted with access to decent work, and the influences of participant
identities on their access to decent work (see Appendix B for full protocol). During the
interviews, I took notes which informed follow-up questions and initial analysis.
Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis involves an iterative process of shifting between describing,
comparing, and interpreting the data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Taking notes allowed for
emergent on-site analysis and member-checking. For example, as patterns began to emerge, I
reflected real-time analysis by tentatively sharing themes. Participants were then asked to
elaborate on the applicability of themes or lack thereof. After each interview, memoing was used
to document initial hunches, possible themes, and key observations across interviews. Further,
each research question was answered based on such initial interpretations from the interview to
document initial understandings while data was most salient. All audio files from interviews and

95

resumes were uploaded to ATLAS.ti for analysis. Audio files were cross-checked with
transcriptions to ensure accuracy prior to coding.
In critical narrative inquiry, analysis “moves between individual and sociocultural or
historical levels without denying or discounting the words spoken by individuals” (Laliberte
Rudman & Aldrich, 2017, p. 472). As such, data were coded in chunks to preserve important
context and meaning behind each code (Gibbs, 2018). Open coding was used with a leaning
toward codes that related to structural barriers, cultural capital, resources, key behaviors, and the
resulting impacts on participants, in accordance with the study’s conceptual framework. In line
with Laliberte Rudman and Aldrich (2017), analysis was driven by the research questions, and
the ways discourse is used to situate first-generation college graduates of color within a larger
context of identity, power relations, cultural wealth, and normative capital. Such constructs were
the guide for the identification of themes, yet unanticipated findings were noted throughout
coding as well.
As interviews progressed, tentative coding categories were refined and tweaked, which
enabled the research study to remain focused and illuminating (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). After
open coding, initial codes were grouped into broader categories such as contributors to decent
work, barriers to decent work, community cultural wealth, normative capital, and career
development influences. In addition, the data was examined through the lens of key
developmental milestones that emerged including pre-college, college, the transition to work,
and experiences within the workplace. Categories were retrieved to look for patterns in the data
(Gibbs, 2018).
In accordance with Gibbs (2018), several methods of data analysis were used to explore
deeper relationships and phenomena within the data. Code tables in ATLAS.ti assisted in the

96

confirmation of which codes were most salient for each participant, and which codes were most
grounded across the sample. Upon retrieval of key code categories, tables were used to begin
exploring potential themes and compare participant data with respect to the research questions.
Adapting the critical narrative inquiry methods of Laliberte Rudman and Aldrich (2017),
narratives were restoried through the interweaving of interview and resume data to assist in the
development of a high-level chronological visual depicting participants’ journeys via Microsoft
Excel. The visual allowed for a comparison across participants’ career-related experiences,
duration at jobs, and reasons for departure, and is included in Appendix C.
Throughout the data collection and analysis process, memos and notes assisted in
drawing inferences and connections across participants, which strengthened the initial
development of themes throughout the coding process. Researcher memos were further utilized
to track observations, data decisions, and reflections, which helped to document the data analysis
process as well.
Czarniawska (2004) offered a critical approach to narrative analysis, suggesting the
examination of silences, deconstruction of stories, and engaging with contradictions. Attention to
such discourses revealed insights about participants’ interpretations of power and relationships
relative to school and work. Czarniawska notes that insights can be extrapolated from attention
to power and desire as portrayed through language use and the construction of narratives. Close
attention to epiphanies or turning points in the stories (Creswell, 2007) further revealed the role
of cultural wealth and structural barriers in the career development trajectories of first-generation
college graduates of color.

97

Credibility, Trustworthiness and Positionality
To build trustworthiness, I attempted to enact rigorous thinking throughout the design,
methods, and data analysis. To that end, I used strategies such as engaging in reflexivity,
memoing, rich description and extended interviews with participants (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Engaging in reflexivity through memos supported the data analysis and trustworthiness by
allowing me to bracket my own experiences and assumptions and identify potential biases.
Using memos, I explored how my own experiences and assumptions may be impacting
my interpretations of data (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). As a biracial woman of color, I shared
positionality with some participants. I have attended predominately White institutions throughout
the entirety of my career and endured ongoing forms of institutional racism, classism, and
sexism, among other barriers. However, I have received many privileges due to my light skin,
citizenship status, educational privilege, and racial ambiguity. Although I was raised in a low-
income household, I am not a first-generation college student. However, 5 years of immersive
work with first-generation college students through student support services support my
credibility as a researcher of this topic. This was confirmed through reflections and restatements
to participants, through which they communicated feelings of affirmation and being understood.
Several participants thanked me for the opportunity to share their story and conveyed the
reflective benefits of having the opportunity to participate in the research and consider their lives
through new questions.
Previous professional roles have provided me with ongoing, rich insight into the diverse
experiences, strengths, and challenges of first-generation college students of color and
professionals. As a former director of an office serving first-generation students and students of
color, I held over 1,000 individual meetings with students about identity and persistence through

98

higher education in pursuit of decent work. Through leading summer bridge programs and
retention initiatives, I have witnessed the transformative power of equity-based institutional
support. My deep knowledge of the experiences of institutional inequity is rooted in the trust I
have been able to develop with first-generation students of color who have shared their talents,
triumphs and traumas with me, first-hand. Such insight is supported by empirical knowledge,
professional training, and my personal experiences navigating predominately White private
institutions.
Despite my previous knowledge and experience working with the first-generation
collegian of color community, I employed member-checking to verify the meaning I extrapolated
from data analyses as initial hunches emerged during the interviews. Tentative themes were
explored with participants in subsequent interviews, as relevant. The practice of on-the-spot
member-checking allowed participants to adjust, counter, or add more depth to my
interpretations of the data, thus enhancing trustworthiness (Creswell, 2007). By conducting
member-checking, participants had an opportunity to respond to an initial analysis of the data,
which supports the integrity of the findings. Further, in alignment with synthesized member-
checking (Birt et al., 2016), a copy of the dissertation was distributed to all participants with an
invitation to provide comments, particularly around any factual inaccuracies, additional
considerations, or dissent of themes. Two participants provided corrections which were
incorporated to promote the integrity of the findings.
Ethical Considerations
Interviews create inherent power dynamics, as researchers are considered the research
instrument, interpreting data through the lens of one’s own goals, positionality, and knowledge
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The study was approved by the institutional review board at the

99

University of Southern California prior to any recruitment or engagement with potential
participants. To further address ethical concerns, I considered the axioms put forth by Tuck and
Yang (2014) who offer approaches for refusing dominant approaches to research that further
subjugate minoritized groups. Key to this approach is attention to the positionality of both the
researcher and participants. Positionality was considered throughout the entirety of the research
process, from study design, to recruitment, and participant engagement. I sought to develop
questions that do not essentialize participants based on trauma narratives or challenges. For
example, when participants alluded to trauma or conveyed distress about particular experiences, I
gave them the option to discuss further based on their comfort levels. When one participant
began crying, I asked if she wanted to take a break and thanked her for sharing her story with
me. In all cases, participants decided to elaborate, suggesting a level of rapport that was
established within the context of the interviews.
Additionally, questions highlighted systemic factors that shape participant access to
decent work, while honoring the agency and strategies participants have used to grow and
persist. Participant voice was centered through a narrative approach that allowed participants to
craft accounts of experiences without frequent interruptions (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Upon
being prompted to describe “as much as they were comfortable sharing” about their journey from
when they first began seriously considering careers through their first jobs after graduation,
several participants spoke nonstop for 30 minutes or more without requiring prompting. Such an
approach further supported trustworthiness by minimizing guiding questions and allowing
participants to dictate significant experiences, themes, and characters who contributed to their
experience accessing decent work.

100

The study purpose was explicit to allow participants to provide informed consent
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Participants were provided with the knowledge that the study focuses
on their personal experiences navigating the transition from college to full-time employment,
through the lens of their race and first-generation identities. They were encouraged to share
additional experiences with intersecting identities, as relevant. Participation in the study was
completely voluntary, and participants were informed that consent may be withdrawn at any
time. Participants provided consent for the recording of interviews and were told the recordings
were solely for the purpose of transcription and data analysis. All participant data was stored on
a locked computer, and any identifying information in the transcripts was replaced with a
pseudonym that participants chose. Through the reporting of findings, careful attention was paid
to ensure identifying information such as employers, hometowns, and schools were removed.
Despite the attempts to ensure ethical research, there are still pervasive power dynamics
present throughout research processes, as the researcher is serving as instrument, filtering
participant stories through their own positionality (Tuck & Yang, 2014). Participant responses
were interpreted through my lens as a long-term practitioner in student affairs with extensive
training in topics pertaining to equity, inclusion, and systemic oppression. My goal was to ensure
participants benefitted from participating in this research by framing the questions to highlight
personal experiences that emerge from structural and organizational deficits, as opposed to
assuming that participants are fully responsible for the challenges they face. The knowledge
learned from participants’ insight can inform the re-envisioning of programs within university
and workplace settings to better support the employment transition of first-generation graduates
of color.

101

Summary
The chapter provided an overview of how narrative research methodologies were
employed to explore the stories of first-generation college graduates of color as they prepared for
and pursued decent work. Critical race theory guided an intentional study design that centered
the experiences of 13 first-generation college graduates of color through interviews lasting an
average of 2 hours. Counter-narratives serve to disrupt dominate notions that a college degree is
a conduit to decent work and financial mobility by accounting for the varied experiences across
first-generation college graduates of color. Participant narratives were coded for identification of
themes that align with the study’s key constructs. Attention was given to details to ensure the
ethical treatment and confidentiality of participants’ identifying information. Such findings are
explored in the next chapter, which may offer new understandings of the impact of identity,
institutional barriers, and cultural wealth on the career trajectories and related experiences of
first-generation college graduates of color.

102

Chapter Four: Findings
The current study explored the narratives of first-generation college graduates of color as
they navigated the transition from school to decent work. Participants were asked to share their
journey from when they first seriously began to think about their careers through their experience
applying and beginning their first professional roles after college graduation. They were asked to
include all events, experiences, and people that were an important part of the journey. Responses
to this first question ranged in duration from 4–72 minutes without additional prompting. At each
stage of their career development narrative, participants offered rich examples of barriers as well
as sources of support, often through the form of community cultural wealth.
Themes and narratives are presented in response to the following research questions:
1. How do structural barriers impact access to decent work for first-generation college
graduates of color?
2. What are the diverse forms of capital (e.g., normative capital and cultural wealth)
first-generation college graduates of color employ to navigate school and work
environments?
a. What types of capital do first-generation graduates of color accumulate while
in college to support the attainment of decent work?
3. What changes in universities and workplaces would further support first-generation
college graduates of color in obtaining decent work?
I begin this chapter with a brief narrative introduction to each participant, highlighting the
most salient themes that emerged during their transition from school-to-work. The subsequent
sections convey the themes that were most salient across participants encountered with each
milestone in the journey from school to work including pre-college experiences, navigating

103

predominantly White private colleges or universities, navigating the transition to post-graduate
employment and persisting toward decent work. The chapter concludes with an examination of
the themes that emerged in each milestone in relation to three revised research questions. As key
elements of the conceptual model, I refer to both the various forms of capital included in Yosso’s
(2005) and Bourdieu’s (1986) concepts of capital throughout the analysis.
Brief Introduction to Participants
The following section includes a brief introduction to the career trajectory of each
participant, based on key sources of capital and barriers that emerged through their narrative. A
summary of demographic information is provided in Table 2. All participants identified as
people of color, met the study definition of being first-generation, were authorized to work in the
United States, and attended private predominately White institutions, graduating between 2011–
2018. Most participants attended different institutions, however, Carmen and Raven graduated
from the same institution during different years. The same is true for Lauren, Sun, and Veronica.

Table 2
Participant Demographics and Eligibility Information
Chosen
pseudonym
Pronouns Highest
degree earned
Most recent field
of work
Undergraduate
graduation year
Employment
status 6 months
after undergrad
Self-identified
racial/ethnic
descriptors
Alexis She/her Master’s
degree
Social work 2011 Employed full-
time, one job
Afro-Latina
Bella She/her Bachelor’s
degree
Non-profit -
education
2016 Employed full-
time, one job
Latinx
Carmen She/her Bachelor’s
degree
Civic technology 2018 Employed full-
time, one job
Latine;
Peruvian
Derek He/him Master’s
degree
Government 2013 Employed full-
time with at least
one part-time job
Black
Dr. Mariah She/her Doctorate Higher education 2014 Employed full-
time and multiple
part-time jobs
Latina
Kim She/her Master’s
degree
Entrepreneur 2014 Employed full-
time, one job
Black
Lauren She/her Master’s
degree
Human resources 2013 Employed full-
time, one job
Biracial;
104

Chosen
pseudonym
Pronouns Highest
degree earned
Most recent field
of work
Undergraduate
graduation year
Employment
status 6 months
after undergrad
Self-identified
racial/ethnic
descriptors
Black and
White
Ramona She/Her Bachelor’s
degree; degree
in progress
Nonprofit-
civil rights
2014 Employed,
multiple part-
time jobs
Latinx
Raven She/Her Bachelor’s
degree
Nonprofit -
community
development
2017 Employed,
multiple part-
time jobs
Biracial;
Black and
White
Renee They/Them Bachelor’s
degree
Entrepreneur 2011 Employed full-
time, one job
Black
Sun He/Him Bachelor’s
degree
Nonprofit -
education
2017 Employed full-
time, one job
Black
Veronica She/Her Bachelor’s
degree
Technology 2014 Employed full-
time, one job
Black
Victoria She/Her Master’s
degree; degree
in progress
Research 2017 Employed full-
time, one job
Black

Note. This table contains self-reported information based on participant interview data, eligibility form, and the provided resumes.
105

106

Alexis
Alexis (she/her) is a social worker who graduated from a small New England liberal arts
college in 2011. Her drive to help others was informed by early experiences encountering
poverty and its harmful consequences. Raised in a working-class family where no one had gone
to college, Alexis did not receive explicit encouragement to continue her education beyond one
teacher and the leaders of her college access program.
Alexis participated in Bottom Line, a program that she credits as a main reason she
attended college. She initially enrolled at a large state school but moved home due to family
needs and dissatisfaction with the university climate. Alexis transferred to a small urban college
in her home city and commuted. She recalled being “stressed all the time” during college, given
her demanding work schedule in addition to commuting and a rigorous course load. Given her
life experiences, commuter status, and identity as a low-income, first-generation Afro-Latinx
woman, Alexis felt extremely disconnected from her college. She found community among peers
of color through shared involvement and activism in student organizations that centered culture,
history, and identity. Through such efforts, Alexis “found [her] voice” and cited learning self-
advocacy as an important outcome of her challenging college experience.
After graduation, Alexis remained in her retail job at a lingerie store for about 6 months.
Financial pressures forced Alexis to begin searching for more sustainable income, and she
obtained a job working for the state after being referred by a colleague from the retail store.
Alexis did not discover social work until over 4 years after graduating from college, even though
it was a signature program at her alma mater. The prolonged career discovery was partially due
to the limited accessibility of resources at the predominately White institution which Alexis felt
catered to her more privileged peers. She remained in administrative roles within a state

107

organization for years prior to transitioning into social work with child protective services. The
job held deep personal meaning for Alexis, whose lived experiences mirrored many of her
clients. However, due to limited supervisor support, Alexis endured burnout and vicarious
trauma due to the horrific nature of the work. She completed a Master of Social Work in 2019,
and transitioned to healthcare social work, where she feels she has more balance.
Bella
Bella (she/her) is a Latinx leader within a national non-profit that promotes college
access for low-income youth. She began at the organization in 2016, the summer after graduating
from her small liberal arts college in the mid-Atlantic. Within the organization, Bella has
received three promotions over 5 years. She initially found the job through a former connection
from College Bound Initiative, a pre-college access program she participated in during high
school and college.
The access program provided Bella with a network of support, which supplemented the
limited career-related advising she received from her college. Bella found additional support
among a tight-knit group of peers of color who she met through attending identity-related
programming on campus. The relationships with peers of color and financial aid supported Bella
in persisting through the predominately White college where she felt underrepresented and
disconnected. Through sociology courses, Bella eventually discovered an interest in equity
within education and built linguistic capital which later helped her navigate the job search.
Regarding career development, the main catalyst to Bella’s discovery of college access
programs was a capstone course, where a professor encouraged her to explore a topic that relates
to her lived experience and interests in education. Additionally, Bella cited her parents as a key
support and motivation to continue to excel. Although they had not previously worked in

108

administrative roles and had never heard of college counseling, Bella credits much of her success
to the wisdom she learned from them. Through her current role, Bella believes she has all the
elements of decent work except adequate compensation, which has been a struggle to obtain
throughout her career.
Carmen
Carmen (she/her) is an organizer at heart who transitioned from front line social justice
work to supporting the development of technology to assist activists in advocating for
disenfranchised tenants’ rights. Carmen has held two jobs since graduating from a small New
England liberal arts institution with a political science degree in 2018. She credits both jobs to
the social capital she’s built through genuine, organic relationships with others. Carmen
attributes much of her navigational capital to her mother, who Carmen described as an “OG
organizer” due to the way she intentionally navigated societal obstacles to secure educational and
social connections that benefited the family. Carmen was nurtured as a high-achieving student
through attendance at elite public schools which began college preparation in middle school.
Carmen discussed her parents’ undocumented immigration status, city roots, and identity as a
Latine women as key contributors to her worldview, though she did not fully embrace such
identities until college.
While in college, Carmen encountered explicit challenges with classroom climate that
inhibited her engagement in the classroom and across campus. It was not until a childhood friend
connected her to an internship through a workplace development program that Carmen began to
critically explore her positionality, internalized racism, and began challenging prior ideas about
meritocracy. From that point, Carmen returned to college and got involved with the multicultural

109

office and related programming. Through such programs, Carmen began to see herself as a
leader, embrace her full identity with pride, and build genuine community with peers of color.
After college, Carmen took a 3-month break, then began to apply for jobs after deciding
not to pursue law school. Her first job was working for a large tenant association through which
she worked with two White women who were not invested in her professional growth. Due to the
burnout and toxic work environment, Carmen gave her notice after 10 months. After spending
almost 1 year unemployed during the pandemic, Carmen’s colleague referred her to a leadership
role at a civic technology startup. The role offers social and financial improvements from the
former job. Since then, Carmen has taken on a leadership role in promoting equity throughout
the organization.
Derek
Derek (he/him) identifies as a Black man who majored in criminal justice at a small
liberal arts institution, after transferring from a local community college. He initially became
interested in criminal justice after watching crime television shows with his father. Derek
reported a challenging high school experience at “probably the worst high school for academics”
in his state. He described the environment as full of class disruptions, student fights, and teachers
that would actively discourage him and his classmates, most of whom were Black or Latinx. At
one point, Derek was forced to repeat a course he previously passed due to the resistance of a
guidance counselor who refused to take him out of the class and threatened that he would not
graduate if he did not pass. Luckily, Derek participated in multiple access programs including
Gear Up, which supports students in preparing for college.
Derek spoke of high engagement in educational environments, consistently seeking to
prove to others that he was “college material” by asking questions and approaching teachers for

110

support. However, Derek was consistently underestimated which fueled his drive to achieve.
Such dynamics continued through his pursuit of a graduate degree in homeland defense when he
was told a 4.0 grade point average was not realistic. He responded by achieving a 4.0.
Derek was the only participant who reported substantial involvement with career services
during college. He completed a certificate program, attended workshops and advising sessions.
However, upon graduation, Derek struggled to find employment in his field of interest. After 6
months of rejections and paying a resume reviewer that he did not feel was useful, Derek landed
a part-time job at a federal halfway house. He described the job as something he “had to do” due
to financial pressures and a desire to build his resume. The job put Derek in a vulnerable
position, as he mentioned there were ongoing threats to his physical and emotional safety given
the tense nature of the work. Fourteen months after graduation, Derek secured a government job
as a fraud examiner. He remained in the role for almost 8 years.
Dr. Mariah
Dr. Mariah (she/her) is a justice-centered professional who has held various education-
oriented roles throughout her life, beginning in high school. Dr. Mariah described a loving
Latinx family with 11 children and two parents, of which she was the first to graduate from a 4-
year college. Given her parents’ former undocumented status, resources were limited and the
family experienced extreme poverty.
During high school, Dr. Mariah and her family had limited access to food and electricity,
prompting her mother to encourage her involvement in school. However, such poverty was
normalized due to segregation and common experiences of limited resources. Dr. Mariah’s
mother volunteered at the school, which allowed her to obtain free food and milk to bring home
to the family. In addition, school offered several equity programs that sparked Dr. Mariah’s

111

awareness of social injustices within her community. She was inspired to “change conditions”
for her family and local community and decided to attend a 4-year college despite active
discouragement from educators.
A prestigious scholarship enabled Dr. Mariah to continue her education, funding three
degrees after high school. In college, hostile interactions continued, and Dr. Mariah began to
experience ostracization from peers and leaders due to her class, culture, perceived accent, and
first-generation status. Dr. Mariah found solace among similarly identified peers, an Asian
American faculty mentor, and women from a local Latinx church she joined. In addition, Dr.
Mariah’s family consistently nurtured her aspirational capital, and provided emotional
encouragement when she wanted to quit.
Dr. Mariah graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s in political science. She secured a full-
time 10-month role as a college preparation advisor and worked multiple part-time jobs to send
money home to family. Through the full-time role she was able to serve a diverse community of
young immigrants, channeling her personal experiences to elevate college attendance rates in the
school. Upon noticing the low college retention rates, Dr. Mariah was drawn to student affairs,
and completed a master’s degree from an ivy league institution. Since then, she has earned a
doctorate and served in several roles within higher education including her most recent role as an
assistant dean focused on equity and inclusion. It was not until she began the role in 2021 that
Dr. Mariah believed she secured access to decent work.
Kim
Kim (she/her) identifies as a Black, woman-identified entrepreneur who partnered with
two friends to build a business after being laid off in 2021 due to the pandemic. Through
attending a private predominately White secondary school, Kim experienced early exposure to

112

tokenism and racial bias. In school, she was often referred to as an “exception” due to her work
ethic and intellect. Kim later transferred to a public school where she learned self-advocacy after
being placed in courses that she had already completed and being dismissed by school
administrators.
Kim began her college experience at a small, private university in a neighboring state.
However, she returned home to fulfill responsibilities as a caregiver to a terminally ill family
member and former boyfriend who had recently been paralyzed. Due to the compounding
stressors, Kim transferred to a small catholic college close to home, and quickly earned an
associate’s degree. She began working full-time at a charter school while completing her
bachelor’s degree.
Although she initially received support through her supervisor, the school culture began
to change once Kim’s main advocate left the organization. Kim began to experience taxing work
levels, all while enduring school, limited support, gaslighting, and mocking from co-workers.
Eventually after a White colleague was promoted over her, Kim was given additional
responsibilities without any compensation or training. Reaching a breaking point, Kim quit and
began a new role as a caseworker.
Since leaving the charter school, Kim has experienced abrupt career transitions. After
about 1 year, Kim was fired from the case worker role after reporting wage theft and a conflict
regarding paid time off. In 2020, Kim completed a master’s degree in human services. However,
due to changing state requirements, the degree does not enable Kim to obtain licensure, which
has limited her career options. Due to the pandemic, Kim was unemployed 1 year after beginning
a role as program coordinator for a family-centered social services organization.

113

In a confluence of rising financial pressures, boredom, and a desire to help people, Kim and two
childhood friends decided to start a hair care and beauty supply business for women of color.
Despite the demands of entrepreneurship, Kim reported learning networking skills, experiencing
fulfillment, and gaining new opportunities through her business.
Lauren
Lauren (she/her) is a human resources (HR) professional who has used her influence to
try to enhance representation for employees of color. She originally discovered HR from an aunt
who worked in the field. Attending a mid-size university with a cooperative education program,
Lauren was able to gain first-hand professional experience in HR prior to graduating from
college. The cooperative education program included coursework which provided Lauren with
insights on how to navigate job application processes. Through the co-op, Lauren saw
“discrimination in action” and was inspired to enter HR to make a change, despite the
harassment she endured first-hand as a biracial woman of Black and White ancestry.
In addition to co-op, Lauren gained extensive capital through participating in a scholarship
program through the African American cultural center on campus. The program offered
coursework that centered the African diaspora and study abroad opportunities, which broadened
Lauren’s exposure to culture and allowed her to gain increased comfort within her own identity.
Lauren built on such interests through involvement in cultural organizations on campus, where
she found community with other students of color.
Such environments served as a stark contrast to Lauren’s experience in the workplace,
where she was often one of few people of color in White male-dominated environments. Upon
graduation in 2013, Lauren used a staffing agency to find employment, which she learned about
through the co-op experience. She was placed as a temp in a global financial institution and hired

114

full-time after about 1 year. In addition to race and gender, Lauren’s bisexual identity, diagnosis
of attention deficit disorder and dyslexia each compounded feelings of underrepresentation in the
workplace. Lauren’s experience at work was further shaped by harassment, disproportionate
workload, limited feedback, and under compensation relative to colleagues. The experiences
continued at several firms, until Lauren began a new HR role at a law firm in 2021, which she
cited as an improvement. She earned a Master of Business Administration in 2021 as well and
was completing a second master’s at the time of the interview.
Ramona
Ramona (she/her) has served as an advocate in non-profit spaces centered on human
rights and civil liberties for disenfranchised communities. Much of her work stemmed from lived
experiences as a low-income Latinx woman who grew up in a large city with her mother and
sister. Ramona’s schooling experiences were shaped by attending notable public schools in her
city, which she was encouraged to do through a middle school academy for Latinx and Black
youth with hands-on teachers and culturally relevant curriculum. In high school, Ramona built
access to normative capital through friendships with affluent peers who readily shared their
navigational and financial capital, exposing Ramona to different career pathways or bringing her
on college tours. Ramona gained additional support through participating in a SAT prep program
through a local community center, which matched her with a college counselor that “changed
[her] life” through support and navigational capital. Ramona remained in contact with the
counselor through college. He provided her with resources that supplemented the limited college
advising she received at school.
Ramona studied political science at an urban Jesuit university, which she selected due to
the generous financial aid package. However, she lost the scholarship when her grades fell just

115

below the eligibility requirement in her first semester. Ramona was working extensive hours,
commuting, navigating culture shock on campus, and managed to earn all A’s the second
semester. She was instructed to appeal the decision by her former high school counselor, yet the
scholarship was only partially reinstated. Ramona then worked 25–35 hours per week,
sometimes working from 5 p.m. to midnight doing janitorial work after classes.
Given Ramona’s rigorous high school experience, she was able to keep up with college
coursework despite the demanding work schedule. However, such time commitments and the
hostile classroom environments limited Ramona’s engagement on campus. Accordingly, she did
not receive much career exposure beyond the required internships she completed.
After graduating in 2014, Ramona sought to leave the janitor job, but struggled to find
employment. After 1 year of ongoing rejections, Ramona procured a low-paid internship to build
work experience. Six additional months later, Ramona was hired as a legal administrative
assistant at a notable non-profit focused on promoting civil liberties. After 2 years, she
transitioned to a paralegal role. At the time of the interview, Ramona was attending law school
part-time while working at a civil rights organization and contributing income to support her
mother.
Raven
Raven (she/her) is a director at a community development non-profit where she first
interned as a college student. She has been employed by the organization since 2017 when she
graduated with a communications degree from a small liberal arts university. Raven attended the
university due to the extensive financial aid package, and felt at home in the urban, working-
class neighborhood. Such context was a stark contrast from Raven’s high school experience at an
elite, affluent boarding school, which she attended after receiving a full scholarship. The early

116

school experiences conditioned Raven to embrace code-switching as a navigational strategy, yet
she still faced the ongoing exhaustion of racism as a biracial Black and White woman. Such
experiences continued in college, yet Raven found outlets through friends and athletics.
Although she attended some career-oriented programming in college, Raven noted that she often
left with more confusion than answers.
A fellow student of color connected Raven to an internship opportunity, which provided
mentorship and growth. Upon graduation, Raven was employed part-time at the organization,
and she continued to work at a local restaurant to enhance income and contribute to her family.
While the restaurant offered camaraderie, the environment also included racist, sexist encounters
with colleagues and customers.
One year later, Raven transitioned to a full-time director at the community development
non-profit where she formerly interned. Through the role, Raven oversees programming that
provides resources to disenfranchised Black and brown communities to mitigate the impacts of
poverty. She channels her first-hand experiences growing up working class, navigating racial
barriers, and childhood trauma to inform her commitment to serving others. Such work has
offered tremendous fulfillment while invoking compassion fatigue and burnout. The
consequences of such stress have taken a toll on Raven’s physical and emotional wellbeing.
Although the job pressures have harmed Raven’s mental health, her supervisor and team
responded with compassion that has made Raven feel cared for and supported.
Renee
Renee (they/them) is an entrepreneur who identifies as a Black woman raised in an urban,
low-income household by their White stepmother. Renee first began using entrepreneurship as a
survival strategy to obtain food during high school. Renee later attended a predominately White

117

technical institute and encountered pervasive financial and racial barriers on campus, channeling
inner self-determination and resistant capital to graduate with a double-major in civil engineering
and environmental science in 2011. Though Renee described their college experience as “lonely”
and “challenging” they were able to persist due to internal drive, the support of Black student
organizations, and two Black women staff members, who Renee described as “lifelines.”
Renee began their career in engineering despite a lack of passion for the work. They
encountered extensive resistance working in a male-dominated White construction environment.
The isolation at work was compounded by loneliness outside of work, as Renee moved out of
state for the new job. They resigned from the role after 9 months due to the hostile work
environment, and limited quality of life in the predominately White town. Renee was laid off
from the next job after 5 months, which was an unplanned benefit, as the subsequent job was not
much better.
Throughout their career, Renee held jobs at diverse institutions including an
environmental consulting firm, a utility company, two universities and multiple non-profits.
Throughout the experiences, Renee typically held multiple jobs to “make ends meet,” which
included selling homemade décor and baked goods through part-time entrepreneurship.
Given the ongoing challenges with work environments, Renee attempted to leave traditional
work and pursue entrepreneurship full-time, yet eventually faced financial pressures that pushed
them to seek employment at a local non-profit. After about 8 months, Renee was ready to return
to full-time entrepreneurship, which they described as an “escape.” After a couple initial short
stints pursuing entrepreneurship as “a means of survival,” in 2021, Renee began a career as a
full-time entrepreneur. At the time of the interview, Renee was the first Black person to own a
business of the kind in their home state.

118

Sun
Sun (he/him) is an impact manager working with an educational non-profit in the
northeast. Sun identifies as a Black man, though he notes being “a quarter White,” since his
mother is biracial. He and his younger sister were raised by their Black maternal grandmother,
though Sun’s mother was present throughout his childhood and significantly influenced his drive
to resist societal barriers. Sun’s ambition to lead through representation and support others’
growth stemmed from a childhood navigating the violence of poverty and racism, as he persisted
from periodic homelessness to well-resourced predominately White elementary schools, and
finally a predominately Black high school where teachers nurtured his potential. Circumstances
and negative societal messages led to emotional wounds that impacted Sun’s engagement in
school, despite his love for learning. Sun credits much of his success to the support received
from public school teachers who knew that his grades were no indication of his brilliance or
potential to achieve. With advocacy from teachers, Sun went from a 1.7 grade point average to
an honors student in mostly advanced placement courses, all so he could graduate on time. Such
support inspired Sun’s desire to become an educator.
Sun autonomously applied and gained admission to several historically Black colleges
and universities. However, his family refused to take him to school, which Sun believes was due
to surmounting financial concerns and unclear benefits of a college degree. Sun channeled
aspirational capital and maximized his time at a local community college to transition to a
prestigious co-op university.
He described a paradoxical experience in college. On one hand, the university was a
“utopia” that provided Sun with reliable access to basic needs for the first time. Concurrently, the
predominately White institution was rife with racist, middle-class norms that made Sun feel

119

inferior at times, due to a limited understanding of how to use campus resources. Further,
although Sun was involved with the African American center on campus, he noted that class
differences created barriers between him and affluent Black peers. During college, Sun accrued
capital through coursework, social connections, and a co-op at a college access organization.
Despite his passion for education, Sun majored in political science due to an initial desire
to promote social change through politics. However, he became disillusioned due to ongoing
political turmoil, and sought community organizing work after graduating in 2017. Sun returned
home and accepted a job as an organizer which allowed him to engage with similarly identified
community members. Most of his colleagues were White, though the organization mainly
worked with Black communities. Dynamics grew increasingly strained, and Sun resigned after
15 months. He waited tables while searching for employment, and eventually relocated to the
northeast to become a teacher. As of the interviews, Sun had recently begun a role working for
an educational non-profit that partners with high-need public schools to support teachers.
Veronica
Veronica (she/her) grew up in an affluent southern town with her brother and two
parents. She attended a well-resourced public high school that offered diverse vocational
electives, exposing students to a college prep curriculum that encouraged career exploration.
However, Veronica was “hyper focused” on marine biology given her passion for ocean animals.
Veronica played sports and upon an injury, gleaned exposure to sports medicine, which opened
her eyes to new potential career pathways, inviting complication to a once unwavering plan.
Upon beginning college at a prestigious, career-focused university in the northeast, Veronica
positioned herself as undeclared. She leaned on academic advisors, leading to the discovery of
environmental science. Given the school’s emphasis on work experience, Veronica’s first job

120

search technically began through her co-op program. After taking the affiliated required 1-unit
course, Veronica was prepared with job materials and insider knowledge of how to navigate
interviews and professional work environments. She obtained a job at the nature conservatory,
and later returned for a second role that centered environmental policy, which quickly proved to
be uninteresting.
Because her co-op roles were unpaid, Veronica began a job as a cashier at a beauty
supply store, eventually becoming the only beauty consultant without a formal credential in
cosmetology. After 2 years, she began a retail job at a global technology corporation, where she
learned about customer service, got “fearless feedback,” and was treated as a valuable employee.
Upon graduation, Veronica stayed in the role but transitioned to full-time. Although Veronica
was fulfilled at work, she began to experience pressure from her parents, who wanted her to get a
“real job.” Veronica began applying for jobs and accepted the first role she was offered—
executive assistant to the president of a property management company. She later learned that
the company had a poor reputation and was viewed by tenants as exploitative, thus prompting a
sense of dissonance that led to Veronica “checking out.” For Veronica, the work experience
reached peak toxicity when she was told that she could not use her earned time off to attend a
friend’s funeral if she wanted to use that time to recover after a forthcoming surgery. Shortly
after, Veronica was “let go” as the White woman she replaced wanted to return to the company.
Veronica was provided with what she referred to as “hush money,” which she used to travel
Europe and reflect on her next professional chapter.
Returning to the United States, Veronica decided she wanted to rejoin the tech industry
due to her former experience in the retail role. Through working with temp agencies, Veronica
obtained a contract role at a non-profit serving Black South Africans, which provided a much-

121

needed “cleanse” after the former toxic role. Though this was a temp role, Veronica stayed “for a
really long time” because of the mission and positive, racially diverse work environment.
Veronica continued working in retail, selling wedding dresses to “make ends meet.”
Eventually, Veronica landed a role at a tech software startup, where she remained for 5
years, despite the long work hours, lack of diversity, and inequitable compensation. Though she
successfully advocated for two raises, Veronica later realized that colleagues she trained were
earning more money. The realization led her to apply for 21 jobs. After interviewing with 16,
Veronica doubled her salary landing a position at a large technology company where she
believes she finally has access to all the elements of decent work.
Victoria
Victoria (she/her) grew up in a dual-income home with her parents and two older
siblings. Early on, Victoria’s parents “always pushed college” as a “path to upward mobility.”
Victoria’s parents reinforced the ambitions with high standards such as “expecting all A’s or
taking away things” when Victoria did not make the honor roll. As a Black student, Victoria was
forced to code-switch to connect with wealthy White peers at her Montessori elementary school.
Such linguistic capital would enable Victoria to engage with White community members and
persist through elite environments throughout her career.
When reflecting on her childhood education, Victoria contrasted her “White and affluent”
elementary school with attending a Title I predominately Black high school due to neighborhood
zoning. Victoria fondly recalled the rich experiences gained through attending a school where
she was surrounded by “a bunch of Black people” including teachers and “a curriculum that
highlighted the Black experience,” which she did not experience in subsequent educational
settings.

122

When it was time to apply to colleges, Victoria benefitted from familial capital, having
two older siblings who had already earned bachelor’s degrees. Through supporting her siblings,
Victoria’s mother had built knowledge of the financial aid process and was able to complete the
forms in her behalf. Further, Victoria’s brother and his friends read her personal statements,
which provided “a lot of free editing.” Victoria further benefited from participation in pre-
college access programs. She eventually attended an ivy league institution, and began as a pre-
health major, but shifted her aspirations after being actively discouraged by a professor.
During college, Victoria’s racial identity was highly salient, so she was drawn to peers of
color and identity-oriented programs such as the McNair Scholars. Participation in the program
exposed Victoria to research as a potential career path. She proceeded to pursue such goals and
was hired at a global research firm where she worked for 2 years after graduation in 2017. At the
time of the interview, Victoria had left the workforce to pursue her doctorate in sociology full-
time which she believed would increase her future income.
Findings
Participants’ narratives can be broken into significant milestones that emerged throughout
the story arcs presented in each interview. Such milestones began with precollege experiences,
whereby participants built initial career ambitions while navigating wildly varied exposure to
structural barriers, including limited access to basic needs, negative messaging from schools, and
underrepresentation. Participants then continued to navigate similar barriers in college while
working rigorous hours and wayfinding through a hidden curriculum rife with dominant norms
and implicit expectations. Such persistence was facilitated by varied use of community cultural
wealth. Although college was a site of extensive structural barriers, participants each gained
capital through relationships, coursework, and access programs. Such capital was used to

123

facilitate the transition to post-graduate employment and the subsequent pursuit of decent work.
In the following sections, I provide an overview of key themes that emerged throughout each
milestone of participants’ journeys, focusing on key barriers and diverse forms of capital that
meaningfully influenced access to decent work.
Pre-college Experiences
Although the initial focus of the current study centers the transition from college to
career, most participants highlighted childhood experiences as key influences in their career
development. Seven participants noted early experiences with poverty, which limited access to
basic needs and shaped inequitable schooling opportunities. In most cases, early exposure to
structural barriers left lasting impacts by shaping participants’ desires to help others and promote
equity. Additionally, early experiences with poverty influenced participants’ perspectives on
work, breeding financial pressures associated with obtaining employment. For six participants,
high school offered access to normative capital that provided an advantage in preparing for
college and considering potential career pathways. Such capital came with mixed benefits, as
predominately White schools allowed participants to develop coping mechanisms to navigate
dominant norms. Such experiences concurrently harmed participants’ wellbeing and sense of
belonging.
Ongoing Influences of Positionality and Poverty
Six participant narratives illuminated the ongoing systemic impacts of poverty throughout
childhood. Renee developed an entrepreneurial orientation in high school as a form of survival.
They initially began selling candy from their locker to get money for food. That agency fueled
continued entrepreneurship endeavors eventually resulting in Renee opening a storefront as a
full-time business owner. Sun, Alexis and Dr. Mariah navigated significant poverty throughout

124

childhood, with inconsistent access to basic needs such as housing, electricity and food. As Sun
shared, early trauma consumed significant mental energy and he was not “emotionally available
to school.” Such challenges impacted Sun’s academic performance until high school, when he
transitioned from a small, well-resourced predominately White school in an affluent
neighborhood to a diverse public school where teachers nurtured his potential.
Sun’s positionality as a tall, light-skin Black man shaped perceptions of his academic
engagement. He reported how White male peers perceived his intellectual prowess as a threat,
leading to social isolation. In public school, Sun’s tall stature attracted violence. As a result, Sun
“kept [his] head down” and minimized his physical and intellectual presence in school to avoid
the social and physical consequences. This strategy is one of several Sun sought to unlearn in his
professional career. Sun’s limited academic engagement pre-college almost prevented him from
graduating on time. However, after advising from teachers, Sun enrolled in several advanced
placement courses to accumulate the necessary credits to graduate with his peers.
Witnessing both the ways that schools can “screw people over” and the power of teachers
as positive role models both served as career motivations for Sun, who eventually became an
educator. Early exposure to structural barriers served as a motivator to Alexis, Raven and Dr.
Mariah as well. All four participants have spent the majority of their careers providing support
services to disenfranchised communities, which they each felt an affinity toward based on
personal experiences.
Growing up in under-resourced neighborhoods meant greater proximity to crime and
violence. Dr. Mariah viewed college as a chance to disrupt a cycle of poverty and obtain more
resources for her family. Encouraged by her mother, Dr. Mariah dreamed beyond her
circumstances and framed education as a route toward opportunity. Despite her aspirational

125

capital, gun violence almost tragically ended Dr. Mariah’s life. During the interview, she
tearfully recalled the story. One night, on the way home from an SAT preparation course in her
junior year of high school, Dr. Mariah and a friend were shot. Recalling the horrific event, she
shared:
That moment [starting to cry] of us like you know, tryna make it out the hood, trying to
be the pillars and tryin’ to you know? We were just studying for the SAT and that day,
that day robbed us of so much. But it also reminded me like I don’t know if I can, if I will
survive 18 if I stay in South LA, and so when I was looking at the colleges that I got in, I
remember picking the most far institution you can think of.
Such examples reveal the inner power and fortitude that Dr. Mariah channeled to persist through
structural barriers while pursuing higher education en route to decent work. After receiving
discouraging messages from school officials, persisting through immense poverty, and surviving
gun violence, Dr. Mariah persisted to become the first of her 11 siblings to graduate from
college. Additionally, the quote illuminates how Dr. Mariah felt she needed to sacrifice
proximity to a loving family and home as a strategy for survival, due to the pervasive violence in
her area. Dr. Mariah’s story reveals how, agency notwithstanding, structural barriers can
circumvent youth of color attempting to escape the realities of poverty through education. Both
she and Derek noted the many peers who “didn’t make it” when discussing early schooling
experiences. The story reveals Dr. Mariah’s incredible aspirational capital and drive to succeed
despite negative messaging and stereotyping from schools and media.
Negative Messaging From Schools
Several participants attended predominately Black and Brown secondary schools that
lacked sufficient resources, which limited college advising support and exposure to career-

126

related opportunities. Kim, Derek and Dr. Mariah all reported being actively sabotaged by
educators. The latter two were both discouraged from attending a 4-year university. Both were
exposed to negative messaging from teachers, schools with metal detectors, frequent fights
among peers, and insufficient staffing. Despite the challenging institutional barriers, both
demonstrated a strong commitment to learning. Additionally, Victoria, who attended a Title I
high school, noted that conversations about careers were nonexistent. Noting the intersection of
race and class, she cited how high school was her only opportunity to learn from a contingent of
Black teachers and described the school demographics as a cherished benefit. Overall, she felt
that college was framed as “a figure it out yourself” endeavor, which could have conveyed
limited expectations for students’ educational attainment. Victoria’s mother explicitly conveyed
the expectation that she and her siblings each obtain a college degree, which mitigated the lack
of encouragement at school.
Negative messages were not limited to underresourced schools. Lauren, who was one of
the few students of color at her private high school, was told that she “shouldn’t bother” to apply
to the prominent university she eventually attended. After visiting campus, however, she decided
“I’m going here. It just felt right.” Carmen and Kim both mentioned how teachers would often
frame them as an “exception,” which distinguished the two students from the few other
classmates of color. As a result, Carmen described feelings of internalized racism that remained
with her through junior year of college when she began to realize “the myth of meritocracy.”
Such racist ideologies compounded the isolation of being one of the few students of color, while
pressuring Carmen to assimilate to Whiteness—an implicit expectation echoed by multiple
participants throughout interviews.

127

Despite such barriers, participants channeled aspirational capital to persist toward their
ambitions, even in the face of active opposition from educators. College access programs were a
beneficial source of support for participants with less access to normative capital through their
high schools. For participants attending under-resourced high schools, college access programs
provided community cultural wealth by supplying navigational capital and nurturing
participants’ aspirations to continue their education.
Building Capital Through College Access Programs
Six participants revealed the benefits of pre-collegiate access programs as a source of
capital that supported college awareness and persistence. Although the access programs did not
remove structural barriers, they provided resources and navigational capital to support
participants as they maneuvered through obstacles. Dr. Mariah’s mother encouraged her 11
children to take advantage of any educational programs to access support and basic needs such as
food and electricity, which were not reliably available at home. Accordingly, Dr. Mariah joined
several college access, social-justice, and education-focused non-profit programs. One such
program focused on encouraging students to use their voices to advocate for social change,
which sparked Dr. Mariah’s initial interest in advocacy-based law and eventually led her to
major in political science. She recalled a pivotal turning point on a field trip to a Beverly Hills
school, led by the social justice program:
[The school] had no gates, no metal detectors, students were able to go out to grab lunch.
But it was so different of a reality from what I experienced in my high school. Well, we
didn’t have books. We had overcrowded, overcrowded classrooms. We didn’t have the
ability to leave the school, we have police, we had gates, metal detectors, all these things

128

that scream almost like this school to prison pipeline … I share with you that moment,
because I will never forget how it made me feel.
The profound insight into educational disparities served as the foundation for Dr. Mariah’s
longstanding career addressing inequities in college access, persistence, and student success.
For other participants, access programs were integral in providing the support to navigate
the college admissions process. Alexis described the navigational capital received through her
college access program:
That was the [only] resource that I had, right? Like I didn’t come from a family that was
helping me, but I have this program that was knocking off the list for me, telling me
everything that had to do, keeping me accountable. And that was probably the only
reason I even went to college.
In contrast, Raven, Carmen, Ramona, Lauren, Veronica and Kim each described their high
schools as predominantly White, well-resourced and competitive, which provided both
advantages and challenges.
Mixed Benefits From Well-Resourced High Schools
The six participants who attended well-resourced high schools reported that they received
clear messages that encouraged them to attend college. The schools reinforced such messages
through varied resources such as guidance counselors, college success offices, and engaged
teachers. Although the schools provided rigorous academic experiences and a college-oriented
culture, the institutions were all predominately White, providing early acculturation to middle
class dominant norms. Each participant recognized both the capital gained from the school as
well as challenges associated with being one of the few students of color in attendance.
Capital Through School Cultures That Emphasize College and Career

129

Carmen attended a series of selective public schools, entering an elite “top class” in third
grade which provided preparation for entrance exams at competitive middle schools. Once
admitted, Carmen was expected to write 10-page papers and complete high school state exams.
Carmen later attended a specialized public high school modeled after higher education, with
seminars and capstone papers that took 2 years to complete. Carmen described the school as
“career oriented” as students were required to choose a major, which involved navigating a
selective grade-based admission process. The high school required students to apply to multiple
colleges, including at least one ivy league institution.
Both Carmen and Ramona noted the complexity of gaining admission to their renowned
public schools. The admissions processes mirrored that of universities, requiring interviews, an
application, test scores, and a high grade point average. Carmen described the secondary school
pathways as rooted in gatekeeping. She learned about her middle school through the family’s
social capital, a next-door neighbor who was a local guidance counselor. After admittance,
Carmen described how the secondary schools she attended provided capital that positioned her
for college-level academic success:
I had all these people like my teachers, my guidance counselors at school … they had
tutors, they had all these extra programming that was in the school. And so, my mom
didn’t have to do anything after that besides make sure I was doing my homework. And
even then, she didn’t even have much say because I was already like instilled that from
elementary school that I have to do well in school. … I was already prepared for the
academic rigor … and then it just continued because you already have a solid foundation
to build off of.

130

Carmen’s educational trajectory was arguably shaped by attending well-resourced schools that
she only knew about because of the fortuitous proximity to a neighbor with navigational capital
to share. As she described, the schools offered guidance and resources that provided an
educational advantage that other participants were unable to access.
Similarly, Ramona’s mother learned about her high school from a family friend who
worked near the school. Ramona was raised by a single mother who worked overnight to support
the family, which inhibited availability to oversee Ramona’s educational endeavors. However,
like Carmen and Dr. Mariah’s mothers who both immigrated to the United States, Ramona’s
mom readily drew upon community networks to help navigate an unfamiliar process. Although
Ramona and Carmen gleaned significant capital through their high schools, both noted the
contrast between their education and the educational experiences of neighbors who were not
admitted to competitive high schools. When reflecting on her career success relative to her sister
and neighbors, Carmen asserted:
I think it has a lot to do with like the public education system of [my city], but that’s not
available to everyone, right? It’s a lie for it to be called public education, because in
reality, [it] feels like private institutions that only certain students have access to.
The participant stories demonstrate how educational gatekeeping begins prior to college, which
shapes disparate access to advising and college-preparation resources. The inequities may
influence access to prominent, well-resourced universities, subsequently influencing available
career opportunities and related supports.
Well-resourced high schools provided participants with access to insight on the cultural
norms of college environments, while offering students exposure to social capital rooted in
upper-middle class norms. For example, Ramona was inspired to begin thinking about careers in

131

high school because her classmates were pursuing colleges based on their future career
trajectories, many of which were unfamiliar. Ramona gained additional capital through
independently researching peers’ aspirations, learning about classmates’ parents’ jobs, and
joining friends on college tours. Veronica shared that her high school offered an array of
vocational experiences such as optometry, sports medicine and horticulture, exposing students to
career pathways at an early age. Such exposure offered initial insight into the vast array of
available opportunities that are often occupied by middle-class White professionals.
Acculturation to Predominately White, Middle-Class Norms
In addition to college support and career exposure, the participants who attended
predominately White secondary schools were oriented to middle-class norms, which provided
navigational capital that may have supported their ability to navigate college coursework. For
example, both Carmen and Ramona remarked that coursework was surprisingly manageable in
college, while Bella and Victoria felt they were not prepared for the introductory science courses,
which ultimately led both students to change majors. Despite the normative capital gleaned
through elite high schools, such environments included institutionalized racism as well. A race-
based sense of otherness was conveyed to participants via teachers’ comments,
underrepresentation, and for many, isolation—dynamics that would continue through college.
The campus climate at participants’ predominately White secondary schools forced them
to adopt code-switching strategies to find some semblance of acceptance. The early need to
code-switch provided participants with mechanisms that would later prove useful in navigating
White college and work environments. Although Sun spent years of his childhood living in a
small converted barn with his family, because of the affluent predominately White

132

neighborhood, Sun attended small well-resourced elementary and middle schools. He described
complex feelings regarding the early schooling:
As much as that White neighborhood was trash to me and I was like mentally
emotionally, you know, going through it for those years, like at the end of the day, I can
code-switch for the rest of my life easily. You know what I mean? I can assimilate and be
in White spaces effortlessly in a way that a lot of Black America can’t really conceive of,
and only the Black Americans who have the education to be able to code-switch, code-
switch. … I’m like bilingual you know? … Both feel natural and that in of itself is a
privilege that I can’t deny has probably attributed a lot of my ability to survive.
Sun’s comments highlight code-switching as a form of linguistic capital, allowing him to
navigate different racial communities. Victoria, Renee, and Raven echoed similar sentiments
about the need to adopt code-switching strategies early on to navigate predominately White
communities. While some participants viewed code-switching as an asset, most associated the
dynamic with exhaustion or otherness.
Veronica did not explicitly mention code-switching; however, she emphasized the role of
her socioeconomic background as a means of fitting in with White peers, stating, “they saw me
as the same because we had the same things.” Veronica’s socialization in predominately White
spaces later served as a barrier to engaging with the African American cultural center resources
in college, as she worried that Black peers would judge her “Whitewashed suburbia” upbringing.
For Dr. Mariah, the knowledge of code-switching came with additional forms of culture shock
upon entering college at a predominately White institution. Table 3 provides a summary of the
ways participants drew upon diverse forms of capital to navigate the cited structural barriers
prior to college.

133

Table 3
The Use of Diverse Forms of Capital to Navigate Pre-college Barriers
Study
construct
Resource or barrier (n) Examples
Structural
barriers
Poverty (6) Inconsistent access to housing, food,
electricity; exposure to violence

Negative messaging
from schools (7)
Limited support and reduced college or career
literacy; limited sense of belonging
Underrepresentation (7) Limited exposure to diverse teachers and
classmates; contributing to sense of
otherness
Limited college
preparation resources
(6)
Inexistent conversations about careers;
inequitable access to college-level
curriculum and guidance
Diverse
forms of
capital
Normative cultural
capital (6)
Access to college-going culture;
acculturation to White middle-class norms
Social capital (6) Exposure to career insights and resources
through classmates and teachers
Familial capital (9) Encouragement to focus on academic
achievement; support to attend university
Navigational capital (6) Guidance and advisement from college access
programs and family friends
Aspirational capital
(13)
Wanting “more” for one’s family; formation
of early career ambitions and pursuit of
college education despite barriers

Linguistic capital (4) Code-switching; speaking multiple languages

134

Navigating Barriers at Predominately White Colleges and Universities
While in college, participants navigated structural, interpersonal, and ideological barriers
using an array of capitals and community cultural wealth. The following sections offer an
overview of the interplay between such barriers and the supports that helped participants persist
toward decent work. For instance, campus climate heightened participants’ acute awareness that
they were underrepresented and othered. Such experiences shaped participants’ academic
trajectories, ultimately impacting the career paths they prepared for during college, leaving
longstanding impacts on participant trajectories. Relatedly, participants’ career paths were
influenced by the role of grades in determining scholarship and curricular opportunities. In
addition to institutional obstacles, financial barriers such as the need to work and devaluing of
working-class experiences led to participants needing to juggle numerous responsibilities and
demanding schedules. Further, participants reported disparate access to on-campus resources due
to limited awareness for how to identify inclusive supports.
The section concludes with an overview of the generative elements of participants’
experiences in higher education, and their contribution to the pursuit of decent work. Participants
reported the greatest benefits from equity programs, inclusive faculty, and curriculum that
integrated their interests, career development, and lived experiences. Such resources assisted
participants in further cultivating navigational capital, social capital, and the fortitude to persist
despite university-related barriers. The following sections provide insights into participants’
narratives by offering examples of institutional barriers and the related supports and strategies
implemented to build community cultural wealth and capital while in college.

135

Underrepresented and Othered
Twelve participants reported varying levels of culture shock when beginning college at
private, predominately White institutions. The reported transition experiences varied according
to participants’ major, positionality, and initial access to support from people of color on
campus. For example, Lauren entered the university as part of a scholarship program for Black
students, which included immediate access to mentorship from Black peers, faculty, and staff. In
contrast, Renee was the only Black woman in their entire major and felt increasingly
underrepresented among students of color due to socioeconomic class differences. “I wish I was
more prepared for that lack of [class] diversity,” Renee recalled. Similarly, Dr. Mariah, Sun, and
Alexis each noted the stark class differences across campus.
Participants who attended high school with other low-income individuals described
college as a “new world” with unfamiliar norms, hidden expectations, and for some, new
exposure to White affluence. Dr. Mariah noted that prior to college, the only White people she
had been exposed to were the teachers at school. Further, although college was her first time
sleeping in a bed, she stated, “I didn’t know I was that poor because everyone else around me [at
home] was as poor as me.” Dr. Mariah was shocked to learn that her peers’ parents owned cars
and earned over $100,000 a year, or 10 times her familial income.
Dr. Mariah explicitly described barriers related to both race and class. She shared a
disturbing interaction with a professor who chastised her for writing a seven-page paper by hand,
asserting that she knew it was supposed to be typed. “Is this a joke?” the professor asked when
Dr. Mariah submitted her paper. “You know you’re supposed to type this. Bring it back when
you’re ready,” the professor rebuked. Dr. Mariah recalled, “my heart dropped because I didn’t
have access to a laptop growing up … I didn’t even know how to type.” The paper took 2 weeks

136

to redo. Dr. Mariah’s experience highlights the role of the “hidden curriculum” which hindered
her sense of belonging and support on campus. Such feelings were reinforced by othering
interactions across campus:
People always looked at me sideways because I wore my hoops or because my nails were
always, you know, long, and my hair look different and my “accent” (as they will always
call it). And then another thing that pissed me off was like I would say my name, my
name is Mariah, and then they will be like “no, so what’s your preferred name?” and I
would be like “Mariah.” But they couldn’t pronounce it, and what they really meant was
“what’s your White assimilated name that we can all pronounce, or your Americanized
name?” And so, they call me Mary. So, I just never felt like I belonged.
Dr. Mariah detailed how hostile interactions made her feel like a spectacle on campus,
which took an emotional toll on her wellbeing. “I just remember feeling like ‘this ain’t for me,’”
she recalled, noting multiple instances that made her want to withdraw from college. Ten
additional participants noted a hostile or unwelcoming college environment. Notably,
participants who attended well-resourced high schools with affluent peers reported culture shock
upon entering college as well.
Carmen grew up attending predominately White, well-resourced schools and associating
with wealthy White peers and the families that her mom nannied for. Carmen explicitly stated
that college was the first time she felt othered. She went on to explain her observations of
“different types of White” people stating:
There’s like White people that know how to interact and are friends and are in
community with people of color. And I think New York City is a place where you can be
in the same space—like especially my high school, the majority of my friends from my

137

high school were quite affluent, right? Their parents were like therapists or lawyers or
engineers, and a lot of them were White and lived in really nice places, and I would go
there to hang out with them, and I never felt othered.
But when I entered [college] like there was White people that have never really
been in community with other people of color. And I think that was the biggest shock
because I thought that I would be able to seamlessly fit in like I do with my White friends
in my high school. But that wasn’t the case at all.
Unlike participants who attended diverse high schools, Carmen actively sought relationships
with her White peers, expecting to replicate the dynamics of her high school experience.
However, she felt othered by peers as well as faculty:
I think it started first like not feeling accepted in my classroom. When I was in those
political science classes, which was mostly White professors teaching White students—
mostly White male students that dominated the classroom. And that was not something I
was ever used to. Like because when I was in high school like I [emphasis added]
dominated the classroom, you know? Like I felt comfortable speaking my mind, felt
super prepared. And was with peers that were likewise, right? Whereas when I went to
[college] like there was folks that had access to better education than I did, right? And so
came from a different space or didn’t come from that type of background, but felt
comfortable expressing their mind in the space, because they felt accepted.
The above quote underscores how classroom climate can influence the academic
engagement of first-generation college students of color. Carmen attended highly rigorous
predominately White secondary schools that were designed to prepare her for college. She began
writing 10-page papers in middle school and completed a 35-page capstone paper in high school.

138

However, the dynamics in her private, predominately White college classroom made her feel
inadequate and uncomfortable, hindering her participation. The example highlights how
underrepresentation and classroom dynamics can create a sense of othering for first-generation
college students of color.
Ramona shared a similar sentiment noting how the class privilege and conservative
ideologies of peers impacted her perspective of campus climate. Ramona described her courses
as “White male dominated” with content that centered “Western ways of measuring things,”
which eventually led to her changing concentrations. Contrasting the classroom climate in her
high school and college, Ramona shared,
Growing up in very diverse New York and going to a high school where people’s parents
are Liberals; it was very different. [In college], hearing people who thought differently
about like or more like financially conservative and didn’t believe in social aid for people
and I was just like … my mom, you know, she raised me on welfare because she didn’t
get any financial support from my dad and didn’t make a lot of money, um and had just
become a citizen when I was born. So, I was just like … it was just wild to me that people
felt so comfortable being demeaning about other peoples’ personal finances … it was a
kind of a clash … my freshman year I didn’t make a lot of friends.
Such dominant norms othered participants and made it difficult to find a sense of belonging. As a
commuter, Ramona reacted to the unwelcoming campus climate by changing her course of
study, retreating from campus, and spending as much time as possible at home “on [her] block”
where she felt a sense of connection. Ramona’s experience begins to reveal how dominant norms
shaped participants’ experiences navigating academics in college. White, middle-class norms

139

pushed some participants out of their intended career trajectories due to harmful academic
experiences.
Institutional Barriers Shape Academic Trajectories
Participant narratives demonstrated how dominant norms can be embedded into course
content and curricular design. Foundational knowledge was assumed, which disadvantaged
participants without prior access to the information. The inequity was compounded for students
who attended underresourced schools. However, instead of taking an educative stance,
participants reported being judged or dismissed by professors. For example, Victoria participated
in a pre-college program meant to “help you have a fighting chance” in first-year science courses
at her ivy league institution. During the program, a professor told her that she should choose
another major because “not everybody was going to be a doctor.” For Victoria, a bridge program
advertised as a supportive space was a site where she was encouraged to abandon her lifelong
dream. Victoria persisted and continued to enroll in pre-med courses during her first semester but
changed majors when the same professor discouraged her again. Noting the gap between the
information she was provided in high school and the curricular expectations in college, she stated
“it felt like it would be too much work trying to catch up for something that I had no baseline
whatsoever knowledge, and I was very far behind, so I just had to switch.”
Such experiences may influence student retention and major selection, which can
subsequently impact available career trajectories. Bella, Derek, Lauren, Renee, Victoria and
Veronica all noted an initial interest in math or science majors. Renee was the only participant
who persisted in their original discipline, graduating with an engineering degree. However,
Renee pursued other career paths not too long after their first job. In multiple cases, institutions
did not offer access to engaging coursework designed to address students’ varying prior exposure

140

to curricular material in the sciences. By designing curriculum for students with significant
exposure to math and science, the schools disadvantaged those who were not taught foundational
principles that were assumed to be general knowledge.
Exclusive Academic Policies
Relatedly, Lauren shared an example of how dominant norms regarding ability status
impacted her major trajectory. Lauren, who eventually obtained a Master of Business
Administration, discussed how she had to change her undergraduate major from business to
sociology after failing a class in accounting—a course she passed at her private high school. She
shared:
I’m dyslexic. So, for me, if I make one mistake by switching a number, the whole thing is
just done and my professor at the time didn’t care or didn’t give me partial credit or
anything. He was just like “wrong, wrong, wrong.” Um, so rather than say “oh, this is,
you know what you messed up like make sure you, you know look twice or something,”
it wasn’t helpful. Was just like “either pass or you fail,” and so, because of that, I
couldn’t go further because you have to have a certain [grade point average] in order to
stay in the business major.
The examples above demonstrate how structures such as academic policies and curriculum can
push first-generation students of color out of intended career trajectories, limiting race and class
diversity across disciplines. Although Lauren spoke positively about her eventual major in
Sociology, her trajectory to business was thwarted due to rigid academic policies and limited
faculty support. In addition, academic requirements associated with scholarships can inhibit
students’ access to financial capital.
Stringent Scholarship Requirements

141

Ramona received a full scholarship her first semester in college. However, due to
financial pressures, she still needed to work to pay for personal expenses. Ramona reported
working 18–20 hours per week after beginning her job as a hostess. She then learned about a
janitor role that paid significantly more and began working from five to midnight every day, later
reducing her schedule to 25–30 hours each week. Despite the demanding work schedule,
Ramona maintained a 3.2 grade point average in her first semester of college. However, the
school revoked her scholarship because her grades did not meet the requirements.
After consulting with the counselor from a pre-college access program, Ramona learned
she could appeal the financial aid decision. The school was unwilling to fully restore her
scholarship. “Every semester I appealed and got another grant from the school. So, it ended up
being a significant amount of money to keep me in school, but it wasn’t ever the full amount,”
Ramona recalled. The financial pressure required Ramona to continue working a demanding
schedule, which she later framed as a barrier to completing internships and accessing campus
resources.
Campus Design and Inaccessible Resources
Eleven participants reported restricted access to campus resources and basic needs given
their identities. Most commonly, participants felt their class status, race, and first-generation
identities were not accounted for in the design of campus resources. Some examples of reported
barriers include limited office hours, participants’ demanding work schedules due to financial
need, and limited awareness on how to obtain support. For five participants, the perceived
limited cultural competency of the predominantly White staff on campus was reported as a
challenge that compounded barriers inhibiting support on campus. The following sections
highlight the ways in which dominant norms were embedded in the design and execution of

142

campus resources, thus creating class-based barriers, inadequate transactional support, and
ideological barriers associated with the hidden curriculum. Such obstacles hindered participants’
development of career-oriented content knowledge, guidance, and overall support.
Class-Based Barriers
Class barriers inhibited access to resources such as basic needs and career-oriented
supports. For example, Dr. Mariah explained how she was always stuck on campus during
school breaks because she could not afford the flight home. In these instances, she had limited
access to food because the dining halls were closed. At first, she would stay in her room,
embarrassed and hungry. However, Dr. Mariah used navigational capital to join a local Latinx
church. There, she found community and began to establish a “home away from home.” The
women welcomed Dr. Mariah, cooking familiar cultural foods and providing opportunities to
speak in Spanish. The women provided familial capital for Dr. Mariah, meeting her needs when
the institution did not.
Although Dr. Mariah’s family had limited financial resources, she benefitted from a
prestigious national scholarship, which covered full tuition and expenses for her bachelor’s,
master’s, and doctorate degrees. Dr. Mariah still maintained an on-campus job and sent money
home to her family. However, access to financial capital from the scholarship allowed Dr.
Mariah to spend time engaged in numerous activities on campus, including the rugby team, a
sorority, and numerous identity-based student organizations. Through involvement, Dr. Mariah
built leadership skills and engaged in valuable networking experiences. This was not the case for
several participants from low-income backgrounds who needed to work to persist in college.
Demanding Work Hours. For seven participants, the financial pressure to work yielded
further challenges throughout college. Ramona, Kim, Sun, Alexis, Lauren, Renee and Veronica

143

all reported working between 16–40 hours per week during college. Such demands diverted
energy away from being able to establish connections and resources on campus.
As Alexis shared, “whatever free time I had outside of classes, I was working. That was
what I had to do.” The work schedule was on top of a full course load of six classes per semester,
volunteering to support families experiencing housing instability, and helping her older sister,
who recently had a baby. Unbeknownst to her, Alexis had begun building competencies that
would later translate to her career as a social worker. However, she did not have advisors or
mentors on campus to assist her in making those mental connections, which delayed entry into
the field.
Challenges of Commuting. Additionally, as a commuter, Alexis felt she was less
“ingrained in the community” which made it challenging to familiarize herself with resources.
Intense work schedules not only limited participants’ access to resources, it hindered
opportunities for fun and recreation. “I didn’t get I didn’t get a chance to enjoy my college
experience because I was like working and just taking all the classes and going home,” Alexis
recalled.
Relatedly, Kim shared how the traditional office hours at her college were incompatible
with her schedule as a student who worked full-time. Kim transferred to a private institution
closer to home when a family member was diagnosed with cancer. She chose the school because
it offered evening classes which would allow her to “work, care for my loved one, and pursue
my degree.” Kim described how the resources centered the needs of daytime students:
Everything was primarily closed. I mean evening classes went from anywhere from 5
o’clock to 9 o’clock, sometimes 10 o’clock at night. Nothing was open besides maybe the

144

library. Snacks were done, like we were at vending machines trying to stay up after
working full days.
Accordingly, Kim’s recollections do not include support from any offices on campus. “I’ve had
zero guidance in terms of how to navigate professionalism,” she stated. Relatedly, while four
participants did not recall any interactions with the career services on their campus, those who
utilized the support generally cited vague, confusing, or transactional support.
Transactional Support From Career Services
Eleven participants reported limited engagement with the career resources on campus
outside of what was required through the curriculum. As stated above, demanding work
schedules and awareness were two key barriers. However, the participants who reported being
aware of career services also found that the support did not fully meet their needs. Bella
articulated her interpretation of the seemingly Eurocentric resource:
I had stereotype [sic] myself into thinking that those were only going to be like bank jobs
or working in like White America and that’s not what I wanted to do. So, I never thought
to go to those career events I’m sure they had.
It is possible that the stereotype Bella alluded to was partially due to the reportedly
predominately White, Eurocentric focus of career services at participants’ institutions. Relatedly,
Carmen mentioned how the spaces felt “hostile” because “you’re talking to like this older White
person that doesn’t understand your life, or your point of view and in general, is not as
comforting to talk to right? Because you don’t see yourself in them.” The disconnect may have
been further emphasized by what participants described as “transactional” support.
Although she described the office as providing “great information,” as a first-generation
student of color, Lauren had hoped for more guidance and exposure to available career

145

opportunities. She contrasted the desired support with that received through her career services
office:
You go in there, ask for help, and you know, they’ll look at your resume, tell you what’s
wrong with it instead of like, you know, having a meeting and bringing in other people
from different professions and kind of making it more like career rather than like “let’s
find you a job.”
Almost all participants who used the career services on their campuses described the support as
focusing on the mechanics of obtaining a job, as opposed to providing support to identify a
career path. Although such navigational capital was essential to the achievement of decent work,
this alone, was not enough. Without the knowledge of how to think about and strategize career
preparation, several participants ended up in suboptimal work placements after graduation.
Accordingly, the ideological barriers and limited content knowledge emerged as major
challenges throughout participants’ career trajectories.
Ideological and Awareness Barriers: “I Didn’t Know What to Ask”
Throughout 11 participant narratives, a recurring theme was the lack of roadmaps available
to provide guidance navigating university and work environments. Participants commonly
reported that institutions expected students to take advantage of optional resources, such as
career advising. The expectation assumed students were aware of the resources and how to use
them, which was not often the case.
Accordingly, nine participants reported navigating college without a clear plan or strategy
due to limited guidance from the institution. The lack of support led 10 participants to adopt a
“trial and error” approach to college and career. In several cases, participants used words such as
“fumbled,” “rocky,” or “floating around” to describe how they navigated career development

146

with limited institutional support. Narratives underscored a lack of clarity about what resources
were available and how to use them. Institutions may have operated under the ideological
assumption that by providing services, they are providing access to support. However, Renee
noted how offering resources is not the same as providing access, stating, “especially as a first-
gen student, it’s one of those things where if you don’t know any better, you don’t know how to
ask, because you don’t know even what to ask.” The sentiment was supported by five additional
participants. As Sun recalled:
“I had a hard time definitely, at first. I got into college, and I had no idea what to do with
it, right? … There’s like so many resources and things available, it was hard to not feel
stupid for not knowing how to access it or use it properly, right? And that was just
something I was feeling a lot back then.”
In retrospect, several reported how they would have made different, more strategic
financial, career, and academic decisions, had they greater access to navigational capital during
college. For example, participants reported having limited content knowledge regarding financial
aid packages, course selection, or translating a bachelor’s degree into career opportunities.
Further, with limited exposure to people in diverse industries, it was often unclear what
internship or entry-level career options were available. Participants whose parents held working-
class jobs reported access to fewer examples of known career trajectories. Alexis, who earned a
Master of Social Work and accumulated over 7 years in the field, said she was unaware of the
career path during college. Carmen was similarly unaware that tenant organizing could be a job
until after graduation. Both examples highlight the importance of early exposure to diverse
career pathways which can inform future career aspirations of first-generation college graduates
of color. Generally, aspirational capital drove participants’ desire for “more” but as Dr. Mariah

147

remarked, “I didn’t know what ‘more’ meant.” The challenge was compounded by limited
insight into navigating the college environment. Accordingly, eight participants cited limited
awareness of career options as a key barrier toward strategic career pursuits.
Alexis, Dr. Mariah, Bella and Kim explicitly noted their belief in the common myth that a
college degree is an automatic conduit to gainful employment. For Bella, the process seemed
straightforward, “I got to college. I’m doing college. And then I think in my head, I was like
naturally a job would then come.” However, upon graduation, Bella realized she was unsure how
to obtain a job in her field and resorted to extensive independent research, primarily using the
internet. Dr. Mariah cited the implicit role of networks, which she learned just prior to
graduation:
You need to know somebody that’s going to get you inside the door. I didn’t understand
that, and I didn’t believe that, because to me it was like “I mean, I if I work hard, I’m
going to get the job, right?”
Despite popular societal narratives about meritocracy, three participants explicitly stated being
surprised by the challenges of obtaining job opportunities with a bachelor’s degree. Comments
that they were not “warned” or that “people need to be more forthcoming” about such limitations
suggest participants’ felt they were duped into relying on the bachelor’s degree as a conduit to
gainful employment. “I had no freaking clue. I trusted the workforce way more than I should
have,” Kim recalled. Eight years after graduating from college, she still expressed being unsure
how to fulfill her career ambition of obtaining master’s-level employment in her field of human
services. Kim reported “zero guidance” on how to navigate professionalism. Inadequate advising
left students with limited knowledge on key concepts pertaining to career development,
including a full understanding of decent work, or the construct of careers.

148

Jobs Versus Careers. Language may have served as a barrier to participants’ career
development. Several described looking for “jobs” as opposed to “careers” because the latter
concept was unfamiliar. Bella shared “I never used that language about like ‘oh, what is my next
career’ it was more so, like ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do after college.’” The construct of
careers may be more common among those with socioeconomic privilege. In contrast, for
participants who grew up in poverty, jobs were a necessity for survival. Most participants did not
grow up in families where the language of “careers” was prevalent. For Renee, Kim, Alexis, and
Raven, work was viewed as a means of survival. As Raven articulated, “I wasn’t raised by
someone who was like ‘I have a career in XYZ field.’ It was really like ‘I have a job so I could
support my family’ like means of survival, not means of passion and pursuits.”
As such, Raven emphasized that the primary goal after graduation was to identify a means
to help her mom and siblings financially, not to establish a long-term commitment to a field of
interest. Her initial plan was to continue working at the restaurant in her hometown while taking
time to explore her vocational options. Relatedly, both Renee and Kim explicitly noted their
families’ views of work as a necessity, not a source of fulfillment. Although Lauren articulated
immense benefits from participating in a co-op program, she did not have guidance on how to
begin strategizing for her career. Accordingly, she continued to view professional experiences as
an extension of prior work, stating:
I feel like I’ve always had jobs even in high school and whatnot so for me, even the co-op
felt like a job. And I’m like I need to get a job after school. It was never like “oh, this is
what I want to do professionally and be known for doing this.”
Lauren stated that she did not understand the concept of a career in college. When asked the
distinction between a job and career, Lauren described a job as “something you do to make

149

money, where career is something that you learn to master. You know? It’s not just a job, it’s
something that you love doing, that gives you purpose and meaning.” Despite the lack of career
coaching, Lauren gained deep insight into her field of interest through participating in the
university’s cooperative education program. In addition, eight participants disclosed capital
associated through working class experiences in jobs such as retail or janitorial services.
However, such experiences were not valued at the same level as middle-class jobs or leisure
activities.
Devaluing of Working-Class Work. Off-campus jobs provided participants with
leadership competencies such as customer service and problem-solving. Further, participants
who worked extensive hours utilized advanced time management skills, completing academic
responsibilities while balancing commutes and jobs. However, such abilities did not provide an
advantage when it came to applying for opportunities on campus. As Sun shared, the hidden
curriculum prevailed, creating challenges navigating the unspoken norms during interview
processes. Sun reflected:
I thought I was ahead of the game because I worked a lot more than most students, but I
realized very quickly that working class work or what’s now called “essential work” is
not like job experience in you know, in the college world. So, these kids have never
worked a job before in their life, but they beat me out because they went on a vacation to
like Hong Kong, you know? And they could talk about that.
The quote above demonstrates how prioritizing normative capital can lead to the devaluing of
first-generation college students of color. Further, the quote demonstrates how first-generation
college graduates of color may de-emphasize the need for career preparation because of
extensive previous work experience. Similarly, Renee was surprised that such experiences were

150

not highly valued when it came to campus leadership and internship opportunities. Renee shared:
“because I did not come from money, I didn’t have you know, I didn’t really have anything that
people wanted, especially in a very monocultured school.” Although they worked three jobs,
Renee reported being one of few peers without a college internship.
The comments demonstrate how the devaluing of working-class experiences can
disadvantage first-generation college students as they seek career-preparation opportunities.
Without inclusive coaching, students may not have access to insights on how to highlight the
transferable skills gained through prior work experiences. Further, Sun’s quote suggests a
distinction between academia, or the “college world” and the realities navigated by first-
generation college students of color suggesting his awareness of ideological differences. Alexis
reinforced the idea, repeating multiple times that she felt she was living in “two worlds” while in
college. The implicit norms and assumptions of staff further reduced students’ ability to obtain
relevant resources and may have contributed to ideological barriers inhibiting student support.
The above sections highlighted the barriers embedded in the design and delivery of campus
resources. Participants did report obtaining capital through campus resources; however, such
capital was often obtained through identity-specific groups. The following sections report the
capital participants built through engagement with campus-funded resources.
Capital Gained Through Campus Resources
Although participants mostly noted deficiencies in university-provided services, several
did engage with resources on campus. The most salient resources were those offered through
identity-centered spaces, such as student organizations, multicultural offices, or equity programs.
A few participants reported minimal visits to the career development office, yet often described
the offerings as “transactional” or “basic.”

151

Derek was the one exception, as he reported sustained engagement with the career
services programming on his campus. Through the office, Derek completed a certificate
program, public speaking activities, and attended several workshops. Notably, although Derek
was reportedly the most engaged with the career services on his campus, he later reported
significant barriers to obtaining decent work within his field of interest.
In contrast, several participants noted career-related benefits obtained through
involvement with equity programs and faculty, staff or peers of color on campus. Further,
participants who attended a university with a cooperative education program reported the fewest
barriers obtaining employment post-graduation. Cultural, social, and navigational capital were
obtained through opportunities to build career competencies through college curriculum. The
following sections highlight capital gained through university-funded resources.
Equity Programs and Communities of Color As “Lifelines”
Twelve participants explicitly cited the isolation associated with navigating college as a
first-generation college student of color. However, 10 participants managed to forge spaces of
belonging through involvement in identity related organizations and programs run by the
multicultural office on campus. Through participation in identity-related programs, participants
were able to further cultivate various sources of community cultural wealth.
Such offerings provided participants with a sense of validation and community, which
also served as an incubator for social capital. Lauren and Alexis made meaningful relationships
within identity-based student organizations, where students advocated for visibility and
celebration of their cultures. Victoria and Bella both met their closest college friends through
participation in programs led by multicultural offices. Through a fellow student of color, Raven
learned about an internship opportunity that eventually resulted in full-time employment. As of

152

the interview, she still was employed at the organization. Renee reflected on the irony of
attending a predominately White institution but gaining her first job through an organization for
Black professionals:
It’s a kind of a mirror of my life of you know, being in these White spaces, but the
opportunities coming from these Black spaces, so you know being at [college]—a very
White space, and then going to these conventions where there’s hundreds and hundreds
and thousands of Black engineers looking for a job, and that’s where I found my job.
The quote exemplifies the essence of community cultural wealth—resources generated among
people of color, meant to help one another survive while maneuvering systems of oppression.
Renee obtained access to financial capital to attend conferences through the director of the
multicultural center, a woman of color. Renee described the director’s mentorship as a “lifeline”
that offered guidance, space to vent, and a conduit to accessible opportunities. Eventually, the
director provided Renee with a full-time job opportunity, several years after graduation.
Accordingly, Renee continued to benefit from community cultural wealth by remaining engaged
in affinity spaces after graduation.
Carmen was highly involved in the multicultural office on campus as well. She recounted
numerous benefits of having served as a mentor in a summer bridge program for first-generation
students of color through her institution’s multicultural office. The role helped Carmen build
confidence, social connections with similarly identified peers, and leadership skills that she later
translated at work. Carmen noted,
[As a mentor in the multicultural office], I really got to solidify relationships with people
but also got to see myself as a leader in spaces, which was like a huge change from like

153

when I first started [at my college] which I didn’t see myself as a leader at all in any
spaces.
In contrast to the predominately White campus, the multicultural office served as an incubator of
talent and community among underrepresented students. Further, Carmen described how
leadership opportunities through the multicultural office provided connections to people of color
who are “super successful and like are doing amazing things.” Through relationships with her
mentees, Carmen built transferable skills that she recounted using in her current job working at a
startup in the civic technology field.
Victoria noted a more direct connection between participation in the McNair Scholars
program and her career aspirations. The program is federally funded and designed to increase
doctoral degree attainment among low-income and people of color (U.S. Department of
Education, 2022). Victoria was prompted to join the program due to the lack of racial diversity
on campus, yet the opportunity yielded unexpected career insights. “McNair was a very
important part of my career development because it helped me realize that I wanted to have a
career in research,” she recalled. Victoria cited her experience with McNair as a significant
contributor to her current pursuit of a doctorate in sociology, which was “very much an
expectation” of the program. The cultural capital gained through McNair likely contributed to
Victoria’s success securing employment at a major research firm just before graduation. Had it
not been for the McNair program, Victoria would not have received any guidance in identifying
potential careers of choice. She noted that she was not aware that a career services office existed
at her ivy league institution until after graduation. McNair exposed Victoria to different PhDs
who shared their experiences and research with students, which allowed her to build a mentoring
relationship with a faculty member of color.

154

Benefits of Inclusive Faculty
Through McNair, Victoria was paired with a Latina professor who studied educational
inequities. As one of the few professors of color, Victoria appreciated the opportunity to relate
across shared experiences with marginalization. Dr. Mariah and Alexis reported similar benefits
obtained through connections with faculty of color. Dr. Mariah’s experiences with an Asian
American faculty mentor differed from the majority of her classroom experiences. She described
the faculty member as a “pillar.” Expanding, Dr. Mariah shared:
She was my representation, right? Like I major in government and philosophy; all of
my faculty were White. Majority of my classmates were White males, right? And so, she
was my advisor, but also someone that reminded me in the classroom like “you’re not
crazy [what you’re experiencing] is real.” And I think having a validation from someone
who I saw as you know, as the expert—as someone who I aspired to be, and someone
who I admire validate me, that also reminded me of the power of like having faculty
support me, right? So, of course, ‘till this day, I’m still using her as a reference or
support, you know? She’s a part of my system.
Through such mentorship, Dr. Mariah experienced a refuge from the microaggressive classroom
experiences with majority White faculty. When Dr. Mariah’s brother passed away during
college, the faculty mentor provided the navigational capital that enabled Dr. Mariah to obtain
funding to go home for the funeral. Dr. Mariah described the impact of such supports:
She could have just been like “well figure it out you’re getting a C in my class,” like
every other staff member, but she didn’t. … Instead of her saying to me “you got to do
this on your own,” she was like “here’s the systems, and let me go help you make sure
that this is taken care of.” And that was the first time I had someone not just advocate, but

155

truly take the time to help me figure out the system. … She was instrumental in getting
me to graduate and not only me. All the other women who were from [Los Angeles] who
major in government took her class and they were the ones that would be like “take Dr.
[X] because we knew she understood us.” She wasn’t gonna judge us, she wasn’t going
to be like “what does the Latinx community think, Mariah?” and make you be the
spokesperson for everyone. She was literally going to support and advocate for us in any
way she could.
Dr. Mariah’s comments highlight how faculty of color can be a primary resource for students of
color on campus. Practices of validation were cited by the three participants who mentioned
support from White faculty as well, though the descriptions of such supports were not as
enthusiastic. Five participants who mentioned positive faculty support specifically cited a single
professor who had a beneficial impact on their college experience; three were faculty of color.
Notably, of the instances where White faculty were mentioned, the majority of comments were
neutral or negative.
Capital Gained Through the Curriculum
When referencing the college experience, the primary types of reported capital were
social capital, career experiences, and expanded worldviews. Such benefits were commonly
obtained through internship and experiential learning opportunities such as volunteering or
capstone projects. Three of the four participants who spoke enthusiastically about university-
provided capital attended the same school. The institution incorporated a cooperative education
program into the curriculum, allowing each participant to accumulate up to 1 year of full-time
professional experience prior to graduation.

156

The program included a 1-credit course that Lauren described as a “foundation” in
professionalism, providing insights into the job search process. Through the program, Lauren
gained almost 12 months of paid full-time experience in human resources. By working full-time,
Lauren experienced both the benefits and challenges of working in the field, which allowed her
to enter the profession with navigational and cultural capital.
Through working with her supervisor, Lauren learned about key human resources
practices, such as screening, recruiting, and evaluating candidates. She cited travel as one of the
perks of the job. However, the experiences also included microaggressions such as people
assuming she was in the wrong place, or “getting hit on all the time.” Lauren gained further
insight into “discrimination in action” through participation in professional interview processes
for the company. She recalled witnessing:
Great candidates, you know being turned down because they’re female or they’re Black
and taken you know being [passed] over you know, because of their color or their gender
or like their sexuality. … It was just really hard because I knew that the person that they
picked just because they’re White male like they’re under qualified. … That hurt seeing
that happen.
The discriminatory practices motivated Lauren to enter human resources and serve as a change
agent. “I wanted to get to a point where I could become a decision-maker,” she recalled.
Like Lauren, Veronica cited her co-op experience as the reason she was eventually hired
as an executive assistant to a CEO after leaving her retail job 6 months after graduation.
However, for Veronica, the co-op had a different impact. Through first-hand work experience,
Veronica realized her desire to change career trajectories. Veronica framed this realization as a
benefit, stating she was

157

thankful that [the co-op] program existed, because it as much as it helps you gain
experience in your field [and] find out what you do want to do, it also helps you find out
what you don’t want to do.
Although other institutions required internships as part of the academic curriculum, no
other participants cited similarly robust preparation. For example, Ramona completed a required
internship during college, but she noted that the supervisors did not provide substantive work or
hold interns to professional standards, which diluted the benefits from the experience. Despite
not completing and internship, Bella described how she obtained useful capital through
completing a capstone project.
Through the capstone, Bella’s professor advised her to consider how personal
experiences may inform her career. The conversation led to a capstone project exploring barriers
to success at predominately White institutions. Through research for the assignment, Bella
learned about access programs and realized “oh, I think that’s kind of what I wanna do, like I
want to be an advisor and help students who are in my position, thrive.” Bella described the
linguistic capital she gained through coursework, which taught her about student persistence and
success initiatives. Bella, like most participants, did not engage substantively with the career
services office. However, because of the project, she discovered a career interest that informed
the job search after graduation.
Derek was the only participant who reported engaging with career services on a regular
basis. He described the benefits, stating:
I completed a certificate with my career center at [my university] which required me to
kind of do research on like what can I do with this major, what classes I need to take,
what type of internships certificate programs and that all helped me … I would be at the

158

career center daily after class because I wanted to just kind of you know rebuild my
resume, [and] just learned different things to be a better professional.
Derek continued to seek support from career services after graduation. Unfortunately, despite his
fervent drive and initiative, Derek struggled to obtain full-time employment.
Derek and Ramona’s stories each demonstrate how individual efforts can sometimes be
undermined by multiple layers of barriers. For most participants, college was a site of ongoing
barriers that inhibited full access to the available campus resources. However, participants gained
capital through their college experience as well albeit often by using navigational capital to
identify pockets of supports within a broader exclusive campus community. Table 4
demonstrates the main barriers reported by participants during college in addition to the various
forms of capital used to navigate such obstacles.

159

Table 4
Structural Barriers and Employed Forms of Capital During College
Structural barrier (n) Examples of capital employed
Underrepresentation in an othering
environment (12)
Navigational capital: finding pockets of support
from other BIPOC on campus
Aspirational capital: believing in one’s potential
and persisting toward goals despite harmful
interactions
Familial capital: encouragement from biological or
chosen family
Resistant capital: challenging the status quo as part
of identity-centered student organizations and
initiatives
Institutional barriers (e.g., policies
or inaccessible resources; 11)
Navigational capital: changing one’s major; find
support from BIPOC on campus or in local
community; programming through multicultural
offices or access programs
Resistant capital: appeal financial aid decision
Social capital: career-oriented support through
peers, or inclusive faculty
Financial barriers (7) Financial capital: work extensive hours to secure
monetary resources
Navigational capital: manage time for school and
work commitments
Ideological barriers (e.g., hidden
curriculum; 11)
Navigational capital: trial and error approach;
support from access programs, affinity spaces,
and co-op course
Social capital: support from inclusive faculty and
staff
Cultural and linguistic capital: co-op experiences
and career-oriented curriculum

For 11 participants, individual agency, normative capital, and community cultural wealth
supported an expedient transition from college to the workplace. However, job attainment is not

160

equivalent to decent work. All 13 participants continued to face obstacles in navigating the
transition from school to work, which are explained in the next section.
Navigating the College-to-Career Transition
Participants cited an array of examples that demonstrate their use of community cultural
wealth and normative capital to obtain post-graduation employment. Ten participants were
employed within 6 months of graduating from college. However, the sustainability, structure,
and experiences within such jobs varied tremendously. Carmen was the only participant who
intentionally decided to take a 3 month break after graduation and did not immediately pursue
employment. During that time, Carmen lived with her parents and began studying for law school,
though she eventually decided to work full-time instead after being discouraged by the
standardized test and realization that most of her peers were employed.
With the exception of Bella, who obtained a job through a referral from a leader within
her former pre-college access program, participants secured employment through three primary
routes. After graduating, participants either continued in jobs they began during college,
successfully applied capital gained through the university to secure employment, or persisted
through long-term underemployment. The following section will describe participants’ pathways
to postgraduate employment, the structure of the roles, and access to the dimensions of decent
work in the initial jobs.
Pathways to Post-graduate Employment
Most participants described themselves as beginning the job search process “late” relative
to their peers. Ten participants reported that their primary goal was first to graduate, which
lessened their focus on career development while in school. Given participants’ descriptions of
the emotional toll of persistent racism, pressure from financial concerns, and demanding work

161

schedules, perhaps they did not have the time or emotional energy to focus on planning for life
after college. The sentiment was conveyed by both Dr. Mariah, who shared “my classmates were
applying to jobs 6 months in advance, but I was like, ‘I’m trying to graduate’” and Raven, who
stated, “by my junior and senior year I was kind of just like ‘I gotta get out of college.” Ramona
stated, “Because I was working, I kind of was like ‘whatever, I’ll figure that out when I
graduate,” referring to the job search.
Additionally, Sun conveyed the need to scaffold his attention, noting “I had a summer
class, and I don’t think I could really put myself—put my best foot forward into thinking about
the next step until I left [college].” Further, Sun elaborated to explain his complicated feelings
about leaving the university:
[I had] a very hard time with accepting that I had to potentially make a life that feels this
good without college. Like, college kind of just had everything together. [It] was
expensive as hell, but, everything was in one and now it’s like alright, I have to get the
kind of job that allows me to get the kind of apartment, and I need to have the kind of
setup where I don’t have to worry about rent, don’t have to worry about food, and it’s
like—I had a really hard time conceptualizing that.
Sun’s commentary highlights how former experiences with poverty can provoke destabilizing
anxiety for students who depend on the university for access to basic needs. In addition to the
stress of securing full-time employment, Sun was expected to achieve self-sustainability without
access to guidance on how to procure life necessities. His family continued to navigate persistent
poverty and were not in a position to provide financial support, which compounded typical
pressures associated with seeking employment. Further, despite financial concerns, Sun was
uninterested in jobs within corporate organizations that did not uplift the Black community. The

162

prevailing endorsements of such jobs from peers and the institution deepened Sun’s sense of
isolation and avoidance of the job search.
Sun’s experience demonstrates the need for holistic, responsive supports for first-
generation college graduates of color upon the transition out of campus life. Sun would have
benefitted from guidance on identifying job opportunities that aligned with his values, in addition
to advising on securing housing and a sustainable income. It is possible that the pressures
associated with graduation and finances led some participants to remain in jobs that were
guaranteed and familiar.
Choosing to Remain in College Jobs
After graduation, five participants remained in jobs they began during college. Kim
began working full-time at a charter school after transferring to her private 4-year institution,
where she earned an associates’ and progressed toward the bachelor’s degree. She continued in
the job for over 4 years after graduation, despite never receiving a promotion or pay raise. Kim
cited lack of advancement as her primary reason for departure. Alexis and Veronica continued
working in retail positions at the local mall after graduation. Both built relationships in their
retail jobs, which later served as social capital. For example, Alexis began working at a lingerie
store when she was 19, but could no longer rely on minimum wage upon being forced to move
out of her mother’s home immediately after graduation. A work friend provided guidance that
led Alexis to a full-time administrative assistant role. Recalling her thought-process, Alexis
shared:
I landed a job with the state which is completely just to get a job. Because I realized I
couldn’t really do anything with a bachelor’s in psychology—no one warned me about
that. So, I’m just here with a degree and there was nothing that I could do with this

163

degree. So, I knew I needed a job and I got a job with the [state] which, like I said I
stayed at that job for 4 years. Four years! [emphasis added] Because I had no direction of
like what am I going to do with this degree and I just got into this habit of just working
and making money.
Alexis’ story highlights how the “hidden curriculum” of college can continue throughout one’s
transition to employment. Alexis did not receive guidance on professional opportunities available
with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, which led to her “floating around” without a clear plan.
Further, Alexis highlighted how her primary need was to obtain a stable income. In her family,
“everyone worked” and obtaining financial income took priority over finding a meaningful long-
term career. Alexis described her administrative assistant job as “a safety net” and proceeded to
share how poverty shaped an internal drive to establish security:
Growing up the way we did, it was just like you just always have to have a plan and
security, to some degree. And I was like “oh, state job is secure, I’ll do this for a little
while.” I didn’t know. I didn’t know I’d be there for 4 years.
She continued to reflect on how limited guidance shaped her career trajectory:
I would have saved myself much more years of my life in terms of spending time at
these jobs or like whatever if I had known better, but I truly did not know better, so I
was just doing it.
Alexis’ narrative demonstrates how she used navigational capital to access stability and
basic needs. For her, this was an important milestone and point of pride. However, without
guidance, she was unaware of opportunities that may have provided greater fulfillment and
upward mobility. Although she started seeking new opportunities “early on” in the

164

administrative role, Alexis reported that she faced consistent rejection and took several years
before securing another government role as a social worker for child protective services.
In contrast, Veronica loved her “after school job” working retail for a prominent global
technology company. Upon graduation, she transitioned from part-time to full-time at the store
and moved into an apartment with co-workers. Although Veronica felt fulfilled and was making
“fine money,” a few months after graduation, her parents initiated pressure to obtain a “real job.”
After a while, the comments began to wear on Veronica, who shared:
[Retail at the tech company] was great, and I wish that I hadn’t listened to my parents. I
think that little voice in my head like “yeah but you did just spend 5 years getting a
degree and now you’re just working retail?” That sort of stigma was in my head and my
parents were definitely perpetuating it … why did they plant that seed? Because that was
definitely not the right decision for myself and I wish that I was more focused on myself
and my happiness than like disappointing other people.
Veronica conveyed the most socioeconomic privilege among all participants. Her father worked
his way up from a repair role to an electrical engineer at a major box store. By the time Veronica
graduated from college, her father was pursuing a bachelor’s degree as well. The class privilege
of the family and opportunity to grow up where “everyone had a lot of money and a lot of land”
may have shaped internalized expectations that Veronica should aspire to careers outside of
retail.
Subsequently, after giving in to parental pressure, Veronica “took the first [job offer] that
came to me and I hated it, and that was my first job ever. And I absolutely despised everything
about it.” Veronica described her family as “very close,” and recognized that her parents had
positive intentions. However, she framed leaving the retail job as a regret, especially given the

165

company culture and pathways for advancing internal employees. Veronica loved the job so
much she continued to work retail at night until the hours from working two jobs became too
daunting.
Both Raven and Veronica were subject to stigmas associated with remaining in working-
class jobs after graduation. However, Raven framed her part-time job at a local restaurant as a
great opportunity to “challenge my internalized classism.” Raven began working at the restaurant
on breaks during college and continued in the role after graduation. Given her priority of earning
an income, she shared,
I was happy and fortunate to have that server job because I had to actively challenge that
[degree] entitlement. I was like “yeah, I have a college degree—doesn’t make me any
better than anyone here. We’re all trying to get money.”
In contrast to her personal views, Raven cited a social hierarchy in the restaurant and privileges
that accompanied her new credential. “I had a college degree, so there was this like ‘oh Raven
has her education knows what she’s talking about,’ like I was respected, I guess, in that space,”
she recalled.
Although Raven cited respect based upon her degree, she concurrently described being
subject to inappropriate jokes and harassment-oriented comments. The example appears to
highlight how privilege and oppressed identities can intersect. Although her education afforded a
degree of privilege, Raven’s race and gender continued to subject her to inappropriate, harmful
behavior. During the interview, Raven used positive framing to describe her overall experience
at the restaurant stating, “ultimately, I enjoyed it because it allowed me to get money quickly …
I show up. I do the work. It might be shit while I’m here, but I can clock out and go.”

166

Reiterating the influence of financial pressures, Raven described her mentality stating,
“I’m not shutting anything down, like I’ll be a dog trainer man. That’s my career path, that’s my
career path—whatever. I’ll babysit bunnies [laughs]. … Whatever, throw it at me, get me paid.”
The restaurant experience was much different than Raven’s other part-time job at a community
development organization. In addition to working at the restaurant, Raven was actively recruited
to serve in a new role as a part-time employee at her former internship site. She recalled being
unaware that her former supervisor was attempting to offer her a job, despite the ongoing
recruitment attempts over a period of months. Accordingly, Raven remained in her part-time job
at the restaurant while transitioning to a new part-time role at her former internship site.
When asked about the challenges of navigating multiple part-time roles, Raven cited
family dynamics, as she was living at home to help her single mother and two siblings. Moving
back home meant sharing a bedroom with her teenage sister and transitioning from living
independently during boarding school and college, to re-establishing household habits with
family. In addition to Raven, four additional participants reported moving in with family after
graduation. Familial capital was especially valuable for participants who graduated from college
without secure employment. Five participants discussed how they leveraged relationships and
other capital gained during college to secure post-graduate employment.
Leveraging Capital Accrued in College
Victoria, who attended an ivy league institution, accepted a job offer at a major research
firm prior to graduating from college. Victoria was unaware that career services existed, so she
drew on familial capital and asked an older brother to review her application materials. Despite
the lack of institutional guidance, Victoria suggested the symbolic capital of her degree may
have contributed to the job offer. She described the advantages of shared identity as a form of

167

capital. The interviewer, who was a Black woman who graduated from Victoria’s alma mater
“was really looking out for me because I don’t think I would have gotten this without her.” With
gratitude, Victoria noted how the woman “helped her out” by providing access to the job
opportunity, and later mentored Victoria throughout her first job.
Only Dr. Mariah cited career services as directly generating a job lead. She utilized the
office twice over a period of 4 years. During the second visit, Dr. Mariah learned about the job
opportunity she later received and accepted. Renee noted that although they went to career
services to receive resume help, they received a job after attending a conference for Black
professionals in engineering, which was paid for by the college’s multicultural office. Renee
asserted that the next roles they obtained were due to relationships, including a subsequent job at
an environmental consulting company they worked with during a college capstone project. Dr.
Mariah, Renee and Victoria’s accounts highlight how universities can play various indirect roles
in contributing to the job attainment of first-generation college graduates of color. However,
participants largely described obtaining their first jobs without institutional support.
The remaining participants pursued jobs autonomously. Several leveraged capital gained
through attending college, albeit indirectly. Lauren went to a staffing agency to find employment
because “in my co-op we did work with staffing agencies so like I knew what they did, and so
I’m just like okay, I can go to one.” Prior to Lauren’s co-ops, she had limited exposure to human
resources, which she learned about through an aunt who worked in the field. Through the co-op
in human resources, Lauren gained insight into the hiring process, hiring manager priorities, and
the various ways to obtain employment. By being acculturated to corporate norms, Lauren built
cultural and navigational capital that assisted her in persisting through her own job search. It is

168

possible that the professional work experience during co-op signaled symbolic capital to her first
employer, which likely contributed to securing the role.
Derek tried to use social capital by reaching out for support from former professors,
career services and peers. He took advantage of opportunities to speak with guest lecturers and
pursued connections with faculty. As mentioned above, he reported the most involvement with
career services offerings on campus. However, Derek spoke of challenges getting professional
mentorship and being taken seriously. He felt such challenges could have been a barrier related
to his positionality as a Black man. Given the critical orientation to the research, it is worth
noting that Derek’s real name is uncommon in the United States, which could trigger bias among
hiring managers.
Like Derek, Ramona attempted to use social capital. She sought support from friends
who assisted her in developing their application materials. Despite their agency, both participants
faced persistent, ongoing rejection. Ramona continued part-time work and Derek remained
unemployed for at least 6 months after graduation.
Navigating Long-Term Underemployment
After graduation, Ramona spent several months searching for a job while continuing to
work part-time as a janitor, a role she began in college. Ramona described the application
process as an “uphill battle” which eventually took a toll on her mental health due to the
consistent rejection. Ramona’s main university-provided resource was the “generic template” she
received from the school’s career services. She was not provided with strategies for how to
navigate the job search. Upon defeat after 1 year of applying and “hundreds” of rejections,
Ramona began to brainstorm alternative pathways. She accepted a low-paid temporary internship
at a global non-governmental organization to build professional experience. Ramona remained in

169

the internship for an additional 6 months before finding stable employment. Because of the low
compensation, Ramona continued to work her janitorial job at night. Ramona describes her job
search ordeal below:
I was very much looking to stop doing maintenance work and was applying actively to a
lot of jobs. And then a lot of my friends were getting jobs and or going to grad school and
I was trying even harder. By fall, I was applying like ridiculous. I would spend hours
applying to stuff. Like full days applying to random like anything. … I sent [a college
friend] my resume and she fixed it up for me, like she actually helped me rewrite my
cover letter. And I was like “damn, this is a good cover letter. I wasn’t putting this out
there.” And I had interviews before, but they just weren’t really going anywhere. I would
just make it to the final round, or not make it past the first round.
It’s kind of embarrassing. All my friends have jobs and or are in school so they’re
not worried about employment. And then my, you know, my mom’s kind of like. I’m
living in her house, so I have to pay stuff, but she’s also kind of like “what are you
doing?” … Then I was like, maybe I should get an internship while I work at night, so
that I can have something at least on my resume.
The [job] was supposed to start off as an internship but then they immediately had
lost people my second week, so they were like “do you want to do this for 6 months?”
and I was like “great yeah, full-time.” But they didn’t pay that well [and] I knew it was 6
months. I just was like I have to do other stuff part-time stuff while I do this. …
Eventually, [I] apply again to [a prominent civic engagement organization] like a year
later for a different project and then I had already worked because I was interning for that

170

6 months. [The] assistant position gave me more experience, I got to talk about that and
how it related to that role [I was applying for], and [the civic organization] hired me.
Ramona’s account of the job search highlights several themes from previous sections. Because of
her need to work and disconnect from campus, Ramona did not have access to career
development resources to prepare her for the job search beyond receipt of a resume template
from career services. As such, Ramona was not coached to strategically navigate the implicit
norms within a professional job search.
Due to limited exposure to viable career paths or application strategies, Ramona was
using a “trial and error” approach, applying to jobs desperately due to the financial pressure. She
finally obtained support from a college friend, who shared navigational capital that enhanced
Ramona’s cover letter. Upon exasperation and succumbing to financial pressure, Ramona used
her own navigational capital to obtain an internship as a steppingstone toward professional
experience. If she could not obtain full-time employment, she knew it was better to build career
experiences that may eventually lead to a job opportunity. Circumstances led the organization to
offer Ramona temporary, low-paid employment without benefits, and she was pressured to
accept due to her feelings of defeat, financial need, and desire for work experience.
Derek echoed the experience of ongoing rejection during the job search. However, unlike
Ramona, he was actively involved with the career services office on campus. Further, Derek
mentioned consistent attempts to network with professors and guest speakers. However, his
positionality as a Black man may have impacted his ability to obtain effective mentorship from
such sources. Derek reported consistently having to prove himself to educators to obtain support
or minimal mentorship. After 4 months of unemployment, Derek received a short-term security
officer position. Financial pressures pushed Derek to accept the job, despite the subpar working

171

conditions. As Derek shared “I just took the position [to] just kind of start earning extra income.
I didn’t want to do that for a long time. Hours were like I believe three 12-hour shifts back-to-
back.”
Two months later, Derek took a job at a halfway house for federal inmates. “That was
another area that I didn’t really see myself doing, but for career purposes to build my resume, I
had to do it,” Derek explained. The job at the halfway house put him in occasional physical
danger, as he was “dealing with individuals who were ready to snap for anything.” Derek
reported instances where residents would attempt to physically harm him. However, Derek
framed the job as a learning experience “because it helped me build myself into a new person on
being a better role model and a better professional in the field.” He persisted through the
challenges and described the experience as an opportunity to make a difference in others’ lives
by providing access to education and employment resources. Fourteen months later, Derek
obtained a state job within his field of interest, working as a fraud examiner. He remained in the
role for almost 8 years.
Both Derek and Ramona demonstrated navigational and aspirational capital throughout
their extended job searches. Each faced consistent disappointment throughout the job search, but
they both identified creative solutions to build professional experience that eventually segued
into full-time employment. The accounts underscore how participants’ career development needs
persisted beyond graduation, yet accessible support was limited. Without the relevant context
and support, participants were faced with suboptimal work conditions. Such limitations impacted
participants during the job acceptance process as well, as financial barriers created pressure to
accept suboptimal offers.
Accepting Job Offers and the Relativity of Money

172

When it came to accepting their first post-graduate job offers, 10 participants cited
financial pressure to obtain a job as soon as possible. Such pressure fostered a power dynamic
whereby participants were “just happy to have a job,” a direct quote from Renee, Bella, and Sun.
The pressure may have made participants more vulnerable to subpar offers. For example, without
protest, Sun signed an offer letter that was two thousand dollars less than the previously
discussed amount. When asked why he did not question this, he said, “it was still the biggest
check that I had ever seen” and “it was better than waiting tables.” Looking back, Sun described
the experience as “the first red flag,” though he did not realize it at the time. Further, Sun noted
that he may have accepted the low-paying job partially due to “survivor’s guilt,” citing how
challenging it was to return home after college and see his family continue to live in poverty.
The relativity of money emerged as a theme, as eight participants evaluated job offers
based on their previous retail employment or familial socioeconomic status. The theme was
especially prevalent among participants who came from working class backgrounds. Dr. Mariah
and her family originally thought she was “rich” because her initial salary of $27,000 paid more
than anyone in her family had previously earned. “I had to realize that the hard way, when I
realize ‘shit I gotta pay my bills, I had to pay my rent, I gotta pay this’ and that’s when I realized
I’m not making enough,” she recalled. In response, she obtained two additional jobs waiting
tables.
Although Renee earned a higher starting salary upon accepting an engineering role, loan
payments mitigated the additional income 6 months later. The increased expenses pushed Renee
to obtain additional jobs to supplement their income. Eight participants expressed retrospective
awareness that their first jobs were undercompensated. With the exception of Raven, all
participants cited inadequate compensation as a challenge at some point during their professional

173

careers. Raven’s perspective on her salary was also based upon familial context. She judged her
salary relative to the family income:
At part-time I was making $30,000, so that was pretty decent pay at that point. And to be
honest, like feeling guilty and reluctant because I was making as much, if not more than
my mother at that point, but being part-time.
Like Sun, Raven felt some guilt for the financial benefits associated with her recently earned
college degree after witnessing the barriers her mother faced to earn an income for the family. It
is possible that such feelings may shape participants’ perspectives on their treatment and
experiences at work. Eight participants mentioned the sacrifices and struggles their parents
endured to provide for the family. Participants’ social contexts and previous experiences likely
shaped their expectations for treatment at work.
The prior sections highlighted participants’ varied experiences throughout the post-
graduate employment search. While some remained in retail roles but transitioned into full-time
employees, others straddled multiple part-time jobs. Participants leveraged diverse forms of
capital to attain post-graduate employment. Such capitals included personal connections, job
search strategies, and building experience through short-term roles. Using common institutional
measures of post-graduate outcomes, all participants were employed within 6 months of
graduation. However, the quality and sustainability of such employment varied tremendously.
Accordingly, some participants continued to pursue decent work well into their careers.
The Ongoing Pursuit of Decent Work
Participants reported drastically different experiences in the first jobs they obtained after
graduation. Despite securing employment, most participants spent years in the workforce prior to
securing jobs that fulfilled most of the elements of decent work. Even participants who were

174

enthusiastic about their initial jobs eventually discussed encountering barriers to decent work due
to exorbitant job expectations.
Participants’ varied experiences at work influenced their retention within the
organizations. Bella and Raven navigated pathways for advancement at organizations they felt
were inclusive and equity-centered. Both participants received promotions, and as of the research
interviews, each remained employed at the respective organizations. In contrast, Lauren and Kim
entered jobs with inequitable responsibilities and limited advancement pathways. Sun, Alexis,
Renee and Carmen each left their jobs due to untenable work conditions. After familial pressure
to leave her cherished retail job, Veronica eventually transitioned to a job as an Executive
Assistant from which she was unexpectedly fired.
Based on participant narratives, similar structural barriers persisted from college to the
workplace. The following sections highlight participants’ diverse experiences with post-graduate
employment, including navigating pathways toward advancement, White supremacy in work
cultures, and the associated negative impacts on participant wellbeing. The section concludes
with an overview of participants’ use of community cultural wealth to combat such barriers
through use of resistant capital, aspirational capital, and applying relational approaches to
building social capital. In addition, participants found support and motivation through familial
capital and the desire to serve as a resource for others.
Navigating Pathways for Advancement
Both Raven and Bella secured jobs at nonprofits whose missions center the promotion of
access and equity for underrepresented communities. Although they were employed at different
organizations in different states, several commonalities emerged through the two narratives.
Bella and Raven accepted mission-driven roles due to their passion for justice-oriented work. In

175

part, the passion was motivated by participants’ positionalities, as each had personal experiences
relating to the organizational objectives. Participants each reported first-hand knowledge of the
need for such work, which fostered motivation and a pressure to make a positive impact. Raven
and Bella described how their organizations’ leaders demonstrated a commitment to cultivating a
racially diverse team. Such commitments created environments that encouraged participants’
authenticity.
Although equity was foregrounded in participant narratives, both participants cited
examples of organizational structures that contributed to inequities. For example, Bella noted
how entry-level professionals employed at the organization would qualify for social services
based on the low compensation. Additionally, Bella and Raven both discussed how the demands
of the job description contributed to burnout.
Burnout From Compassion Fatigue and Demanding Job Expectations
Bella started her career as a college access advisor. She described how she was expected
to meet with a caseload of about 80 students on different campuses for 1 hour each month. The
additional time for administrative notes and travel required long workdays that far surpassed 40
hours per week. Further, as a new first-generation professional, Bella felt the need to prove
herself so she “said yes to everything,” taking late night meetings and volunteering for events
and special projects. The work was not only physically exhausting; advising disenfranchised
students included extensive emotional labor. “It was such an emotional whiplash and, like the
compassion fatigue was real,” Bella recalled. Bella’s hard work was rewarded with a promotion
to senior advisor.
The promotion was bittersweet, however, as Bella noted “then I had to prove myself even
more, because I wanted to be a manager.” The demanding job expectations, pressure to excel,

176

and emotional labor fueled a sense of burnout. The exhaustion continued to pay off, however, as
Bella received additional promotions and was sent to several conferences and trainings. Bella
admitted that such investments were not equally distributed. “The political game I’m finding
here is real—so if you are not seen as like a potential to move up, that investment may not be
inherited,” Bella acknowledged. Her experience highlights how unrealistic work expectations
can contribute to burnout. Such examples illuminate barriers to decent work that exist within
equity-minded, social-justice focused organizations. Further, the examples demonstrate how
passion and personal connections to emotionally laborious work can both inspire and exhaust
workers. Both participants remained with their organization for at least 5 years given the overall
work culture and responsiveness of leadership.
Raven shared a similar experience working at a community development organization
that provided financial and communal benefits to individuals and families. She began as a part-
time employee, though the job expectations were taxing. Raven was responsible for organizing
and leading 75 events per year, while engaging in follow-up, managing volunteers, and
continuing to build community partnerships. Concurrently, Raven had an additional part-time job
at the local restaurant she worked at during college.
The restaurant environment was more transactional, allowing Raven to compartmentalize
and “leave work at work,” which she appreciated. However, at the restaurant, Raven encountered
bias and harassment, including inappropriate comments about her body. Raven navigated such
encounters by channeling resistant capital—challenging the comments, and at times, educating
her colleagues about her experiences. Although the interactions did not necessarily shift the
environment, Raven felt a sense of community knowing that everyone there was working as a
team toward a shared purpose: “trying to get money.”

177

After 1 year, Raven was promoted to a full-time director role at the nonprofit, which she
attributed to the structurally nimble nature of the organization. The promotion was a point of
pride, yet feelings of impostor syndrome created a new sense of pressure. Raven was tasked with
new responsibilities in an inaugural role, in addition to managing a part-time staff member and
several volunteers. The organization offered opportunities to attend trainings, shadow the
executive director, and engage in opportunities to take on new leadership. However, despite the
support and decent compensation, the emotionally charged nature of the work and demanding
job expectations took a toll on Raven’s mental health. In contrast to most other narratives,
Raven’s workplace responded by addressing her concerns through new practices and structures.
When Raven’s mental wellbeing was negatively impacted, she voiced her concerns. She
described the support received from co-workers, who at times offered to help with the work so
she could take the day off. The organization eventually decided to implement a restorative leave
practice, which provides 3 months of paid leave. Further, Raven’s team has expanded over time,
and they engaged in succession planning to promote cross-training which allows employees to
take time off. The experience exemplifies how the organization was guided by values that align
with social and family needs, another dimension of decent work. Raven highlighted the
achievement of additional dimensions of decent work, stating,
I don’t know when I will shift from [this job] because they treat me well [emphasis
added], I like the work, I make a living wage … and that’s because there is a belief
there’s a value that we have like paying people what they deserve.
Raven acknowledged that her personal experience with work is unique, recalling conversations
about friends’ misery at work:

178

They really hate their manager, they hate the team that they’re on, and I remember having
such a hard time because I was like “am I meant to like hate what I’m doing? Like, am
I?” Because that’s not my experience.
Unfortunately, most participants reported initial work experiences that differed from Raven and
Bella.
Working More for Less Rewards
Including Raven and Bella, seven participants recalled unrelenting workloads in their first
full-time jobs. Lauren and Kim discussed how they each assumed responsibilities that equated to
multiple roles, yet neither experienced added benefit nor advancement, despite engaging in self-
advocacy. Lauren described the workload in her human resources job at a global investment
bank as:
A lot of work um and I did a lot while I was there. When I left, they had to hire two
people [laughs] to replace me so like I did a lot of work. But I think that experience um
you know made me realize that I can do more.
Lauren described the firm as “very White” and felt her lack of mentorship may have related to
her positionality as a feminine-presenting woman of color at a male-dominated bank. The
experience continued at her subsequent job in Human Resources at a law firm:
I would always have multiple jobs. And it’s probably my fault for working so hard.
[laughs slightly] As soon as I started like at the law firm like I reported to two managers.
Everyone else had one manager, they did one you know one position, I did two or one
and a half. … After I was off that team I was still doing work for them, so I was still
doing another job on top of my new job, which I hated. Which that new job was literally

179

two jobs, so it was like working three jobs and getting paid for one and still not … I guess
not being able to make the impact that I wanted to.
Kim made a strikingly similar comment, reporting that she was working “two roles as it is and
doing [my recently promoted co-worker’s] job too. … Then, when I finally quit, they were like
Kim, it takes three of us to do your job.” The two quotes demonstrate the inequitable workloads
delegated to both women of color. Such themes were echoed by 10 of the 11 participants who
identified as women of color. Kim reported feeling underappreciated at work, despite her varied,
overwhelming duties. At times, the work would exceed normal business hours and Kim would
“fall asleep for papers on my bed, didn’t know if it was for schoolwork or work.” Kim
mentioned trying to negotiate for increased training or salary given her multiple roles, but her
requests were denied.
Kim asserted that excelling in her role was a disadvantage because employers may have
felt she was irreplaceable thus keeping her positioned at a clerical level. Instead of taking a
chance and promoting her, Kim reported that her employer questioned whether she would
perform as well in an elevated role. Veronica reported a similar experience in her third
professional role at a technology company where she witnessed employees she trained receive
promotions and compensation that outpaced her own.
Additionally, Derek shared how in his auditing job, he led his team to closing the most
cases, and received an award for the most closed cases in the state. Despite his performance,
Derek was never offered a promotion, but reported witnessing White colleagues get promoted for
doing less work. Lauren highlighted the conundrum, stating “it’s like damned if you do, damned
if you don’t, right? Because you’ll be the first fired if you don’t you know outpace everyone else,
but then, if you do, they’ll give you more work and not pay you.” The four participants who

180

explicitly mentioned struggling to receive promotions each identified as either Black or biracial
(Black and White) suggesting potential racialized trends that may contribute to stalled career
advancement for Black professionals.
White Supremacy in Work Climates
In addition to stalled career advancement, all participants reported various forms of
racialized resistance at work, such as gaslighting in meetings, inadequate resources to
accomplish lofty job expectations, or negative comments from co-workers. Further, participants
noted the drastic lack of diversity in organizational leadership and among colleagues. Notably,
trends persisted in organizations that primarily served people of color as well as predominately
White corporate institutions. The predominately White leaders were typically framed as
unwilling or unable to support participants’ holistic needs at work. The following sections
highlight themes that exemplified commonly reported participant experiences with race in the
workplace.
Exploitation of Black and Brown Bodies
Derek and Sun were the only Black men who participated in the study. Notably, each
began their career in jobs that made them vulnerable to physical harm. Sun shared that he was
hired because the organization sought:
Men of color to come there because a lot of the target base in Newark are men of color,
Black men in particular. So, it’s like someone who isn’t afraid of being poor
neighborhoods, who’s not afraid of being in like you know, a violent neighborhood and
being willing to talk one on one with people and you know, trying to engage them and get
them more empowered to change their community.

181

The quote highlights the importance of hiring leaders who can identify with your target audience.
This is a unique form of capital first-generation college graduates of color may offer roles that
primarily serve similar demographics. However, Sun’s narrative demonstrates how first-
generation college graduates of color may be exploited if such approaches are reductive and
tokenizing.
Sun shared that when he suggested changes to the outreach scripts to make the language
more culturally resonant, he encountered resistance from White colleagues. He further described
how the organization was adamant that the focus of the work centered class, and that race was
not seen as relevant despite the organization’s work in Black and Brown communities.
“Intersectionality to them was like a dirty word,” Sun recalled. He tried to offer additional
perspectives to colleagues, but noted “when I started speaking up more, it started going
downhill.”
Additionally, Sun shared the circumstances that led to him quitting the job without
securing other employment. Given Sun’s ongoing experiences navigating personal and work-
related trauma, he was grateful to have benefits that included therapy. However, upon making an
appointment during time that was generally free in his work schedule, Sun was reprimanded by
his colleagues because the appointment conflicted with a last-minute re-scheduled work meeting.
Sun felt the comments suggested a threat, suggesting “you only have the ability to get therapy
because you have a job.” In totality, Sun’s narrative suggests he was hired for the relatability his
Black skin and stature could offer, but his mind and lived experiences were not demonstrably
valued. Further, as a criminal justice major with internship experience, it is notable that Derek
was only offered jobs that related to physical security.

182

Although Carmen did not mention feeling physically unsafe, her narrative provides
another example of how as a Latine woman, her ability to speak Spanish and brown skin may
have been exploited. Carmen described her work experience as a tenant organizer with primarily
Latinx communities:
I was working like 12 hours days, sometimes working weekends, it was all like an
organizer schedule. [Work] starts at noon … and then you don’t get home to like 10 [or]
11 because you have to host tenant association meetings or trainings and all of those have
to be in the evening because, like people work. And so, I didn’t have a life, and I was
really, really burnt out and didn’t like my organization at all, because the two other
people that I worked with were these two White women that were not invested in my
growth at all.
Carmen was positioned on the front lines engaging with communities of color, yet the leadership
of her organization were White women who had reportedly never worked as tenant organizers.
The job involved travel around the city, long hours, and emotionally taxing labor for low
compensation. Although she was engaging in impactful work that centered social justice,
Carmen felt undervalued and under supported by the organization. The experience led to burnout
and Carmen resigned after 10 months. Upon giving 2-weeks’ notice, Carmen reported that her
employer “guilted” her to staying 2 additional months, which led to unexpected financial
consequences.
Wage Withholding. Carmen felt the organization “took advantage” of her as they
originally agreed to pay her for unused vacation days then redacted the offer because her
anniversary had passed. Carmen further explained, stating:

183

It felt very intentional because I was unaware that that was the case because when I wrote
my resignation letter, I told them that I wanted to get paid out my vacation days. Because
I wasn’t even able to use my vacation days, because I never had time to.
And they like knew and they said, “yeah write that out like that’s okay” and then they
kept me further and I didn’t even notice that it had been past a year. And they sent me a
message being like “we can’t pay you out” and I had like a full paycheck of vacation
days left that they were like “oh well, your anniversary date was like 10 days ago, so we
can’t pay you out.” I was like “but I quit in October.”
Carmen’s experience highlights an example of wage theft as a means of exploitation. Whether
intentional or not, Carmen endured financial penalties of providing additional service to the
organization she was attempting to leave. Her compassion was exploited through the pressure to
continue working for the organization beyond the standard 2 weeks’ notice Carmen originally
provided. Although she attempted to consider the organization’s needs, the decision ultimately
worked against her personal needs.
Kim described a similar financial challenge at her second job, when her paychecks
stopped being processed on time. Human resources shared that it was a new system and that she
would be paid the following week. When the payment was not processed by the espoused date,
Kim decided to take a personal day. The issue created tension with human resources, although
Kim had personal time accrued. “This is now an ongoing thing, and I’m concerned about
working if my time is not valued enough to be paid for it,” Kim recalled. Noting that the issue
was not widespread across the organization, Kim stated, “it just feels very uncomfortable for me.
And yeah, it took almost another week to get paid.” Kim was fired from the job not long after,
which she believed was a retaliation for refusing to work when she was not being paid. She

184

pointed out the irony stating, “it was a therapeutic agency, so they were literally providing
counseling services to people and I’m like you’re stressing me out, I’m not even getting paid.
Wellbeing and finances can very well be intertwined.”
Treated As Disposable. Kim’s experience highlighted one example of the relationship
between financial stressors associated with work and wellbeing. Notably, both she and Veronica
shared experiences being fired from work without having received prior substantive feedback or
an opportunity to course correct. Both Renee and Kim experienced layoffs during the pandemic
as well. Kim, Veronica, and Renee all identify as Black women, which raises questions about the
role of misogynoir in the workplace. The current data does not provide opportunity for further
analysis of the topic, but the finding is notable. Ironically, several of the organizations espoused
strong commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion work. However, participants’ experiences
reveal distinctions between organizational behaviors, structures, and proclaimed values.
Empty Promises of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Several participants noted superficial or uneven commitments to diversity, equity, and
inclusion (DEI) work. Such examples were reported by participants working across a variety of
industries, including social work, higher education, human resources, research, and non-profit
organizations. Reported organizational behaviors included narrow definitions of diversity,
contradictory actions and goals, and haphazard diversity efforts, and harassment at work.
Narrow Definitions of Diversity. Veronica described the irony of a diversity club at a
technology firm where she worked, describing it as “oxymoronic” because the club required
“exclusive membership and the fact that it’s about diversity and inclusion is just like, we already
don’t know what we’re doing.” She later described a situation where, in a discussion of rating the
company on its DEI efforts, the chief executive officer rated the company at a B-, even though

185

Veronica was the only Black woman that worked at the company. It was not until Veronica
voiced this concern that her colleagues realized the gap. The limited awareness may have been
shaped by narrow definitions of diversity. As Lauren and Victoria both described, organizations
may limit discussions of diversity to focusing on women without consideration for the racial
diversity within the group. Both recalled examples where their employers touted progress in
enhanced diversity without acknowledging stagnant racial diversity and retention challenges
among hires of color.
Contradictory Actions and Goals. Dr. Mariah reiterated the lack of structural support
by highlighting the minimal resources she received in roles supposedly meant to promote DEI
within institutions. She contrasted her experiences with White colleagues in other institutional
roles, stating:
I have $5,000 to create change. Or, I had a seat at the table, but I was constantly being
policed. All my programs have to be vetted, and people needed to check the box to say if
I could do that program or not. Unlike my colleagues who had healthy $150,000 budgets
and they happen to be White, and they also never had to get their programming and
initiatives vetted.
In addition to limited budgets, Dr. Mariah held multiple director-level roles in DEI, but it was
not until she became an assistant dean that she was able to advocate for additional staff to
support the work. Further, she described active resistance and gendered, racialized comments
within meetings suggesting she was “too passionate.” At first, Dr. Mariah viewed the label as a
compliment, but eventually realized this was coded language suggesting she needed to “calm
down.” In addition, Dr. Mariah reported how she attempted to advocate for issues faced by staff

186

and faculty of color, but was told this was not her job. The response was confusing to Dr.
Mariah, who recalled:
I’m the director of inclusion and diversity and it’s not my job to help, support, retain
staff or faculty? But it is my job to do everything else but that? So, then whose job is it?
And there was no answer. And that was part of the reason why I left.
Such encounters made Dr. Mariah question the institution’s commitment to advancing equity.
She described the approach to DEI efforts as a checkbox, a dynamic noted by three other
participants as well. The double-standards Dr. Mariah witnessed led to feelings of being
tokenized and targeted at work.
Harassment and Policing at Work
Nine participants reported negative or abusive interactions at work. Like Dr. Mariah,
Alexis felt she was being policed at work. She described her former supervisor as a “racist older
White woman.” Alexis felt her supervisor would target her with criticism without offering
affirmation or advice on how to improve. She further described the behaviors as micromanaging,
citing an example of how the supervisor would write down her arrival time if she was even three
minutes late to work. Although others had complained about the woman, Alexis shared the
challenges of bureaucracy, noting when you work for the state “you don’t really get fired” which
led to Alexis feeling defenseless citing the differential power dynamics. Alexis recalled “she was
a White woman and I felt like I’m a 22-year-old and what can I do? So, I just had to deal with it.
It was really impacting my mental health. I remember hating going to work.”
Derek and Renee reported experiences being undermined by colleagues and clients.
Renee connected the resistance to their positionality, stating:

187

You have to really love engineering as a Black woman to put up with the all the you
know, the downsides of it. The cat calling on the job sites, the “are you really qualified,
who told you to tell me this?” … It just wasn’t worth the uphill battle for me.
The harmful interactions led Renee to transition to environmental consulting which was “better,
but it was not by far.” Renee ended up getting laid off from the job, which they cited as a
“blessing” given the challenging workplace climate.
Lauren and Raven, both biracial women who identify as Black and White, each reported
facing harassment and sexualized advances in the workplace. Lauren described how people
would attempt to play with her hair, offer inappropriate compliments, or call her nicknames like
“princess.” Raven mentioned comments about her body as well. Both women provided examples
that demonstrated the salience of their racial and gender identities. For example, Lauren shared
how colleagues would assume she spoke Spanish because she appeared to be racially ambiguous.
Raven discussed attempting to convince her boss that she experienced race and gender-based
discrimination at work by polling the staff, although no action was taken. Concurrently, Raven
did note racial privileges associated with having light skin. She contrasted her hire with the
experiences of friends with dark skin who were denied jobs at the restaurant.
The experiences above demonstrate the varied forms of harmful treatment first-
generation college graduates of color may encounter in the workplace. Such behaviors inhibited
participants’ experiences in the workplace, which often led to departure from the organization
altogether. For Renee, such treatment resulted in a change of industry, and eventually contributed
to a decision to leave full-time employment. The following section provides an overview of the
negative impacts of such work environments on participants’ wellbeing.
Negative Impacts of Harmful Work Environments

188

Participants each highlighted the negative impacts of harmful work environments. They
used words such as “isolating,” “toxic,” “miserable,” “heartbreaking,” and phrases such as “beats
you down” and “emotionally taxing” to describe initial experiences with work. The
consequences of the harmful work environments were primarily social, emotional, and financial
in nature.
Raven and Bella previously reported high satisfaction and fulfillment from work,
however, the positive aspects of the job did not shield them from burnout. Renee reported
burnout as well, stating “even though you love something, you can still do too much of what you
love and get burnt out by it.” The quote demonstrates the importance of time off for rest, a
dimension of decent work. Renee cited the physical and emotional consequences of burnout,
including migraines and withered energy for creativity and community-building.
Raven, Carmen and Bella described how the demands of work impacted their social lives
as well. While Carmen shared “I didn’t have a life” due to the work schedule, for Raven, the
emotional nature of work inhibited her desire to connect with others. She described the
experience as “compassion fatigue.” Raven revealed the impacts of the emotionally taxing work
on her social life:
Pre-pandemic left me with not a lot of social battery so because I’m communicating,
texting, calling receiving so much stimulation from messaging for work, my social life
like me following up with friends, checking in with them, answering phone calls, having
casual conversations stopped. It became less and less because, I’m doing this shit for
work, like I don’t want to talk to people right now.
The challenges continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Raven reported that she was
already exhausted, however, due to social distancing, it was necessary to communicate with

189

others. At this point, Raven shared that she had a “mental health spiral” which she attributed in
part to “the weight of being expected to work and do well” during a confluence of enduring
racial violence and a global health crisis. The stress began to impact her ability to show up at
work. “I kept the program going, but at the cost of my mental health. … My role is actually like
three roles rolled into one and holding myself to that expectation of doing it all, all the time, is
crushing,” she admitted.
Seven participants mentioned the negative impacts of compassion fatigue as well, given
the nature of their work. Sun and Bella noted the secondhand trauma from dealing with issues
such as hearing about students getting evicted. Alexis described similar dynamics working as a
social worker, through which she encountered “vicarious trauma.” She asserted, “over and over
you’re hearing horror stories, one by one, all the time … it was not a good job for your mental
health, there was not a lot of support. You were just thrown into the fire.” Although the job was
exhausting, Alexis responded by engaging in self-care. “I was really making sure my outside life
was healthy and happy and as fruitful as I could because I was going to work on Monday, and I
knew it was gonna be hell.” The challenges described above demonstrate how marginalization
and burnout can inhibit wellbeing and emotional safety at work. Like Alexis, participants drew
upon community cultural wealth such as resistant, aspirational, and social capital to navigate
continued barriers that emerged throughout the professional endeavors.
Use of Community Cultural Wealth and Accrued Capital
Despite the taxing barriers associated with navigating predominately White workplaces,
participants identified varied coping methods, which drew upon various forms of community
cultural wealth. Through career progressions, participants each used their increased capital to
create access for others by engaging in advocacy-related efforts. Using resistant capital,

190

participants shaped change by pursuing jobs rooted in social change, engaging in self-advocacy,
or challenging conventions within their workplace, or sharing community cultural wealth with
others.
Resistant Capital: Participants As Sources of Community Cultural Wealth
All 13 participants shared resistant capital with others by engaging in equity-oriented
work. Nine reported jobs that explicitly contribute to racial justice and wellbeing of
underrepresented communities through education, social work, community development,
entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. The three participants who worked in corporate
environments each discussed efforts to diversify their respective workplaces by challenging
restrictive hiring practices. For example, Veronica shared that as a hiring manager, she does not
dismiss applicants based on credentials, stating “I don’t care if you went to college or what you
studied in college. Show me those skills that you’ve learned from just living life.” Similarly,
Carmen encouraged her current employer, a civic technology company, to hire people from
different sectors given the restricted diversity in traditional technology training pipelines. Based
on Carmen’s reported experience with exclusion in academia, she was aware of the ways
academic structures may inhibit diverse talent pools. Carmen reported increased racial diversity
among new hires because of her advocacy. The examples above demonstrate how participants
incorporated an equitable lens to redesign normative practices for hiring. Participants used their
increased knowledge of resources and navigational capital to advocate for themselves as well.
Self-Advocacy. The most significant examples of resistant capital as self-advocacy
related to salary and job transitions. Veronica and Renee each described different tactics used to
advocate for equitable compensation. Veronica was more direct, perhaps due to her class
background or access to resources through the co-op program coursework. She reported

191

advocating for a raise by speaking directly with a supervisor, which resulted in a $10,000
increase. When over 2 years passed without another raise, Veronica used her social capital and
humor to be “annoying about it” citing an example of knocking on her boss’ door stating, “hi,
just letting you know it’s been 2 years since I’ve gotten a raise.” The strategy was paired with
concrete examples of her contributions, resulting in an additional $10,000.
Although Renee did not negotiate prior to accepting their first two professional job offers,
they cited the benefits from a professional association for admissions counselors of color as the
catalyst for a change. Renee described how the organization served as a “big piece of helping
boost my confidence” to engage in self-advocacy. As part of the affinity space, Renee
participated in an annual salary swap which provided a baseline for wages across institutions and
organizational levels. Renee was then able to use resistant capital to negotiate a fairer wage in
subsequent job searches. Recounting the salary swap information provided at annual meetings,
Renee shared:
That was a huge, a huge confidence booster for me to be able to then be like “you know
what thanks, but no thanks.” And you know “if you can’t come up, then maybe this isn’t
the right opportunity for me” and being okay with walking away from a job opportunity.
…When you’re in these White spaces, I feel like there’s a certain code that you don’t
know. … It’s been amazing to be in these Black spaces, in these spaces of color, that
make sure that we kind of know what’s happening in the other rooms that [White people
are] not telling us so that we can advocate for ourselves.
Both Renee and Veronica exemplified resistant capital by advocating for wages they felt
were equitable. Veronica may have had more exposure to negotiation strategies given her
involvement in coursework that supported students in navigating the job process and

192

participation in feminist organizations during college. Renee did not initially have the context to
negotiate, but was able to obtain key navigational insights through participation in affinity spaces
for professionals. Renee’s experience demonstrates the importance of salary transparency as well
as the role of communities of color as sources of navigational capital that may disrupt dominant
norms.
Sharing Community Cultural Wealth. Six participants reported using their leadership
roles to share resources with others, including family and friends. For example, given their work,
Raven and Alexis both noted familiarity with local resources and government-issued benefits
such as free legal counsel. Each discussed using the capital gained at work to connect loved ones
with beneficial resources. Given their enhanced knowledge of available services, Raven and
Alexis became a known point person for advice within their personal networks. Further, Alexis,
Dr. Mariah, Ramona, Bella, and Derek used their knowledge to promote college access through
volunteer engagements, work with clients, or loved ones. Even Victoria, who went back to
school full-time, is studying social inequities and capital. Participants used their accrued
knowledge and positional power to support others. Additionally, they reported behaviors rooted
in self-advocacy, identifying new work opportunities, starting new businesses, or aspiring to
assume greater levels of leadership, which convey the importance of aspirational capital as a
source of professional advancement for first-generation college graduates of color.
Aspirational Capital and Pursuit of Progression
Participants demonstrated aspirational capital by pursuing generative experiences where
they could thrive, despite not having access to first-hand examples of such opportunities. Perhaps
such capital was strengthened by virtue of participants being among the first in their families to
pursue a college degree, and prior experience navigating structural barriers. Aspirational capital

193

manifested in different ways including pursuit of advanced degrees, striving toward promotions,
willingness to leave the security of full-time employment after poor treatment, or the continued
engagement in equity-related work, despite ongoing barriers.
Participants were willing to persist through obstacles and assume additional work to
ensure they realized their potential. As such, six participants earned advanced degrees while
working full-time. Additionally, a seventh had begun a graduate program at the time of the
interview, and another participant expressed intent to complete a doctorate in the future. Those
who completed graduate degrees noted the stress of working while in school. However, given
participants’ positionalities, additional credentials were viewed as a gateway toward career
advancement and social mobility. Ramona, who had just begun law-school, shared “the grass is a
little greener on that side like I’m going to try to strive to do this, even if it’s baby steps. Like if
it’s just like my degree, maybe that’ll help me.”
Aspirational capital involves the strength to resist negative messaging and pursue one’s
goals, despite potential challenges (Yosso, 2005). Both Sun and Carmen were willing to leave
their current employment in pursuit of better working conditions without securing a new job
opportunity, and Renee was willing to leave the security of full-time employment to aspire to life
as a business owner. The aspirations were paired with a strong work ethic and willingness to do
whatever it took to realize one’s dreams. For example, after leaving his job, Sun “immediately
started getting into the mindset of ‘I’m moving back to [New England]. I’m going to make that
happen.’ So, I started working. I started waiting tables and I was looking at jobs.” Within a few
months, Sun sold his car, relocated to New England, and became a teacher—his early childhood
career ambition. Like Sun, Dr. Mariah demonstrated a bold willingness to invest in possibilities

194

while striving toward healthier work conditions, not just for herself, but for her colleagues of
color.
In Dr. Mariah’s narrative, a “drive of wanting more” was a recurring theme. From
envisioning a better life for her family, to striving to “make it out the hood,” and pursuit of two
advanced degrees, Dr. Mariah consistently dared to dream, despite the need to actively maneuver
barriers. Aspirational capital is further reflected in Dr. Mariah’s ongoing pursuit of social justice
work. Her early childhood desire to “change conditions” manifested through serving in
numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion roles.
Dr. Mariah’s first professional role involved creating college access programming for a
local migrant community—a role that was reconfigured upon her suggestion during the
application process. She broke a barrier as the first to serve in the inaugural role. Dr. Mariah used
her linguistic capital to translate documents into varied languages to provide accessible
information to students and their families. Further, in each of the subsequent jobs, Dr. Mariah
has served in an equity-oriented capacity. She created intercultural dialogue programs,
mentorship programs, and workshops to train students, staff, and faculty on diversity, equity and
inclusion. Discussing her motivation to engage in the work, Dr. Mariah shared:
I had just experienced going to college feeling lonely, very lack of sense of belonging and
I didn’t want that for my students. … One of the biggest things that I wish I had was
mentorship opportunities, not just with my peers, but also faculty, staff—people that want
to see us succeed.
At another institution, Dr. Mariah broke a racial barrier “as the first Latina to serve in
leadership.” Through each professional opportunity, Dr. Mariah encountered resistance from
colleagues, but she continued to strategize, build partnerships with allies, and create community-

195

building opportunities that provided students and staff of color with opportunities to find support
and build social capital.
Relational Approaches to Social Capital
Participants built and maintained social capital through genuine relationships with people
who served as sources of wisdom, resources, and support. Much of the professional network
development came from connections through friends, participation in organizations, or organic
collaborations through work or leadership related roles. For example, Sun and Dr. Mariah
mentioned the power of networks within their respective fraternity and sorority. Renee benefitted
from the wisdom of Black women mentors in college, participation in affinity-based
organizations, and exchanging lessons learned while vending alongside other women of color.
Ramona first met attorneys through her initial full-time job, and as of the interview, she had
recently begun law school, part-time. The theme of organic social capital was explicitly
articulated by Carmen, who built strong relationships with colleagues through serving as a
community organizer. She articulated a relational approach to networking, stating:
I didn’t do the community building stuff with an intention of “this is where I’m going to
find my job.” But it just happened to be that way. And that’s why I tell people now that I
know that like if you’re seeking to have a job within movement work, you need to first
build those relationships so that people can trust you, and then you just have like an easy
in.
Embodying the framework of community cultural wealth, Carmen articulated how communities
of color often share resources and network as a form of “survival.” Such an approach differs
from “standard networking.” As Carmen noted:

196

There’s so many skills that you learn as survival tactics like, for example, learning who
are people that you can feel safe with and can have what’s best for you in mind. And that
being also very essential to like your progression, your career. And that [approach] not
necessarily fitting within like standardized networking. Because that’s a different type of
networking, right? Because I’m not building community with you because I think of you
as someone that can make my career better. I build community with you because I care
for you, and I trust you, and I want what’s best for you. And that can include career
things but also doesn’t, right? It also includes like your personal growth, your safety, all
these other elements that are super important for people to be able to thrive [emphasis
added].
Although Carmen did not approach networking explicitly for job attainment, the approach
contributed to each professional opportunity she procured. Carmen reflected,
I feel so grateful and privileged because, like I [knocks on wood] never had a hard time
getting a job. … I got [my current job] because I first built relationships with the former
program director, and she constantly brought me into like the different positions that were
open.
Carmen’s approach may have been informed by her longstanding engagement with community
organizing and social justice work. However, Renee articulated a similar sentiment, stating, “my
first job was pretty much you know, the rat race and a combination of luck, and then everything
else afterwards was pretty much based on relationships and people.”
At each stage of Renee’s life, people have been a source of opportunity and resources.
The support has been especially instrumental in Renee’s success as an entrepreneur. Recalling
the benefits from exchanging information with other Black women business owners, Renee

197

shared how “entrepreneurship has really driven home the reoccurring theme in my life, that my
capital has been with people, in people, in kind of relationships.”
Raven articulated how geographic location can impact one’s ability to develop a strong
network. She grew up, attended college, and remained in the same region after graduation. The
experiences within school and community settings allowed Raven to build her network over a
period of 27 years. In contrast, Renee and Dr. Mariah relocated for professional opportunities,
and the isolation at work was compounded by geographic isolation, as both lived in
predominately White areas with no loved ones in proximity. Highlighting the importance of a
social network, Renee reported driving over an hour each weekend to spend time with friends
and family, which served as a coping mechanism while enduring isolation at work.
Familial Capital
Participants reported diverse manifestations of familial capital. According to Yosso’s
(2005) theory of community cultural wealth, familial capital extends beyond biological relatives
and includes those who offer kinship and familial bonds. Ten participants explicitly articulated
capital gained through familial relationships. Alexis and Sun both discussed family’s limited
knowledge of navigational capital, however, both cited family role models as the reason for their
strong work ethic.
For some participants, family provided normative forms of capital, such as monetary
support or a place to live. For example, Victoria’s family provided the financial capital necessary
for the deposit on her first apartment, which enabled her to accept a job out-of-state. Carmen’s
family offered financial support and nurtured her aspirational capital by encouraging her to take
a break after college to study for law school entrance exams, while covering expenses during that
period. She lived at home through her first job and the employment gap that followed thereafter.

198

When Carmen decided to quit her first job, she noted that “the only reason why I also was able to
do it was because I knew I could live at home still. And I had savings because of that.” Renee
cited family as a source of encouragement, as their stepmother was one of the first people to
encourage them to sell crafts online. The emotional support was especially meaningful when
Renee decided to leave engineering and pursue full-time entrepreneurship.
After college graduation, some participants noted that familial dynamics became more of
a mutual exchange. While five participants reported living at home after college, Ramona, Bella
and Raven each cited their roles as financial contributors who help maintain the household. Dr.
Mariah did not move home after college, but she worked multiple jobs to contribute to family
expenses. Describing the salience of her identities, Bella shared, “I think being first gen, Latinx, I
felt like I had to provide for my family, so like I needed to have a good job and I needed to have
a job that had a good status.” While a desire to provide for family served as a form of pressure,
the feeling was concurrently a form of motivation and drive. Bella explicitly cited her parents as
a key contributor to her career success. She later explained how her parents provided
navigational capital, stating:
[At my job], we have sites across three states, and everyone knew my name because, like
that’s how involved I was. … I had intentionally worked close with my managers to get
to know them. You know, part of work too is like playing the political game. I think I’ve
played the game really well, which is again something that even though my parents
haven’t worked in corporate America, they knew you have to make nice with folks that
you need too. You know, don’t make any enemies at work, or like don’t talk bad about
anybody cause’ you know, that can come back, and I did those things. And that’s part of
why I got here.

199

Bella’s experience highlights how family may offer valuable wisdom based on their lived
experiences, even if they have not previously held professional roles. Although Bella described
the advice as being rooted in “stereotypical work culture,” she cited such behaviors as key
contributors to her multiple promotions and overall professional success at work.
Encouragement during college, modeling confidence, and drawing upon community
resources are just a few examples of how familial contributions served as ongoing contributors to
participants’ community cultural wealth and overall wellbeing. Even in instances where
participants reported strained familial relationships, family was still generally positioned as a
source of inspiration and contributor to the development of inner resilience. Overall, participants’
narratives highlighted the benefits of loved ones who offered support throughout the journey
toward decent work.
Figure 2 provides a depiction of the barriers first-generation college graduates of color
navigated in pursuit of decent work. As participants’ narratives indicate, structural barriers were
present throughout each milestone of the journey from school to work. Such barriers were
influenced by external forces, such as the pervasive nature of intersecting forms of oppression
and the presence of a global pandemic, which began in March 2020. However, participants
responded through persistence and the use of diverse forms of capital which provided support
throughout the school-to-work transition.

200

Figure 2
Use of Diverse Capitals to Navigate Barriers to Decent Work

201

Note. Figure represents key examples of reported barriers and supports that contribute to decent
work. Arrows represent direct contributors or inhibitors of decent work as commonly described
by five or more participants.

Progressing Toward Decent Work
After describing their initial post-graduate employment experiences, participants were
asked to review the dimensions of decent work and identify which they had achieved. In
addition, they were asked to describe the contributors and barriers to each dimension, as relevant.
Apart from Kim, all participants agreed they obtained most aspects of decent work in their
current roles. For 12 participants, their current site of employment was framed as the most
generative work experience of their careers. The progression is likely related to the capital
accrued as participants built their work experience, while continuing to cultivate navigational,
resistant, and social capital. By building networks, recognizing their talents, and witnessing
disparities in the workplace, participants developed an enhanced consciousness and heightened
expectations for decent work. Kim and Renee used their accumulated skillsets to leave traditional
work environments in pursuit of full-time entrepreneurship, while other participants leveraged
additional capital to secure incrementally improved employment over time.
Channeling Community Cultural Wealth
Despite ongoing obstacles, one key thread that emerged across all participants was an
ability to find personal meaning in their work. Fulfillment was reported as a nuanced concept, as
several participants engaged in work that they believed was important, however, such work was
also seen as a source of vicarious trauma and exhaustion. Finding meaning, however, was a
source of inspiration that allowed participants to find value in the work, even in the context of a

202

harmful environment. Challenging environments and pervasive barriers led two participants to
“escape” from traditional workplaces by venturing to start their own businesses. Other
participants continued to seek new employment, channeling their aspirational capital in search of
decent work, which proved to be challenging due to the normative design of workplaces and
compensation packages, which did not always meet the needs of participants and their families.
Escaping Through Entrepreneurship
Kim and Renee, who both identify as Black women, encountered ongoing challenges
securing sustainable decent work. Each had multiple experiences losing their jobs without prior
warning through firings and layoffs. Kim reported persistent challenges through consecutive
work placements in human services organizations, including wage theft, being fired, and most
recently, getting laid off during the pandemic.
In response to losing her job, Kim and two friends started a business providing wellness
and beauty services to Black women. None had formal business backgrounds, but they used
navigational capital and social capital to generate clients and have learned along the way. As a
business owner, Kim asserted that time off remained a challenge, stating “I wake up and I go to
sleep thinking about my business.” However, she contrasted her experience as an entrepreneur
with previous employment, stating “now I have pride in my own work; before [working all the
time] was kind of expected of me in a very toxic way.” Despite the ongoing financial pressures
associated with entrepreneurship, Kim spoke more positively about the experience than any other
professional endeavor she described.
Similarly, after navigating ongoing toxic work environments and experiencing pandemic-
related job loss, Renee decided to commit to entrepreneurship full-time. Renee’s business was

203

the first Black-owned store of its kind in the state. When looking across their eight jobs since
2011, Renee recalled:
I can’t say that any job that I’ve had has even remotely come close to like really
fulfilling [the dimensions of decent work] as a collective but also them individually too.
… Just looking at my resume, I’m like, “oh yeah I haven’t spent a full year in a job yet”
because it’s just like as soon as they’re like “well, no, you have to do this, or you know
you cross the boundaries of being able to you know care for yourself”—and as someone
that stress manifests itself very physically in my body so migraines, back spasms—I can’t
afford to be in a very stressful work environment unless I want to put my body through
that stress. So, it’s kind of just been like “well, I’d much rather have the source of my
stress be me than someone else, or you know toxic work environments.”
Despite mentioning financial pressures, Renee described entrepreneurship as an “escape”
because:
I can create the environment that I needed for myself in those past jobs, but
I can also create a culture for my team that allows them to thrive, so I can create more
kind of inclusive work environments for the people that are helping me move my vision
forward, and I think that has been the piece that has been missing.
Both Kim and Renee channeled resistant capital through a refusal to endure physical and
emotional harm in traditional work settings, using navigational capital to chart a path that felt
authentic and aligned with their values. Through creating inclusive, generative work
environments, Renee served as a contributor to others’ community cultural wealth as well.
Overall, each participant’s narrative supports Renee’s comments on the challenges of securing
decent, generative work. All participants reported some form of workplace harm throughout their

204

career development journeys, highlighting the fragile, nuanced nature of decent work within the
context of systemic, pervasive oppression.
The Fluidity of Decent Work for First-Generation College Graduates of Color
Participants reported a range of 1–10 years of work experience before obtaining what
they would tentatively consider decent work. Based on reported narratives, participants worked
an average of 5 years before securing the majority of the dimensions of decent work. Even then,
access to decent work remained fluid and nuanced. As of the interviews, seven participants still
reported challenges such as inequitable compensation, inadequate health care benefits, or work
that negatively impacts wellbeing. Accordingly, 11 participants appeared hesitant to definitively
say their current jobs offer all aspects of decent work, but each indicated that they were currently
in the most generative employment situation yet.
Veronica was the only participant that enthusiastically asserted that she currently has
access to all dimensions of decent work. She described her experience at the marketing
technology organization stating:
Now I’m at a place where all those boxes are checked, I feel safe, I feel heard. I feel like
my balance is way better than it ever was working 12–13–14 hours a day at a startup. The
benefits that are offered to me now, you know, really helps. Really, really helps me as a
person. … Also, [I] love what I do, so the personal fulfillment is really like I’m happy
about that.
Notably, Veronica reported that she doubled her salary by transitioning from a startup to a global
marketing technology organization, earning a base compensation of $132,000 at the time of the
interview. In addition to compensation, Veronica’s satisfaction and enthusiasm for the job came
from a broader sense of feeling valued and cared for.

205

Veronica emphasized that her organization prioritized employee wellbeing by embedding
their values into the design of benefits and operations. For example, Veronica shared that the
company made significant changes to compensation structures after employees expressed
concern. The company further demonstrated its values by being “outspoken politically and what
sort of causes they support.” The outward advocacy added another dimension of belonging, as
Veronica felt the company’s values aligned with her own. Further, Veronica shared that the
organization engaged in company-wide closures in response to employee burnout. To Veronica,
the examples demonstrated a commitment to promoting the wellbeing of employees. In contrast,
several participants felt the provided benefits and compensation were structured in ways that
centered normative family structures, resulting in unmet needs.
Like Veronica, Ramona reported that her current job had access to all of the elements of
decent work. Due to the organization’s salary transparency, she felt she was compensated well,
noting that her organization pays entry-level professionals a minimum of $60,000 annually.
Ramona described how the work environment, which includes several civil rights attorneys,
adheres to clear protocols and policies around work schedules, discrimination, and employee
protections. Ramona also noted that her job is protected by a union and includes full coverage for
health expenses. However, Ramona did cite how the benefits were not inclusive of her family
structure.
Inadequate Benefits and Compensation
Ramona described her role as the financial caretaker of her mother, who retired. Because
Ramona’s mother earned citizenship as an older adult, social security benefits were not enough
to cover living expenses. As such, Ramona supported her mother financially, and described
barriers associated with health care coverage. Benefits were not structured to include parents

206

who are financially dependent on their children. Such insurance policies reinforce middle-class,
individualistic notions of family that do not account for diverse familial relationships or the role
of intersecting identities such as parental immigration status. Ramona reflected:
I get compensated well, but I think like financially, people don’t realize the financial
burden [of] like not everyone, but children of immigrants. Like my mom didn’t become a
U.S. citizen until I was born, so she didn’t contribute to social security. So now that she’s
retired, she doesn’t have any money to like take care of herself. … I wish my job would
cover you know, health insurance for elderly parents or something like that. That’s been
more of a barrier like, I make good money, but I probably could buy a home and like I
don’t know, do something fun with my money, but instead I, you know, contribute to my
mother’s livelihood because she doesn’t have any financial support.
Ramona noted how she did not view this as a point of contention; it was the reality of her
circumstances. Similarly, Bella described herself as the main breadwinner for her parents.
Describing a personally significant shift in the dynamic, Bella shared:
I still live in the same place, but I am now financially responsible for everything. …
When I first started working you know, I wasn’t making much. I thought I was making,
but I still financially relied on [my parents]. But now I am the breadwinner of the house, I
would say now. And that’s something that causes strife right, because it’s still technically
their household but it’s like. But I maintain it. And I think that has changed our dynamic
a little bit. … My cost of living has increased, so even now as a senior manager like I’m
comfortable, but I shouldn’t just be comfortable at this point with the work I do. I should
be good [emphasis added].

207

Although Bella, Ramona and Dr. Mariah felt they were reasonably compensated, they
each shared how structural barriers created conditions where they each were responsible for
financial contributions to family. Such responsibilities resulted in continued financial strain that
inhibited participants’ individual social mobility. For example, both Bella and Ramona
mentioned how purchasing a home is an intended aspiration that is not feasible given the cost of
living and their overall financial responsibilities. The examples demonstrate how systemic
barriers continue to impact first-generation college graduates of color, even once they have
reached a personal point of success.
Ongoing Challenges for Wellbeing at Work
Like Ramona, Renee, Kim, and Dr. Mariah described how organizational benefits did not
meet their needs. Renee struggled to find a Black therapist who was covered by their insurance
and resorted to paying out of pocket for the mental health care. Kim sought non-Western medical
care and was unable to receive such supports through employer-provided insurance. The
structure of employee leave policies was a source of major stress for Dr. Mariah. At the time of
the interview, she was pregnant and working for a state university as an assistant dean. Although
the job offered paid maternity leave, Dr. Mariah was denied the benefit because of her recent
transition into the role. The solutions offered by human resources involved working from home
after her limited vacation days depleted or going on unpaid leave. Detailing the direct impact on
her wellbeing, Dr. Mariah shared, “every piece of me is breaking and it’s not insurance, but it’s
like policies that tie to someone’s ability to be able to be well at work.”
The options offered by human resources were not conducive to wellbeing, as Dr. Mariah
explained that she contributes to her parents’ rent in addition to covering personal living
expenses and preparing for a new baby. As such, she could not afford unpaid leave. Dr. Mariah’s

208

supervisor offered remote work as an alternative; however, such an approach continues to
prioritize Dr. Mariah’s output over her physical health and postpartum recovery. Because of the
despair associated with the organization’s lack of support, Dr. Mariah was hesitant to state she
had attained decent work. Dr. Mariah shared, “I thought I had it [decent work] here until
maternity leave went out the door and I’m just like, I’m so stressed [emphasis added].” Although
Dr. Mariah felt support from her direct supervisor, she reported fluid feelings of emotional safety
due to ongoing encounters with hostile colleagues who were committed to reinforcing the status
quo.
The above examples demonstrate the barriers that inhibit decent work for first-generation
college graduates of color, despite their talents, agency, and seniority. Table 5 summarizes the
work-related barriers that inhibit access to decent work. Further, participants’ narratives
illuminate how the elements of decent work can vary with employee positionality within the
broader context of power and social hierarchies. Participants’ compensation and benefit needs
were shaped by familial obligations, loan payments, and socioeconomic status. Dr. Mariah felt
she had obtained decent work until her healthcare needs shifted, which revealed structural
barriers associated with leave policies. Further, her narrative revealed how one may find
emotional safety in certain sub-communities within the workplace, while still encountering abuse
in others. For Bella and Ramona, adequate compensation may have been achieved in a context
where immigration policies did not restrict the financial independence of parents.

209

Table 5
Barriers to Decent Work and Participant-Reported Impacts
Dimension of decent work Barriers Impact on participants
Access to adequate health
care
Health plan structure Exclusion of diverse family
structures; increased
financial burdens to cover
family expenses
Limited diversity of
providers covered by
network
Participants required to pay
out of-pocket for culturally
relevant health services
Restricted parental leave
eligibility
Stress
Adequate compensation Lack of pay transparency
within organizations and
across organizations
Basing pay assessment on
familial income from
working-class jobs
Inequitable compensation
within and across
organizations
Financial pressure to work
multiple jobs; restricted
upward mobility
Hours that allow for free
time and adequate rest
Demanding job expectations;
fulfilling multiple roles
within an organization
Experience of burnout; less
access to social networks
and leisure; physical
manifestations of stress
and burnout
Inadequate support structures
at work
Organizational values that
complement family and
social values
Incongruence between
espoused values,
structures, and practices
Experiences of tokenization
or being devalued by the
organization; reduced
sense of belonging
Physical and emotionally
safe working conditions
(e.g., absent of physical,
mental, or emotional
abuse)
Workplace climate Racial abuse at work; sexual
harassment encounters;
exhaustion and physical
stress symptoms
Structure and nature of roles Feelings of exploitation,
compassion fatigue and
physical vulnerability

210

Given participants’ aspirations, self-advocacy, and ongoing challenges at work, 10
participants changed jobs multiple times since graduating from college, and one entered a full-
time doctoral program after their first post-graduate job due to a desire to increase potential
earnings. At the time of the interviews, eight participants had started new positions within 18
months. Six had only served in their current role for about 6 months, and it is possible their
perspectives on the organization have shifted over time.
The prior sections demonstrate the ways in which participants navigated barriers at each
stage of their career trajectories by using agency, normative capital, and various forms of
community cultural wealth. Over time, participants were able to refine their salary expectations,
desired work environments, and further articulate their needs to employers. This demonstrates an
increase in navigational, financial, and cultural capital that accrued through career experience.
However, as in college, such growth often occurred without explicit guidance, through trial and
error. Accordingly, all participants described the need for changes within school and work
environments to improve access to decent work. Such changes are outlined in the following
section.
Participants’ Recommendations for Change
Just before the conclusion of the interview, each participant was asked the following
question: “if you had a magic wand and could re-design how your university and first employer
supported your transition from college to work, what would you change, if anything?”
Participant responses revealed varying levels of analysis, targeting broad societal changes as well
as institutional shifts. For example, one participant recommended tuition-free college, while
another suggested that predominately White institutions should no longer exist. Two participants
expressed disbelief that employers are able or willing to provide the mentorship necessary to

211

support career growth. Other recommendations were more programmatic in nature, including
improved onboarding practices and diversity, equity, and inclusion training for employees at
universities and other workplaces.
Most participant recommendations for universities centered the following needs: identity-
conscious resources, accessible exposure to career possibilities, and enhanced mentorship or
career coaching opportunities. Relatedly, participants recommended that employers provide
equitable job opportunities, which include inclusive work environments and clear pathways
toward professional development, including mentorship and opportunities for promotion. The
following sections convey participants’ recommendations for change within school and work
environments.
Recommended Changes in Schools
Eleven participants expressed the need for universities to offer accessible programming
that is intentionally designed to respond to the needs of first-generation college students and
graduates of color. They emphasized the importance of programming that is representative of the
lived experiences of first-generation college graduates of color. Further, participants stated that
such programming should address implicit assumptions or hidden curriculum. As participants
shared, such needs may be addressed by enhancing access to resources, improving student-staff
interactions, and developing identity-conscious programming.
Enhancing Access to Resources in College
Participants reported varied barriers that inhibited their access to resources in college
including limited awareness, lack of time, or intimidation due to campus climate. To improve
student access and awareness, several participants mentioned the need for improved outreach
strategies. Ramona discussed how the information provided through personal statements could

212

serve as a starting point to connect incoming students with relevant resources. She suggested that
outreach should be targeted, ongoing, and extend beyond graduation, particularly for students
who have yet to find employment.
Ramona recounted how the university surveyed recent alumni to inquire about
employment status a few months after graduation. She completed the survey and stated that she
had not found employment, expecting that someone would follow-up with support. However, she
did not receive any additional outreach. As such, Ramona’s takeaway was that the survey was
for statistical purposes, not concern for graduates. Ramona asserted that university support
should extend beyond the 4 years of college, noting that her financial obligation continued
beyond graduation so access to resources should as well. Alexis, Lauren and Raven asserted the
importance of proactive, targeted outreach strategies as well, such as partnering with cultural
organizations or engaging each student in ongoing check-ins.
Offering a different approach to improve access, Bella suggested all students should be
required to take a career course, in line with other general education requirements. Supporting
her assertion, Bella stated, “[career services] just felt like such an option that wasn’t important at
the time.” By senior year, she realized she had unknowingly neglected years of preparation work.
Bella recalled the niche nature of her first-year seminar and suggested that instead, such
experiences could provide students with exposure to careers. Raven and Renee’s
recommendations conveyed support for embedded coursework. The recommendation was
supported by comments from the three students who attended a co-op institution with a required
career class, suggesting embedded career coursework may provide enhanced access. However,
participant narratives suggest that institutions must go beyond simply offering the resource.

213

Participants conveyed that impactful resources should include interpersonal interactions that are
supportive, inclusive, and provide culturally relevant insights.
Improving Student-Staff Interactions
Nine participants noted that access to career-related resources was further inhibited by
campus climate and ineffective interactions with predominately White staff in student-facing
offices. While Carmen’s solution was to incorporate more career programming into identity-
oriented spaces, other participants identified employee training as a potential solution, asserting
the need for White staff to build their capacity to serve students of color and first-generation
students. Sun highlighted a perceived gap in advisor awareness, stating, “especially for students
of color, I just don’t think they understand the disparities there.” In addition, he cited uncertainty
that training would be enough to shift staff behavior, reflecting on the need for campus officials
to build greater awareness of racial barriers and respond to such challenges. Conveying
skepticism, Sun remarked, “but I mean, they’re aware of the challenges of Black students face
and they barely do something about that, so you know I may be expecting too much.”
Sun’s comment reflects a lack of confidence in institutions’ willingness to address
concerns of students of color. As such, his comments suggest the need for increased attention to
culturally responsive resources to build trusting relationships with first-generation students of
color. Additionally, Sun shared his thoughts about normative assumptions advisors may have
about students. “I don’t think advisors are really thinking about first-gen students at the
university level,” he recalled. He proceeded to explain how advisors framed privileged students
as “go getters” whereas he “didn’t know what I was going to get.” The comment suggests that
advisors may improve their effectiveness upon examining internalized biases and coaching
students on the use of resources on campus. Perhaps for similar reasons, Alexis, Carmen, Raven

214

and Lauren noted a clear preference for guidance from those with shared identities and career
trajectories within a related field of interest. The responses suggested a belief that professionals
of color could provide enhanced insight that may assist first-generation college students of color
with navigating structural barriers related to school and work.
Participant comments underscored the need for school officials to build intentional
relationships with students that go beyond transactional support. Raven concretely articulated
advising approaches that promote “discovery” and offer guided reflection that helps students
identify their career development needs:
Rather than like “here’s a blurb of information” or “here are some resources, go do it,” I
think if it can be a conversation around like “here’s how the resources have been used for
students in the past. Here’s how someone who’s [had] a similar experience to you has
used this, do you feel like that could be helpful for you?”
Raven’s suggestion articulates the need to provide ongoing guidance as opposed to relying on a
model that offers resources that students must navigate independently. Relatedly, five
participants asserted the need for greater attention to building students’ career literacy.
Improving career literacy involves providing exposure to the wide array of available
employment pathways (Valentine & Kosloski, 2021). As Lauren stated, building career literacy
involves guiding “students to not just like what they think that they want, but giving them the
resources to see what other things are out there or other career paths that are out there.” Exposure
to diverse career possibilities would be especially impactful for students who are basing career
and major decisions on limited exposure to professional pathways. Such findings related to
participants’ recommendations for increased identity-conscious programming.
Identity-Conscious Programming

215

Eleven participants expressed the necessity for programming that is intentionally
designed to respond to the needs of first-generation college students and graduates of color. The
reported offerings within institutions and workplaces did not address varying navigational capital
and positionalities. Alexis underscored the importance of accounting for students’ lived
experiences, stating:
I had 18 years of a story that [staff and faculty] don’t know anything about and it’s
probably gonna play a role in how I perform academically, my mental health, you know,
how I socialize here, like all of those things. Like no one’s ever asked me that.
The comment alludes to the need to personally engage with students and assess their needs in
order to design identity-conscious resources and programs. Further, participants’ comments
indicated the need to integrate diversity, equity, access, and inclusion into campus offerings. For
example, participants recommended varied programming models, including identity-specific
mentorship, alumni guest speakers, cohort-based career check ins, and exit programming that
provides seniors with access to insight into how to navigate post-graduate challenges.
While some institutions offered similar programming, participants noted how such
programs lacked an explicit race and class-oriented lens. As such, suggestions included the need
to diversify guest speakers, provide paid opportunities for students to develop work experience,
and to integrate more career programming through multicultural offices. Overall, participants’
recommendations suggested a need for universities to intentionally cultivate students’
navigational capital. Participants felt that doing so would expose students to diverse career
options and provide necessary insight to support a successful transition to the workplace.
Recommended Changes in the Workplace

216

In total, participants offered fewer concrete suggestions for how to improve work
environments compared to the numerous suggestions for universities. The disparity may be due
to societal norms that shape participants’ expectations of employers. For example, Kim
originally noted that she did not feel it was employers’ responsibility to support employee
transitions to the workplace. It was later revealed that skepticism about employer commitments
may have influenced that comment, as she later asserted, “your supervisors should care that
much; many of them don’t.” Relatedly, when expressing a desire for ongoing career coaching
within the workplace, Alexis shared, “employers don’t really help you in this way, but in an ideal
world like that’d be great if they did.” Alternatively, Lauren, a seasoned human resources
professional, offered the highest quantity of recommendations, suggesting that professional
positionality may influence participant perspectives as well. Despite some skepticism, several
participants recommended changes to improve access to decent work for first-generation college
graduates of color, beginning with inclusive work environments and expanded pathways for
professional development.
Inclusive Work Environments
Participant responses indicated a need for diverse, inclusive leadership, workplace norms
that support employees holistically, and adequate benefits and compensation. Carmen framed
diverse staff as a conduit to creating a workplace of trust and community. She deduced that
bringing in new, equity-minded leaders would reduce the microaggressions she had to navigate
with predominately White leaders. Relatedly, Renee underscored the importance of creating
environments that allow employees to feel comfortable being authentic and bring their lived
experience into the work. Both participants spoke of work environments that include compassion
and appreciation for employees.

217

Participant comments further suggested that benefits and resources should account for the
diverse experiences of employees. For example, Ramona shared how she is financially
responsible for her mother given limited social security benefits. Accordingly, she expressed a
desire for insurance coverage and benefits that included elderly parents. Relatedly, both Renee
and Kim highlighted challenges finding healthcare providers that meet their needs as Black
women. Dr. Mariah described the challenges associated with contingent leave policies. In
addition to inclusive benefits, participants noted the role of professional development as a key
contributor to a successful transition to decent work.
Expanding Pathways for Professional Development
Six participants mentioned various recommendations related to professional
development, including onboarding experiences, training, feedback, mentorship, and career
advancement pathways. Five participants noted the need for training that supports first-
generation college graduates in navigating their roles and the workforce more broadly. For
example, Sun expressed the need for job-specific training and time to adjust to a new job.
Instead, he was expected to “hit the ground running” with minimal support or guidance. Renee
and Lauren each discussed the benefit of onboarding workshops that include holistic support
including navigating burnout, understanding one’s benefits, and financial literacy around
retirement savings. These insights suggest that such knowledge was assumed or omitted from the
onboarding process, which left employees to navigate such needs independently.
Further, both Lauren and Veronica expressed a need for ongoing feedback that
encourages employee growth and provides opportunities for improvement. Reflecting on desired
changes at her first employer, Veronica shared:

218

[The] feedback bit was big and that sort of the development bit. Like this is the first time
I’m ever getting any guidance and it’s when you’re telling me to leave? How am I
supposed to grow in this role if I don’t know what to do, or how to improve?
Veronica’s quote highlights the importance of ongoing feedback and clear performance criteria
that offers employees an opportunity for professional growth. Relatedly, Lauren reflected on how
she was denied for promotions without ever receiving feedback besides years of tenure. She
asserted the need for clear promotion criteria based on contributions, not years of service.
Participants’ recommendations highlight examples of increased normative capital
obtained through navigating school and work environments. While they may not have known
how to ask for help or what was needed during undergraduate experiences, participants were able
to clearly articulate concrete suggestions for how the pathway from college to decent work could
be improved. Such findings provide actionable insights that inform recommendations for how to
use the findings of this study to improve school and work environments to promote equity and
access to decent work. In line with critical race theory, participants’ experiential knowledge
serves to contribute valuable insights into necessary reforms in school and workplace settings.
Summary of Findings
This chapter provided a synthesis of participant narratives that emerged through
interviews with 13 first-generation college graduates of color recalling their journeys to decent
work. The chapter highlighted prevalent themes that emerged through participants’ accounts of
key milestones: pre-college experiences, college, the transition to employment, and the ongoing
journey to decent work.
When asked to describe their career development journeys, most participants began the
account with experiences that occurred prior to college. As such, the chapter began with an

219

overview of the barriers faced during college and the role of community cultural wealth in
providing supports that encouraged and supported participants’ continued education. A
significant portion of the chapter then analyzed participants’ experiences navigating institutional,
ideological, and interpersonal barriers while in college. Participants were primarily supported in
navigating such challenges through resources that centered identity and care while fostering
community cultural wealth. Accordingly, a review of the community cultural wealth and
normative capital accrued during college was then provided.
Next, I presented an overview of participants’ transitions to post-graduate employment.
While some remained in jobs they began during college, others activated relationships, agency,
and capital gained during college to identify post-graduate employment opportunities. Two
participants endured long-term underemployment but used navigational capital to identify
roundabout ways to build professional experience, which eventually led to full-time job offers.
Participants’ employment status did not equate to the procurement of decent work, however.
The chapter proceeded with an overview of the ways barriers continued to inhibit
participants’ access to decent work within the first few years of post-graduate employment.
Participants reported a range of 1–10 years prior to securing mostly decent work. Further, they
clearly articulated barriers and contributors to decent work. The findings concluded with
participants’ recommended changes to school and work environments, which they believed could
improve access to decent work.
The findings in chapter four demonstrate the fortitude and strength of 13 first-generation
college graduates of color as they navigated structural barriers in pursuit of decent work. All
participants were supported by a combination of community cultural wealth and normative
capital. Normative capital was often conditional, as participants were frequently required to

220

adopt to dominant norms, such as code-switching or assimilating in order to receive support or
validation from educators. Similar dynamics occurred in the workplace, whereby participants
were faced with the choice to endure ongoing harm and exploitation to remain employed, self-
advocate and face potential consequences, or leave the organization. This speaks to the impacts
of structural barriers such as ubiquitous racism and classism, and the need to redesign school and
work environments to broaden access to equitable decent work. Based on participants’
narratives, the research questions can be reframed into three primary questions:
1. How do first-generation college graduates of color use diverse forms of capital to
navigate structural barriers in pursuit of decent work?
2. What role do universities play in the acquisition of resources to support decent work
for first-generation college graduates of color?
3. What changes in school and work environments do first-generation college graduates
of color recommend in order to expand access to decent work?
Responses to each of the research questions are summarized below based on the themes that
emerged through participants’ stories as reported in the prior sections of this chapter.
Research Question 1: How Do First-Generation College Graduates of Color Use Diverse
Forms of Capital to Navigate Structural Barriers in Pursuit of Decent Work?
Participants articulated examples of how racism, classism and intersecting forms of
oppression impacted every stage of their career development journey. While race was a salient
identity for all, class and socioeconomic status varied more considerably. Eight participants
discussed being of working-class backgrounds, while four did not explicitly discuss their class
background outside of the financial pressures associated with the need to secure employment.

221

Although Veronica did not explicitly state her class background, her comments suggested
financial privilege relative to other participants. However, once in college, she discussed being
one of the few students who “needed to work,” demonstrating the fluidity and nuanced nature of
class backgrounds. Seven participants noted experiences with poverty beginning at a young age,
however. Such experiences restricted access to basic needs and a sense of stability, which led to
ongoing impacts that shaped participants’ approaches and perceptions of work. In most cases,
lower socioeconomic status correlated with limited school resources, which impacted early
exposure to careers and college advising. However, three self-identified low-income participants
benefitted from attendance at well-resourced schools.
Six participants were provided with early access to normative capital through attendance
at well-resourced schools. These high schools were often described as having a culture that
promotes college, offers rigorous coursework, and exposure to career pathways either through
curriculum or affluent peers. However, such class-related privileges were often mitigated by
early encounters with racism, which manifested through hostile interactions with educators and
peers. Further, negative messages from schools conveyed expectations of assimilation or
inadequacy that participants had to actively work to resist.
Such resistance was nurtured through family, inclusive educators, access programs, and
participants’ agency. Almost every participant mentioned family as a source of inspiration, even
in cases where relationships were strained. Participants’ parents typically framed education as a
pathway to enhanced quality of life and opportunities. Accordingly, six participants joined access
programs which offered encouragement, social capital, and navigational capital. In addition to
such supports, each participant demonstrated significant personal agency and aspirational capital.

222

Such strengths enabled participants to persist through college, and several participants eventually
earned advanced degrees. Participants’ experiences in college are reported more extensively in
the following section. Overall, university policies, significant underrepresentation, the hidden
curriculum, and transactional resources hindered participants’ access to support while in college.
To maneuver through such barriers, participants often avoided campus officials, gaining
support from fellow students of color, community organizations, or loved ones. In addition,
participants took advantage of identity-conscious university resources, such as multicultural
programming, support from staff of color, or participation in access programs. Such
commitments took place alongside demanding work schedules due to participants’ financial need
and the cost of college attendance. The narratives demonstrate the immense inner fortitude that
participants leveraged to persist through continued barriers in college and the workplace.
Upon graduation, several of the barriers faced in college continued to impact participant
access to decent work. Limited guidance, inadequate compensation and benefits, hostile
workplace climate, including harassment and discrimination, and inequitable job responsibilities
all significantly impacted participant wellbeing, hindering access to decent work for all 13
participants. Once in the workplace, participants continued to nurture relationships with
colleagues of color which offered community, resources, and navigational capital. In addition,
participants demonstrated community cultural wealth through resistant capital, such as a
willingness to seek organizational change, promotions, raises, or when necessary—leave the
organization all together.
Participants’ career aspirations were explicitly influenced by their positionalities. For
example, nine participants chose justice-related career paths with a desire to change systems
based on their personal first-hand encounters with structural barriers. Once in their careers, all

223

participants discussed using their privileges to expand access for other disenfranchised and
excluded communities. Despite the privileges associated with post-graduate employment,
participants continued to navigate structural barriers throughout their careers.
While some aspects of decent work were obtained within participants’ first post-
graduation jobs, participant responses largely demonstrated the fluidity and relativity of decent
work. For example, several participants described the relativity of compensation, thinking
initially that they secured well-paying employment until they realized it was not enough to cover
living expenses, which often included financial support for other family members. Further, while
a few participants believed they were well-compensated, they later learned they were being paid
inequitably either due to pay disparities or unrealistic job expectations. Workplace climate
served as a barrier for 10 participants within the initial stages of employment. Such barriers to
decent work adversely impacted participant wellbeing. Accordingly, two participants responded
to hostile environments by resigning after about 1 year.
Narratives suggest that participants continued to build capital through work experiences,
which allowed them to make increasingly informed decisions about subsequent employment
opportunities. Accordingly, at the time of the interviews, participants largely reported that they
were in the most generative employment of their careers. Two participants reported that their
jobs satisfy all the elements of decent work. Key contributors to decent work included adequate
compensation, an inclusive, responsive work environment, a schedule that allows for rest, and
reasonable job expectations that include appropriate resources to complete assigned duties.
Although both participants reported satisfaction with benefits, one indicated that the structure of
health insurance was inconducive to her family structure, as a financial provider for her mother.

224

The finding underscores the need for equity to be embedded within all aspects of an
organization, including through structures such as benefits and compensation.
Research Question 2: What Role Do Universities Play in the Acquisition of Resources to
Support Decent Work for First-Generation College Graduates of Color?
First-generation college graduates of color accrued varying levels of capital during
college due to campus climates that ranged from indifferent to hostile. In addition, participants’
access to capital during college was further shaped by financial barriers, and overall university
design rooted in racist, classist norms. Without explicit guidance on how to strategically navigate
the university, most participants were left to stumble through the hidden curriculum through
trial-and-error approaches. This inhibited their career development trajectories by prolonging the
identification of pathways toward decent work.
Although the colleges may have offered extensive career development resources, such
resources were typically deemed inaccessible or exclusive. Reported barriers to accessing
university resources included limited awareness, discomfort with predominately White staff, and
lack of time, given school and work responsibilities. Most participants worked between 16–40
hours per week, which resulted in financial capital to cover basic needs and contribute to tuition
costs. With the exception of identity-specific spaces or access programs, participants reported
that university-provided offerings, including coursework, primarily catered toward White
students with greater class privilege. Participants used community cultural wealth and normative
capital to navigate such environments.
Through navigational capital, participants were able to identify pockets of support within
and beyond the university. Reported supports were generally provided by identity-based student
groups, staff in cultural centers, inclusive faculty, employment, and access programs such as the

225

McNair Scholars program. Reported benefits of engaging in such spaces included enhanced,
culturally relevant guidance, empowerment, and a sense of community. In some cases, such
spaces offered leadership development, an opportunity to build career-oriented skillsets, and
financial capital through scholarships or student employment. The identity-based resources were
described in stark contrast to participants experiences within the broader university. The
distinction appeared to be due to the equity-mindedness in such spaces on campus. Such spaces
offered a focus on identity, racially diverse representation, and genuine relationships that offered
holistic support. Accordingly, the identity-conscious spaces provided opportunities to cultivate
and build community cultural wealth in support of navigating dominant norms and
predominately White environments.
When analyzing the types of college-provided capital, relationships and career exposure
experiences served as the primary contributors to students’ career development. However,
career-related opportunities were accessed and experienced inequitably due to varied guidance
and approaches that centered mechanics of job applications without sharing relevant context and
supporting the development of related skillsets. Some participants left college with limited
awareness of available career paths, or how to purposefully identify such opportunities. In
addition to career exposure, participants from low-income backgrounds obtained a broader
consciousness such as exposure to diverse lived experiences, including insight into dominant
norms affiliated with elite predominately White environments.
The three students who attended a cooperative education institution reported immense
benefits from such programming. Career-oriented experiences were especially helpful to students
who came from working-class environments. In addition to building new skills, each participant
gained valuable insight into what they sought from a work environment, as well as exposure to

226

what they did not want. Experience navigating predominately White school and work
environments served to broaden participants’ exposure to others’ class privilege and navigating
discriminatory behaviors.
Although dominant perspectives may deem such knowledge as a form of capital, such
exposure led to deleterious impacts on participant wellbeing. Most participants reported feeling
undervalued, underresourced, and in some instances, explicitly harmed by the pervasive White
supremacy in college. Although universities served as a cite of capital accumulation, the benefits
accounted for in the current study were largely dependent on agency of participants. Participants
shared few examples of universities utilizing proactive strategies to foster career development
using intentional, equity-minded strategies. Accordingly, such resources were described as
general, vague, or irrelevant.
Due to the societal values associated with a college degree, it is worth noting the capital
participants gained by obtaining the credential itself. Six participants associated their universities
with prestige, which, as Victoria stated, may have impacted employer perceptions of their
candidacy. In addition, Raven associated her degree with earned respect within the restaurant
where she was initially employed. Accordingly, the very prestige that likely informed
institutional barriers ultimately may have advantaged participants as they pursued decent work.
Research Question 3: What Changes in School and Work Environments Do First-
Generation College Graduates of Color Recommend in Order to Expand Access to Decent
Work?
Participants articulated the need for changes at the individual, organizational,
institutional, and societal levels. The recommendations primarily centered programs and
practices, which may demonstrate the internalization of dominant norms that often go

227

unchallenged. However, one participant did recommend free college, and another suggested that
predominately White organizations should not exist. The primary needs represented included
culturally responsive career guidance, mentorship opportunities, internship access, and the
overall diversification of every constituency in academia. Participants’ suggestions highlighted
the importance of representation, as several expressed explicit desire for mentorship from leaders
of color.
Similar themes emerged in participants’ discussions of recommended changes within the
workplace. Responses called for inclusive, bias-free work environments where employees can
contribute authentically, while receiving holistic support. Desired supports included inclusive,
culturally relevant benefits, improved onboarding, and ongoing mentorship. Participants
demonstrated learning needs that underscore how the hidden curriculum in college can extend to
the workplace, disproportionately impacting first-generation college graduates of color.
The current study highlights opportunity gaps that emerge through structural barriers
inhibiting access to equitable school, professional development, and work environments and the
benefits therein. When examining participant narratives across educational and professional
milestones, it becomes clear that significant structural changes are necessary to create equitable
pathways from school to work. The following chapter discusses the implications of the study’s
findings and builds upon participant recommendations to offer data-informed strategies that
promote equitable decent work in school and work environments.

228

Chapter Five: Discussion
The current study was conducted to highlight the counternarratives of first-generation
college graduates of color as they employ diverse forms of capital to navigate barriers in pursuit
of decent work. The study extends a long lineage of research demonstrating how intersecting
forms of oppression restrict access to decent work for traditionally excluded communities
(Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004; Bonilla-Silva, 2006; Crenshaw, 1989; Delgado & Stefancic,
2001; Flores et al., 2019; Garriott et al., 2021; Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2018). Findings
demonstrate that participants encountered structural, institutional, interpersonal, and ideological
barriers at each stage of their career development journeys.
Given the critical narrative focus of the current study, participants revealed rich stories
covering the span of multiple decades throughout their lives. It is notable that they attended
diverse colleges, entered different sectors, and graduated across a span of 9 years, however,
similar themes emerged regarding barriers and sources of support throughout the school-to-work
transition and experiences once employed. Accordingly, several areas for future research and
intervention emerge from the findings. In this final chapter, I discuss implications of the findings
within the scope of current literature. Included within that discussion are some limitations of the
study, which can inform future research. I then offer implications for practice and conclude by
presenting a new model for equity-minded progress and related recommendations that can guide
school and work environments toward expanded access to decent work.
Discussion of Findings
In this section, I situate current findings within the context of recent literature on decent
work and career development of professionals of color. The current study contributes to an
interdisciplinary understanding of decent work, drawing from literature in higher education,

229

psychology, and organizational change. Although the majority of first-generation college
graduates are identified as people of color (RTI International, 2019), few studies have examined
the explicit role of race in relation to their experiences with career development. In addition,
studies on career development of first-generation communities have tended to focus on college
students, not recent graduates (Carr, 2020; Garriott, 2020; Owens, et al., 2010; Parks-Yancy,
2012; Storlie et al., 2016). The current study addresses these gaps by contributing rich accounts
of the role of race in the career development of first-generation college graduates of color as they
persist through various milestones. Such qualitative research is increasingly valuable, as prior
studies of decent work have used quantitative methodologies (Autin et al., 2021; Duffy et al.,
2016; Duffy et al., 2018; Duffy et al., 2020) or measured equity among post-graduate outcomes
by using compensation as a primary indicator (Espinosa et al., 2019; Institute for College Access
and Success, 2020; National Center for Education Statistics, 2021).
The findings of the current study demonstrate how decent work and wellbeing extend
beyond compensation, though income is a key factor of gainful employment and addressing
social inequality. Participants’ narratives confirm the relevance of the psychology of working
theory (PWT) among first-generation college graduates of color. Duffy et al. (2018) assert that
marginalization has a direct, negative connection to work volition, which may explain why
participants commonly accepted or remained in jobs that were suboptimal. Besides
compensation, the most frequent barriers to decent work were experiences with emotional safety,
time off, and benefits.
Although not explicitly part of the PWT model, participants each were able to extract
meaning from their work, which provided a sense of purpose and contributed to their ability to
persist in the roles despite problematic work environments. Participants mentioned additional

230

dimensions of desirable work, which are not included in the PWT theory but contribute to equity
within the workplace. Examples include clear, equitable pathways toward advancement,
opportunities for learning, and an inclusive workplace that is responsive to employee concerns.
These elements were not common across participants’ job experiences. However, those who
were most enthusiastic about their employment worked in places where such features were
present.
The current study purposefully explored the racialized experiences of first-generation
college graduates of color in aggregate as an initial exploratory study to demonstrate common
impacts of White supremacy across groups. While shared themes emerged, findings allude to
distinctive racialized trends that shaped participants’ experiences within the workplace, based on
membership in different racial groups. The idea is supported by an examination across studies
that have centered singular racialized groups, such as those described in chapter two (Huang,
2021; Patton & Njoku, 2019; Quaye et. al, 2020; Vallejo, 2015). Future research should conduct
a deeper investigation of racialized trends that began to emerge through current findings, such as
the common experiences of Black women in the study getting laid off or fired, the impact of
immigration policy on the financial commitments of Latinx professionals or biracial women
enduring harassment in the workplace. Further, despite targeted recruitment of men and queer
communities, such participants were not adequately represented in the current sample. Asian
Americans and Indigenous Americans were not represented at all. Accordingly, similar research
should be repeated with these communities to expand accounts of first-generation college
graduates of color seeking decent work.
In addition, the current study used the framework of decent work to assess participants’
attainment of the elements but did not explore their perspectives on what constitutes decent

231

work. Interviews revealed that perspectives of decent work and standards for employment
evolved as participants gained more professional work experience and observed different
treatment across organizational contexts. Additional research on first-generation college
graduates of color perceptions of decent work, and how they advance with increased professional
experience would add further context for creating work environments to recruit and retain first-
generation professionals of color. Such perspectives may change over time, and recollections
may shift with participants’ increased capital attainment and socialization within the workplace.
This reveals a potential limitation of the current study, as participants were asked to recall
experiences which occurred several years prior. The advantage of the approach is the ability of
offer a long view of participants’ career development trajectories, leveraging the capital and
knowledge they accrued over time. The disadvantage is that, as a couple participants stated, such
experiences were “so long ago” that participants may have struggled to recall certain relevant
details. However, the focus of the narrative approach is the emphasis on participants’
perceptions, experiences, and recollections as opposed to seeking to collect objective facts (Bold,
2013). Nonetheless, longitudinal studies on the experiences of first-generation college graduates
of color as they are seeking and attaining decent work may serve to corroborate these findings
and explore the evolutions of such perceptions and experiences over time.
The study’s findings reveal rich accounts of participants’ school-to-work trajectories.
Such accounts bolster existing research, while offering new dimensions to explore decent work
through an intersectional lens that primarily centers race, class and first-generation status. In
addition, the findings provide substantial implications for practitioners who are involved with
supporting first-generation college graduates of color in school and work environments. Such
implications are discussed in the following section.

232

Implications for Future Practice
Many key themes emerged through the narratives of the 13 first-generation college
graduates of color who participated in this study. Findings provide rich accounts of the ways in
which first-generation college graduates of color navigated prevailing barriers at each stage of
their journey from school to work. In this section, I discuss four key implications of the findings
of the current study, as relevant to higher education practitioners, educators, employers, and
human resource leaders.
First, the current study complicates dominant narratives about post-graduate outcomes of
first-generation college graduates of color, which are often distorted, overlooked, or
oversimplified. Students of color are led to believe that a college degree is a direct pathway
toward gainful employment and an improved quality of life (Nuñez & Sansone, 2016). The
current study indicates the prevalence of such narratives, which participants commonly heard
and subsequently internalized. However, the realities to securing decent work were more
complicated than participants anticipated. As they learned with time, securing decent work was
dependent on career-preparation experiences, implicit norms of the application process,
navigational capital, and social connections. Barriers to such forms of capital created challenges
securing expedient gainful employment, and often yielded financial consequences. Further,
suboptimal work conditions hindered participants’ wellbeing and overall quality of life.
Dominant narratives about a college education should therefore be nuanced to provide first-
generation communities of color with a realistic understanding of the investment required to
obtain a college degree, and steps necessary to accrue subsequent benefits.
Espinoza et al. (2019) and Valez et al. (2019) reported that racial salary disparities
emerge within the first 12 months post-graduation. Participants’ reported challenges securing

233

adequate compensation corroborate such findings while adding context that may influence such
disparities. However, it was not until 2020 that the National Association of Colleges and
Employers reported disaggregated post-graduate salary data by race for the first time (National
Association of Colleges and Employers, 2022). Still, such findings did not include a review of
how intersecting identities may influence such outcomes or how take-home income varies based
on student loans. In addition, full-time employment was defined based upon hours worked,
however, such outcome analyses did not explore graduates’ access to benefits, which is a key
component of decent work.
Accordingly, the current study’s findings demonstrate the need to move beyond
quantitative post-graduate outcome reports that look at employment procurement without critical
analysis of the context or quality of such jobs. Outcomes need to be interpreted within the
context of disaggregated demographic data and graduates’ return on investment considering the
cost of college attendance, debt, and cost of living. In addition, it will be important for
universities to explore the quality of graduates’ work experiences and prepare first-generation
college graduates of color to identify and assess prospective employment through the lens of
decent work. Such interventions will be an important factor in addressing racial wealth gaps as
examined in chapter one. A review of the disaggregated college outcome data at a national and
university level may reveal new insights to disrupt dominant narratives of college as a means to
eradicate the economic impacts of racism, while shifting the onus from first-generation college
graduates of color to the institutions that are supposedly supporting their career advancement.
Employers bear responsibility in addressing pay disparities as well and should explore methods
to eliminate pay inequities in hiring and promotion practices.

234

Secondly, the current study reveals how hidden curriculum serves as a barrier in the
career development of first-generation college graduates of color throughout school and the early
stages of one’s career. Adding a new dimension to the work of Jack (2019), the current findings
reveal the mixed benefits of access to normative capital prior to attending college. Such capital
from well-resourced schools may have supported participants’ ability to transition to elite college
environments, yet it did not necessarily provide an advantage when it came to identifying and
navigating one’s intended career path. Jack’s (2019) research did not employ a racial lens,
however. It is possible that participants’ ability to benefit from early access to capital was
mitigated by hostile campus climates and racial barriers within their college environments.
In the current study, hidden curriculum was coupled with faculty and staff interactions
that made participants feel ostracized or judged. Universities are currently designed for students
to access campus resources by actively seeking support from faculty or staff. Participant
narratives demonstrate how strained or transactional interactions with campus officials served as
a barrier to receiving academic, career, and personal support. Employing navigational capital,
participants identified pockets of support, mostly through peers, faculty, and staff of color. Prior
research has demonstrated similar dynamics, where faculty and staff of color are positioned as a
source of holistic support in comparison to limited benefits from interactions with White staff
(Luedke, 2017).
In addition, the hidden curriculum of knowing how to ask for help can serve as a barrier
to receiving necessary career guidance. Bassett (2021) conducted longitudinal interviews with
diverse first-generation first-year college students who participated in access programs.
Participants in programs with required check-ins reported more benefits and fewer barriers
accessing resources. The program model that required participants to schedule meetings of their

235

own volition involved more barriers to obtaining support. Bassett’s findings highlighted the role
of early schooling and family modeling of help-seeking behaviors as influences on participants’
comfort seeking help. The current findings support this, as participants who benefitted from pre-
college access programs continued to seek similar spaces for support in college. Further, Jack
(2019) demonstrated that class differences may impact low-income students’ comfort seeking
support from faculty and staff, who may be viewed as unapproachable. Such findings
demonstrate design flaws with institutional models that render important resources as optional,
placing the burden on students to identify a need, then determine when and how to access such
supports.
Interviews revealed that socialization to the concept of careers is, in itself, a privilege.
Many participants prioritized jobs over planning for careers, given the financial pressure to earn
immediate income. Such findings further reveal how class can influence sought work
opportunities and related mentalities. In addition, limited knowledge of career pathways
prolonged participants’ time in the workforce prior to identifying a desired field of work.
Jobs were prioritized as a form of survival, and financial pressures influenced
participants’ acceptance of initial employment offers without much scrutiny or discernment. A
college education did not equip these first-generation college graduates of color with the
navigational capital to evaluate job offers through the lens of decent work. In addition, access to
internships and other high-impact practices were restricted by participants’ demanding work
schedules which resulted in limited time and awareness of how to identify, secure, or leverage
such opportunities. The participants who completed internships did so through curricular
requirements, embedded coursework, or connections through peers of color.

236

While several institutions seek to increase retention and graduation rates across racially
minoritized groups, only 23% indicate working toward explicit goals to increase racially
equitable participation in high-impact practices which include internships (McNair et al., 2020).
Even fewer schools have similar goals that center the experiences of first-generation college
graduates. Accordingly, institutions are emphasizing student graduation without substantive,
purposeful attention to what alumni have gained from their college experience. The current study
demonstrates the consequences of such approaches—first-generation college graduates of color
are often underserved, thus inhibiting expedient access to decent work. Such findings are
supported by studies such as Parks-Yancy (2012) and Hirudayaraj and McLean (2018) who both
documented the underemployment of first-generation college graduates.
Third, the current study demonstrates the ways that universities and employers overlook
the strengths, experiences, and needs of first-generation college graduates of color due to the
prevalent dominant frames that devalue their lived experiences and community cultural wealth.
Such devaluing likely contributed to participants’ experiences with job rejection, being
overlooked for advancement opportunities, gaslighting, or dismissal. The first-generation college
graduates of color in the current study demonstrated thoughtful equity-minded approaches to
their work, perseverance, and a values-driven approach to leadership. In addition, participants
possessed extensive aspirational capital, which was demonstrated in their ability to strive toward
ambitious goals, even without a predetermined roadmap. Several participants highlighted their
linguistic capital, which enhanced their ability to work effectively with diverse communities.
Further, all participants demonstrated resistance capital by approaching their work from the
perspective of increasing access for underrepresented communities, an essential feature of an
equitable organization (Kezar et al., 2022). Lastly, the use of navigational capital enabled

237

participants to be scrappy, resourceful, and creative in their pursuit of goals. Each of these forms
of capital are valuable attributes for students and employees.
By silencing and excluding such leaders, first-generation college graduates of color are
disproportionally disadvantaged, however, so are all other constituencies. Promoting diversity
within organizations is not only the just thing to do; diverse teams are a conduit toward improved
innovation and complex problem-solving if inclusive and well-facilitated (Page, 2019).
Accordingly, universities are missing out on critical perspectives and the generation of new
knowledge that benefits the campus community. Employers are missing out on highly motivated,
talented leaders who can offer necessary perspectives and approaches that serve diverse
communities. The current study offers an empirical argument for the consideration of community
cultural wealth in hiring and promotion practices, and embedding such concepts in recruitment,
retention, and advancement initiatives. Further, the findings suggest the need to bolster supports
that provide diverse representation, navigational capital, and use non-dominant lenses to
empower first-generation college graduates as leaders.
Finally, critical race theorists assert that racism is an embedded feature of society that
people of color contend with daily (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Patton, 2016). The current study
supports such claims, demonstrating the ubiquity of race and intersectional barriers within the
school-to-work pipeline. Accordingly, findings underscore the importance of embedding equity
within the structure, practices, policies, and interactions within organizations. Such an approach
supports the work of Kezar et al. (2022) who asserted the need for shared equity leadership,
which involved embedding equity-related outcomes and accountability measures across
leadership within an organization, not solely concentrating the work within the responsibility of a
single chief diversity officer or department.

238

Participants’ narratives demonstrate how common equity interventions such as identity-
specific programming, are critical and generative. However, the data suggests that such
approaches will not be sufficient to address the pervasive barriers that inhibited participants’
access to decent work. The study’s findings provide potential areas on which to do a deep
assessment of organizational culture to investigate how normative operations may serve to
exclude and circumvent the contributions of first-generation college students and graduates of
color. Based on the findings, institutions can improve organizational effectiveness by expanding
access to an equitable school-to-work pipeline for first-generation college graduates of color. In
the following section, I offer a new model to guide such approaches, The Six Ps of Equity
Priorities, depicted in Figure 3.
The Six Ps of Equity Priorities to Promote Decent Work
Based on the findings, organizations would benefit from prioritizing diversity, equity, and
inclusion in the following: perspectives, policy, practices, people, programs, and the assessment
of organizational progress. The model demonstrates that perspectives of first-generation college
graduates of color must inform programs, policies, practices, hiring and development of people
within the organization. Further, progress in each of these areas should be reviewed in terms of
how they are meeting the needs of first-generation college graduates of color, and whether they
are producing equitable outcomes. Each of the circles are interconnected, as they are all key
components of promoting equitable decent work. Each component is explained in more detail in
the following sections.

239

Figure 3
The Six Ps of Equity Priorities

Note. Figure was created by Hayley Haywood based on data from the current study.

Perspectives
As the findings demonstrate, organizational operations often center White, middle-class
norms (Ray, 2019). Such an approach disadvantages first-generation college graduates of color
and contributes to a deficit lens that centers blame on individual inadequacies as opposed to
exclusive organizational structures. Accordingly, organizations would benefit from taking a
critical look at the assumptions embedded in operations and organizational culture. Any
organizational assumptions should be explicitly stated and accessible to key stakeholders. When

240

engaging in policy review, personnel decisions, general practices, and equity-minded program
design, it will be important to center the needs and perspectives of underrepresented community
members, especially first-generation college graduates of color. Such endeavors require intensive
organizational learning about identity, power, and privilege (Culver et al., 2021; McNair et al.,
2020). Approaches to such efforts and examples are offered in the following sections.
Policy
Participants offered examples of how exclusive policies inhibited their career
development and wellbeing in school and work environments. Academic policies restricted
access to desired majors, which shaped participants’ career trajectories. For example, Lauren was
pushed out of her intended major due to her grades, and it took several years before she was able
to pursue her interest in business after working professionally and returning to graduate school to
complete a Master of Business Administration. Ramona was negatively impacted by rigid
policies as well, which resulted in her losing a scholarship despite achieving a 3.2 grade point
average while working about 16 hours per week in her first semester of college. Due to the
reduction in financial support, she was forced to work over 30 hours per week to afford to remain
enrolled at the university. Such commitments restricted access to career development
experiences such as internships. Accordingly, grade policies, financial aid policies and award
distribution should be assessed and revised to promote student persistence and academic equity.
Within the workforce, policies continued to restrict participants’ access to decent work.
For instance, narrow, individualistic definitions of family excluded parents from being insured
through Ramona’s health insurance plan. This impacted Ramona, who was financially
responsible for her mother’s living expenses and healthcare. Dr. Mariah was impacted by
policies associated with parental leave, which required 1 year of service prior to being eligible.

241

Organizations should conduct an audit of policies from an equity lens to identify the disparate
impacts of rigid structures on the outcomes of diverse community members (Molefi et al., 2021).
Practices
Practices such as the optionality of key resources must be designed through an equity
lens. The current study demonstrates the need for career development to be embedded
throughout school and employment settings. Such an approach should include regular advising
appointments and exposure to career pathways and diverse industry leaders as part of required
coursework in college. Further, institutions should consider the feasibility of cooperative
education experiences throughout the educational pipeline, which would increase partnerships
and communication among universities and employers.
In addition, university operations should cater to the diverse needs of the student
population served. For example, at an institution that offers evening courses for students who are
employed full-time, office hours should extend beyond traditional business hours. In addition,
practices such as closing dining halls during break, or limited post-graduation outreach were
identified as barriers within the current study. Such practices should be redesigned to enhance
access to the knowledge and resources that address basic needs and career development. For
example, institutions could create outreach plans to call recent graduates who have indicated
challenges securing decent work. Once needs are determined, such insight can inform advising
and resources such as facilitated connections to mentors in related fields.
Within the workplace, practices such as improved onboarding, adequate distribution of
resources, and equitable job descriptions would benefit the college-to-career transition of first-
generation college graduates of color. Most participants discussed how their jobs involved
emotionally taxing work. At times, such expectations reportedly superseded the workload of

242

White colleagues. Accordingly, employers should conduct an audit of the ways jobs are
designed, scoped, and compensated to ensure equitable work expectations.
Every participant emphasized the role of climate as a key barrier in school or work
environments. Accordingly, schools and workplaces should adopt strategies to promote inclusive
environments where first-generation college graduates of color can engage as their full, authentic
selves without penalty. To emphasize such areas, equity must be embedded into practices for
hiring, training, promoting, and evaluating people within the organization (Molefi et al., 2021).
People
Leaders within organizations must be equipped with the knowledge, motivation, abilities
to navigate processes to fulfill the organizational mission and embed equity into their work
(Clark & Estes, 2008). This includes providing first-generation college graduates of color with
relevant context and capital. In both school and work, advancement pathways must be clear for
first-generation college graduates of color to know what is expected of them. Additionally, these
leaders need to be provided with training on behaviors and knowledge to fulfill such outcomes.
In addition, organizations should recruit and hire a racially representative staff with the ability to
adequately serve and collaborate with diverse community members.
Participants’ reported experiences within hostile workplaces are supported by a growing
body of literature on racial abuse within the workplace (Holder et al., 2015; Okello et. al, 2020;
Pitcan et al., 2018; Vallejo, 2015). Accordingly, all employees would benefit from racial equity
training, and broader institutional practices to support workplace inclusion (Molefi et al., 2021).
As de Oliveira Andreotti et al. (2015) assert, valuable learning occurs when leaders critically
engage with systems and take accountability for their individual role in replicating systemic
harm. Several competencies are embedded within equity-mindedness, including a willingness to

243

wrestle with tensions, complexity, and contractions within organizations (McNair et al., 2020).
Such knowledge is not embedded in traditional schooling and must be taught to provide shared
frameworks for engaging in equity work.
In addition, participants noted the prevalence of embedded assumptions and hidden
norms within the workplace. Such expectations should be explicitly shared during onboarding
and supervision meetings. Additionally, employees would benefit from access to ongoing
feedback and coaching to improve performance. Organizations progress by building the capacity
of employees through supporting continued knowledge and motivation through accessible
resources such as job guides and communities of practice that offer opportunities for
collaboration and accountability (Clark & Estes, 2008). Such outcomes may be facilitated
through intentional, inclusive programming.
Programs
Data from the current study demonstrates a clear need to embed career development
training throughout the school-to-work pipeline. Programming can be a key conduit to achieving
equitable outcomes (Clark & Estes, 2008). Student-facing programming should include a
holistic, equity-minded approach to career development.
Research demonstrates the importance of intentionally cultivating students’ career
literacy (Murillo et al., 2017; Valentine & Kosloski, 2021). The current findings corroborate a
report from the American Association of Colleges and Universities, which suggested career
education include key frameworks for understanding the concept of careers, exposure to
disciplinary norms, project-based learning, and opportunities to embed coursework within
culturally relevant workplace experiences (Finley, 2021).

244

Valentine and Kosloski (2021) asserted that such development should begin prior to
college. High schools should offer early access to inclusive internships, which can provide first-
generation college students of color with opportunities to gain mentorship, nurture their
strengths, discover prospective career pathways. Such capital may influence students’ college
application processes and decision-making (Murillo et al., 2017). Further, early access to
internships offers an opportunity to build social capital, develop first-hand experience in a
professional environment, and learn about application processes early on. Such practices may
enable first-generation college students of color to enter college with a clearer sense of their
career interests.
To maximize accessibility, universities should embed key attributes of diversity, equity
and inclusion (DEI) programming throughout all departments and campus programs, beginning
with orientation. Culver et al. (2021) infused social justice values and design thinking to develop
the design for equity in higher education model which asserts that equity-minded practice is a
key underlying mechanism for student-centered design. The design for equity in higher
education model underscores the importance of being self-reflective, relational, and disrupting
bias or power dynamics. Such an approach may further serve to improve relationships among
diverse community members, such as students and staff. Participants cited improved relations as
a key area of improvement for universities. In addition to embedding equity and universal design
principles into general programming, targeted programming should be considered.
Participant narratives demonstrated the value of identity-conscious access programming
in the career development of first-generation college graduates of color. Most benefited through
participation in pre-college access programs, mentorship from leaders of color, and navigational,
resistant, and social capital gleaned through affinity spaces. The study findings underscore prior

245

research on the benefits of programs that nurture the community cultural wealth of first-
generation college students of color (Murillo et al., 2017). In addition, the findings reveal areas
where low-income first-generation college students may benefit from additional, targeted
support, such as how to secure basic needs like food and housing after graduation if one does not
have access to financial support from family. Accordingly, schools and employers would benefit
from bolstering such programming and ensuring DEI-oriented offices are fully staffed and
appropriately resourced.
Further, the current study demonstrates clear benefits from integrated co-operative
education programs at the university level. Such an approach reduces barriers associated with
optional internships and career engagement by embedding such opportunities into all students’
experiences. It will be important to provide monetary support to ensure financial feasibility.
Accordingly, faculty and university leaders should explore opportunities to embed cooperative
education programs or internships into the curriculum. The three participants who completed co-
ops during college reported no challenges throughout the post-graduation job search process, in
terms of swiftly securing employment. However, they each reported challenges with
compensation and dynamics in the workplace, suggesting the need for further student education
on decent work, financial literacy, and assessing prospective opportunities to gauge
organizational culture and equity-mindedness. Such findings underscore the need to provide
identity-conscious culturally relevant career programming that begins during college and extends
beyond graduation, as relevant.
As the current study demonstrated, organizational leaders, including higher education
employees, would benefit from training on how to work across difference and offer holistic
support to first-generation college graduates of color. Workplace equity should be fostered

246

through onboarding initiatives, organizational learning, and advancement programs (Moore-
Southall, 2021). Professionals of all races would benefit from training that builds their capacity
to serve as equity-minded leaders. In addition, general programming can be increasingly
accessible if implicit norms and assumptions are clearly stated as part of the introduction to such
opportunities, and throughout content delivery (Ambrose et al., 2010).
Clear career pathways emerged as an area of improvement to expand equitable access to
elevated job opportunities and related leadership growth. Accordingly, group coaching within
affinity spaces would allow for the transmittance of capital and bonding among similarly
identified peers, underscoring the wisdom and inherent strengths of the group. In addition, clear
job performance criteria and standards for promotion should be accessible to all employees.
Feedback on one’s progress should be regularly offered through ongoing supervision (Church &
Dawson, 2018).
Career development programming should be framed from an equity-minded asset
perspective, while still providing a broader social context on organizational dynamics, structural
barriers, and the labor market (Murillo et al., 2017). Relatedly, employers may consider affinity
spaces, pathway programs that promote internal mobility, or cross-training by providing
underrepresented employees diverse leadership opportunities within the organization (Moore-
Southall, 2021). The recommendations above offer a starting point to address structures that can
improve pathways to accessible decent work. Such practices will need to be evaluated and
refined over time to ensure adequate progress toward organizational equity.
Progress
Organizational change involves ongoing monitoring of progress through evaluation of
relevant metrics, and incremental improvements (Clark & Estes, 2008; Kirkpatrick &

247

Kirkpatrick, 2016). Critical approaches to data collection and analysis can provide a starting
point to identify race and class-based inequities within organizations (Delgado & Stefancic,
2001; McNair et al., 2020). By gaining an understanding of organizational outcomes and
challenges, leaders can identify new approaches to enhance their ability to equitably fulfill their
missions. Schools and employers will need to develop strategies to collect and continually
review data, which will allow for the monitoring of organizational culture to identify contributors
and barriers to equitable outcomes (McNair et al., 2020).
Engaging in critical data review requires deep reflection on the biases and assumptions
inherent in organizational design and functioning. Organizations must be willing to ask what
McNair et al. (2020) refer to as the “race question” including an exploration of how Whiteness
operates within policies, practices, and individual behaviors, and the associated consequences for
students of color (p. 106). Upon identification of barriers, institutional leaders must be willing to
engage stakeholders to generate buy-in to make necessary changes.
Further, colleges and universities would benefit from conducting student needs
assessments. Such processes should include both quantitative and qualitative data, such as
faculty and staff observation of student needs. For example, the current study revealed how
dining hall closure during breaks limited student access to food, a finding which may not emerge
through a review of institutional data. Insights can be obtained through intentional collaborations
with key stakeholders at the institution, including first-generation college students and graduates
of color. The data is only as useful as an organization’s ability to leverage the information to
make organizational improvements rooted in equity (McNair et al., 2020). Such information
should inform institutional leaders’ perspectives, ongoing policy revision, programmatic
interventions, and personnel decisions, as explored in the prior sections.

248

Collectively, the elements above will contribute to an inclusive, increasingly equitable
organizational culture. Embedding equity into key areas within school and work organizations
will facilitate the recruitment, retention, and organizational contributions of first-generation
college graduates of color throughout the school-to-work pipeline. Doing so is part of a social
justice imperative that research has demonstrated is long overdue (Arañez Litam & Chan, 2021;
Cataldi et al., 2018; Crenshaw, 1989; Dancy et al., 2018; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001).
Conclusion
This final chapter provided an overview of the implications of the current study, which
sought to amplify the counternarratives of 13 first-generation college graduates of color as they
prepared for, pursued, and secured elements of decent work. The chapter began by situating the
study findings within current literature, denoting study limitations and implications for future
research. The findings reveal the prevalence of barriers in six key areas of school and work
environments: perspectives and ideologies, policy, practices, people, programming, and narrow
measures of organizational progress. Further, the study demonstrates the immense fortitude
required of first-generation college graduates of color to persist through such obstacles.
Participant agency and persistence were fueled by nurturing and building various forms of
community cultural wealth. Such findings suggest that equity and community cultural wealth be
integrated school and work environments to enhance access to decent work. Interventions to
begin to address such barriers were offered through a new model which depicts the six Ps of
equity progress within school and work environments. The model can be used by school
leadership and employers interested in strategically enhancing access to decent work for first-
generation college graduates of color.

249

In sum, the current study underscores the importance of addressing access to decent work
as a social justice issue (Kim et al., 2022). Addressing barriers to decent work will require a
comprehensive approach that addresses intersecting forms of oppression within our society such
as classism and structural racism. Although such issues extend beyond organizations, strategic
changes within school and work environments may go a long way to improve the career
experiences and wellbeing of first-generation college graduates of color. To expand access to
decent work, leaders from diverse sectors will need to collaborate to address inequities at each
stage of the education and workforce pipeline. This may include embedding career readiness as
soon as middle school and providing support for youth regardless of their desire to attend
universities or begin employment after high school (Valentine & Kosloski, 2021). Such supports
will need to be visible and accessible throughout the school-to-work pipeline, including relevant
programming, guidance, and resources to support first-generation college graduates of color
post-graduation.
The findings offer narratives which demonstrate the inner power and resistance of first-
generation college graduates of color who combatted arduous harmful barriers and still managed
to accomplish their goals and contribute to the collective advancement of their communities.
Although such strength is worth honoring, the prevailing obstacles must be problematized and
removed. The current study provides a starting point for university leadership and employers to
identify areas necessitating change within their respective organizations.

250

References
Allen, W., Jones, C., McLewis, C. (2019). The problematic nature of racial and ethnic categories
in higher education. In L.L. Espinosa, J.M. Turk, M. Taylor, & H.M. Chessman, Race
and ethnicity in higher education: A status report. American Council on Education.
www.equityinhighered.org/resources/report-downloads/
Alshammari, Y.H. (2020). Why is there no MENA category on the 2020 U.S. census?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/4/1/why-is-there-no-mena-category-on-the-2020-
us-census
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How
learning works. Jossey-Bass.
Arañez Litam, S.D.A. & Chan, C.D. (2021). Breaking the bamboo ceiling: Practical strategies
for Asian American and Pacific Islander Counselor Educators. Counselor Education &
Supervision, 60, 174–189.
Ardoin, S. & martinez, b. (2019). Straddling class in the academy: 26 stories of students,
administrators and faculty from poor and working-class backgrounds and their
compelling lessons for higher education policy and practice. Stylus.
Aronson, P., Callahan, T., & Davis, T. (2015). The transition from college to work during the
great recession: employment, financial, and identity challenges. Journal of Youth Studies,
18, 1097–1118.
Autin, K.L., Shelton, A.J., Diaz Tapia, W.A., Garcia, R.G., Cadenas, G.A. (2021). Testing
psychology of working theory among Spanish-speaking Latinx workers in the U.S.
Journal of Career Assessment, 29(3), 379–395.

251

Bailey, M. (2014, April 27). More on the origin of misogynoir.
http://moyazb.tumblr.com/post/84048113369/more-on-the-origin-of-misogynoir
Bassett, B.S. (2021). Big enough to bother them? When low-income first-generation students
seek help from support programs. Journal of College Student Development, 62(1), 19–36.
Berchick, E. R., Hood, E., & Barnett, J. C. (2018). Health insurance coverage in the United
States: 2017. Current population reports. U.S. Census Bureau.
https://wwwcensus.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.pdf
Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha
and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic
Review, 94(4), 991–1013. https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828042002561
Birt, L., Scott, S., Cavers, D., Campbell, C., Walter, F. (2016) Member checking: A tool to
enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation? Qualitative Health Research,
26(13), 1802–1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870
Bluestein, D. (2006). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development,
counseling, and public policy. Routledge.
Bold, C. (2012). Using narrative in research. Sage.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). Racism without racists (2nd ed.). Plymouth, Rowman & Littlefield.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of theory and
research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.
Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. (1977) Reproduction in education, society and culture. Sage.
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First break all the rules: What the world’s greatest
managers do differently. Simon and Schuster.

252

Budiman, A. & Ruiz, N.G. (2021). Key facts about Asian origin groups in the U.S.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-origin-groups-
in-the-u-s/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2017, March). Unemployment holds steady for much of 2016 but
edges down in the fourth quarter.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/unemployment-holds-steady-for-much-of-
2016-but-edges-down-in-fourth-quarter.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018). Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2018/home.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and
Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity [Table]. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020 (Report 1094). BLS
Reports. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2020/pdf/home.pdf
Carr, T. (2020). Career Collaborative Project: Career services supporting racially minoritized
students’ college-to-career transition [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburg].
Proquest.
Casad, B.J. & Bryant, W.J. (2016). Addressing stereotype threat is critical to diversity and
inclusion in organizational psychology. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(8), 1–18.
Cataldi, E.F., Bennett, C.T., Chen, X. (2018). First-Generation students: College
access, persistence, and post-bachelor’s outcomes (NCES Publication No. 2018-
421). Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018421.pdf
Church, A.H. & Dawson, L.M. (2018). Agile feedback drives accountability and sustained
behavior change. Strategic HR Review, 17(6), 295–302.

253

Clark, R.E. & Estes, F. (2008). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the
right performance solutions. Information Age Publishing.
Connelly, F.M. & Clandinin, D.J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry.
Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2–14.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique
of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. The University of
Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8), 139–167.
Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design (2nd ed.). Sage.
Creswell, J.W. & Creswell, J.D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches. Sage Publications.
Culver, K.C., Harper, J., Kezar, A. (2021). Design for equity in higher education. Pullias Center
for Higher Education. https://pullias.usc.edu/download/design-for-equity-in-higher-
education/
Czarniawska, B. (2011). Narratives in social science research. Sage.
Dancy, T. E., Edwards, K. T., & Earl Davis, J. (2018). Historically White universities and
plantation politics: Anti-blackness and higher education in the Black Lives Matter
era. Urban Education, 53(2), 176–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918754328
Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory. New York University Press.
Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. (2011). The Latino/a condition: A critical reader (2nd ed.). New
York University Press.
de Oliveira Andreotti, V., Stein, S., Ahenakew, C., & Hunt, D. (2015). Mapping interpretations
of decolonisation in the context of higher education. Decolonisation: Indigeneity,
Education & Society, 4(1), 21–40.

254

Dickens, D.D., Chavez, E.L. (2018). Navigating the workplace: The costs and benefits of
shifting identities at work among early career U.S. Black women. Sex Roles, 78, 760–
774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0844-x
Diemer, M.A., Rapa, L.J., Park, C.J., Perry, J.C. (2017). Development and validation of the
critical consciousness scale. Youth & Society, 49(4), 461–483.
Duffy, R.D., Diemer, M.A., Blustein, D.L., Austin, K.L. (2016). The psychology of working
theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(2), 127–148.
Duffy, R.D., Kim, H.J., Gensmer, N.P., Pendleton, L.H., Boren, S., Garriot, P.O. (2020). Testing
a critical cultural wealth model of well-being among first-generation students. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 67(2), 171–183.
Duffy, R.D., Velez, B.L., England, J.W., Autin, K.L., Douglass, R.P. Allan, B.A., Bluestein,
D.L. (2018). An examination of the psychology of working theory with racially and
ethnically diverse employed adults. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(3), 280–293.
Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and
application (pp. 272–293). The Guilford Press.
Eismann, L. (2016, November). First-generation students and job success. NACE Journal.
https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/special-populations/first-generation-students-and-
job-success/
Espinosa, L.L., Turk, J.M., Taylor, M., Chessman, H.M. (2019). Race and ethnicity in higher
education: A status report. American Council on Education.
https://www.equityinhighered.org
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2021, August 30). FBI releases 2020 hate crime statistics.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2020-hate-crime-statistics

255

Fernandez, J.S., Gaston, J.Y., Nguyen, M., Rovaris, J., Robinson, R.L., Aguilar, D.N. (2018).
Documenting sociopolitical development via participatory action research (PAR) with
women of color student activists in a neoliberal university. Journal of Social and
Political Psychology, 6(2), 591–607.
Finley, A. (2021). How college contributes to workforce success: Employer views on what
matters most. Hanover Research. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED616977.pdf
Flores, L.Y., Martinez, L.D., McGillen, G.G., Milord, J. (2019). Something old and something
new: Future directions in vocational research with people of color in the United States.
Journal of Career Assessment, 27(2), 187–208.
Frett, J. (2018). College-to-career experience: Black and Hispanic first-generation college
graduates [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania].
Proquest. https://www.proquest.com/openview/83ccbd70afad2b8342d3f902d4249ad0/1?
pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Fry, R. (2021). First-generation college graduates lag behind their peers on key economic
outcomes. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-
trends/2021/05/18/first-generation-college-graduates-lag-behind-their-peers-on-key-
economic-outcomes/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center
Fuller, J.B, & Raman, M. (2017). Dismissed by degrees: How degree inflation is
undermining U.S. competitiveness and hurting America’s middle class. Accenture, Grads
of Life, Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-
work/Documents/dismissed-by-degrees.pdf
Gallup. (2016). Great jobs. Great lives. The value of career services, inclusive experiences, and

256

mentorship for college graduates. https://acue.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Gallup-
Purdue-Index-Study-Year-3-2016.pdf
Garriott, P. O. (2020). A critical cultural wealth model of first-generation and economically
marginalized college students’ academic and career development. Journal of Career
Development, 47(1), 80–95.
Garriott, P.O., Ko, S-J.S., Grant, S.B., Jessen, M. Allan, B.A. (2021). When race and class
collide: Classism and social-emotional experiences of first-generation college students.
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 0(0), 1–24.
Glesne, C. (2011). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. Pearson.
Haeger, H., & Fresquez, C. (2016). Mentoring for inclusion: The impact of mentoring on
undergraduate researchers in the sciences. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 15(3), 1–9.
Harper, S. R. (2012). Race without racism: How higher education researchers minimize racist
institutional norms. The Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 9–29.
Hernandez, B. (2020). Rising above the adobe ceiling: A hermeneutic phenomenological study of
mentoring and social capital influences among California Latina nonprofit
leaders (Publication No. 28154636) [Doctoral dissertation, University of the Pacific].
ProQuest.
Hernandez, S. & Ortiz, A.M. (2016). Latinx college students. In M.J. Cuyjet, D.L. Cooper, M.F.
Howard Hamilton, & C. Linder (Eds.), Multiculturalism on Campus: Theory, Models,
and Practices for Understanding Diversity and Creating Inclusion (2nd ed., pp. 83–11).
Stylus.
Hinz, S.E., Whitley, S.E., Fugate, M., Reyes, D.M., Ellis, R.A. (2021). First-generation college

257

graduates’ transition to graduate school and employment [Issue brief]. RTI International,
NASPA, & Crimsonbridge Foundation.
Hirudayaraj, M., & McLean, G. N. (2018). First-generation college graduates: A
phenomenological exploration of their transition experiences into the corporate sector.
European Journal of Training and Development, 42(1-2), 91–109.
https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-06-2017-0055
Holder, A. M. B., Jackson, M. A., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2015). Racial microaggression
experiences and coping strategies of Black women in corporate leadership. Qualitative
Psychology, 2(2), 164–180.
Hora, M. T., Wolfgram, M., & Chen, Z. (2019). Closing the doors of opportunity: How financial,
sociocultural and institutional barriers intersect to inhibit participation in college
internships (WCER Working Paper No. 2019–8). Wisconsin Center for Education
Research. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers
Howard, S. & Borgella, A.M. (2020). Are Adewale and Ngochi more employable than Jamal and
Lakeisha? The influence of nationality and ethnicity cues on employment-related
evaluations of Blacks in the United States, The Journal of Social Psychology, 160(4),
509–519. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1687415
Huang, T.J. (2021). Negotiating the workplace: second-generation Asian American
professionals’ early experiences, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(11), 2477–
2496.
Hutcheson, P.A. (2020). A people’s history of American higher education. Routledge.
Institute for College Access and Success. (2020). Student debt and the class of 2019.
https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/classof2019.pdf

258

International Labour Organization. (n.d.). Decent work.
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang--en/index.htm
Jack, A.A. (2019). The privileged poor: How elite colleges are failing disadvantaged students.
Harvard University Press.
Jones, C. P. (2000). Levels of racism: a theoretic framework and a gardener’s tale. American
Journal of Public Health, 90(8), 1212–1215.
Kendi, I. (2019). How to be an antiracist. Bodley Head.
Kezar, A. (2014). How colleges change: Understanding, leading, and enacting change.
Routledge.
Kezar, A., Holcombe, E., Vigil, D. (2022). Shared responsibility means shared accountability:
Rethinking accountability within shared equity leadership. American Council on
Education. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Shared-Equity-Leadership-
Accountability.pdf
Kim, H.J., McNeil-Young, V.A., Wang, D., Duffy, R.D., Underill, B.D. (2022). Women of color
and decent work: An examination of psychology of working theory. Career Development
Quarterly, 70, 125–137.
Kim, J-H. (2021). Understanding narrative inquiry: The crafting and analysis of stories as
research. Sage Publications.
Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training
evaluation. Association for Talent Development.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2013). Critical race theory—What it is not! In M. Lynn & A.D. Dixon
(Eds.) Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 34–47). Routledge.

259

Laliberte Rudman, D. (2015). Situating occupation in social relations of power: Occupational
possibilities, ageism and the retirement ‘choice.’ South African Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 45(1), 27–33.
Laliberte Rudman, D., & Aldrich, R. (2017). Discerning the social in individual stories of
occupation through critical narrative inquiry. Journal of Occupational Science, 24(4),
470–481.
Lee, S.S-H. (2013). A new history of Asian America. Routledge.
Liang, J.G. & Peters-Hawkins, A.L. (2017). “I am more than what I look alike”: Asian American
women in public school administration. Education Administration Quarterly, 53(1), 40–
69.
Linder, C., Quaye, S.J., Lange, A.C., Evans, M.E., Stewart, T.J. (2019). Identity-based
student activism: Power and oppression on college campuses. Routledge.
Luedke, C.L. (2017). Person first, student second: Staff and administrators of color supporting
students of color authentically in higher education. Journal of College Student
Development, 58(1), 37–52.
Masdonati, J., Massoudi, K., Blustein, D.L., Duffy, R.D. (2021). Moving toward decent work:
Application of the psychology of working theory to the school-to-work transition.
Journal of Career Development, 49(1), 1–19.
McClellan, G.S., Tippeconnic Fox, M.J., Lowe, S.C. (2005). Where we have been: A history of
Native American higher education. New Directions for Student Services, 109, 7–15.
McGee, E.O., Botchway, P.K., Naphan-Kingery, D.E., Brockman, A.J., Houston II, S. & White,

260

D.T. (2021). Racism camouflaged as impostorism and the impact on Black STEM
doctoral students, Race Ethnicity and Education, 25(4), 487–507.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2021.1924137
McNair, T.B., Bensimon, E.M., Malcom-Piqueux, L.M. (2020). From equity talk to equity walk:
Expanding practitioner knowledge for racial justice in higher education. Jossey Bass.
Menendian, S., Gambhir, S., Gailes, A. (2021). The roots of structural racism project: Twenty
first century racial residential segregation in the United States. Othering and Belonging
Institute at UC Berkeley. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/roots-structural-racism
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation. (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Miller, J. & Bryan, N. (2020). This is how we do it: Toward the notion of otherbrothering in the
research on Black male collegians and Black male Greek-lettered organizations. The
Journal of Negro Education, 89(3), 203–214.
Molefi, N., O’Mara, J., & Richter, A. (2021). Global diversity, equity & inclusion benchmarks:
Standards for organizations around the world. The Center for Global Inclusion.
https://centreforglobalinclusion.org/what-we-do/the-gdeib/gdeib.html
Moore-Southall, T. (2021). Sustaining and retaining the diversity practitioner. In Information
Resources Management Association, Research Anthology on Changing Dynamics of
Diversity and Safety in the Workforce. (pp. 12–26). IGI Global.
Murillo, M.A. Hunter Quartz, K. & Del Razo, J. (2017). High school internships: Utilizing a
community cultural wealth framework to support career preparation and college-going
among low-income students of color, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk
(JESPAR), 22(4) 237–252.

261

National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2021). First destinations of the college class
of 2019: Findings and analysis. https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/graduate-
outcomes/first-destination/class-of-2019/
National Center for Education Statistics (2021). Annual earnings by educational attainment.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cba
Nuñez, A.M. & Sansone, V.A. (2016). Earning and learning: Exploring the meaning of work in
the experiences of first-generation Latino college students. The Review of Higher
Education, 40(1), 91–116.
Okello, W. K., Quaye, S. J., Allen, C., Carter, K. D., & Karikari, S. N. (2020). "We wear the
mask": Self-definition as an approach to healing from racial battle fatigue. Journal of
College Student Development, 61(4), 422–438. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2020.0049
Olson, J. S. (2016). “Chasing a passion”: First-generation college graduates at work.
Education+Training, 58(4), 358-371. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-03-2015-0023
O’Shea, S.& Delahunty, J. (2018) Getting through the day and still having a smile on my face!
How do students define success in the university learning environment?, Higher
Education Research & Development, 37(5), 1062–1075.
Owens, D., Lacey, K., Rawls, G., & Holbert-Quince, J. (2010). First-generation African
American male college students: Implications for career counselors. The Career
Development Quarterly, 58(4), 291. http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://search-
proquest-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/docview/501538857?accountid=14749
Page, S.E. (2019). The diversity bonus: How great teams pay off in the knowledge economy.
Princeton.

262

Park, J.J. (2019). An uneven playing field: The complex educational experiences of Asian
Americans. Higher Education Today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2019/08/21/uneven-
playing-field-complex-educational-experiences-asian-americans/
Parks-Yancy, R. (2012). Interactions into opportunities: Career management for low-income,
first-generation African American college students. Journal of College Student
Development, 53(4), 510–523. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0052
Parks-Yancy, R. & Cooley, D. (2018). Who gets the job? First-generation college students’
perceptions of employer screening methods, Journal of Education for Business, 93(1), 1–
10.
Patfield, S., Gore, J., Fray, L. (2020). Degrees of “being first”: toward a nuanced understanding
of first-generation entrants to higher education, Educational Review, 74(1), 1–20.
Patton, L.D. (2016). Disrupting postsecondary prose: Toward a critical race theory of higher
education. Urban Education, 51(3), 315–342.
Patton, L.D. & Njoku, N.R. (2019). Theorizing Black women’s experiences with institution-
sanctioned violence: a #BlackLivesMatter imperative toward Black liberation on campus.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(9), 1162–1182,
https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1645908
Pierce, C. M. (1995). Stress analogs of racism and sexism: Terrorism, torture, and disaster. In C.
Willie, P. Rieker, B. Kramer, & B. Brown (Eds.), Mental health, racism, and sexism (pp.
277–293). University of Pittsburgh Press.
Pitcan, M., Park-Taylor, J., Hayslett. J. (2018). Black men and racial microaggressions at work.
The Career Development Quarterly, 66, 300–314.
Quaye, S.J., Karikari, S.N., Carter, K.D., Okello, W.K., Allen, C. (2020). “Why can’t I just

263

chill?”: The visceral nature of racial battle fatigue. Journal of College Student
Development, 61(5), 609–623.
Raque-Bogdan, T. L., & Lucas, M. S. (2016). Career aspirations and the first-generation student:
Unraveling the layers with social cognitive career theory. Journal of College Student
Development, 57(3), 248–262. http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.libproxy1.usc.edu/docview/1790490009?accountid=14749
Redford, J., Mulvaney Hoyer, K., Ralph, J. (2017). First-generation and continuing-generation
college students: A comparison of high school and postsecondary experiences. National
Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf
Ro, H.K., Lee, J., Fernandez, F., Conrad, B.H. (2020). We don’t know what they did last
summer: Examining relationships among parental education, faculty interaction, and
college students’ post-first-year summer experiences. Innovative Higher Education, 46,
21–39.
RTI International. (2019). First-generation College Students: Demographic Characteristics and
Postsecondary Enrollment. NASPA. https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-
01.pdf
RTI International. (2019b). First-generation College Students’ Employment. NASPA.
https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-04.pdf
RTI International. (2021). First-generation College Graduates: Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Use of
Career Planning Services. NASPA. https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-
011.pdf
RTI International. (2021b). First-generation College Graduates’ Participation in

264

Extracurricular and Co-curricular Activities as Undergraduate Students. NASPA.
https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/FactSheet-021.pdf
Rudman, D.L., & Aldrich, R.M. (2017). Discerning the social in individual stories of occupation
through critical narrative inquiry. Journal of Occupational Science, 24(4), 470–481.
Silver, B.R. & Roksa, J. (2017). Navigating uncertainty and responsibility: Understanding
inequality in the senior-year transition. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice,
54(3), 248–260.
Sklarz, C.A. (2019). Resources perceived most effective by first-generation college graduates for
job attainment (Publication No. 13860353) [Doctoral Dissertation, Fordham University].
Proquest.
Smith, K.K. (2012). Preparing students for after-college life: The context. New Directions for
Student Services, 138, 5–11.
Smith, W. A. (2004). Black faculty coping with racial battle fatigue: The campus racial climate
in a post–civil rights era. In D. Cleveland (Ed.), Broken silence: Conversations about
race by African Americans at predominately White institutions (pp. 171–190). Peter
Lang.
Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an
analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44.
Stephens, N.M., Fryberg, S.A., Markus, H.R., Johnson, C.S., Covarrubias, R. (2012). Unseen
disadvantage: How American universities’ focus on independence undermines the
academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 102(6), 1178–1197.
Stewart, D-L. (2018). Minding the gap between diversity and institutional transformation: Eight

265

proposals for enacting institutional change. Teachers College Record, 120, 1–16.
Storlie, C.A., Mostade, J.M., Duenyas, D. (2016). Cultural trailblazers: Exploring the career
development of Latina first-generation college students. The Career Development
Quarterly, 64, 304–317.
Sue, D.W. Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2009). Racial Microaggressions
and the Asian American Experience. Asian American Journal of Psychology, S(1), 88–
101.
Tate, K. A., Caperton, W., Kaiser, D., Pruitt, N. T., White, H., & Hall, E. (2015). An exploration
of first-generation college students’ career development beliefs and experiences. Journal
of Career Development, 42(4), 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845314565025
Tatli, A., & Özbilgin, M. F. (2012). An emic approach to intersectional study of diversity at
work: A Bourdieuan framing. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(2), 180–
200.
Tran, V.C., Lee, J., Huang, T.J. (2019). Revisiting the Asian second-generation advantage,
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(13), 2248–2269.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1579920
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.),
Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry for youth and communities (pp.
223– 247). Sage.
Tudico, C. (2013). Beyond black and white: Researching the history of Latinos in American
higher education. In M. Gasman (Ed.), The history of U.S. higher education: Methods for
understanding the past (pp. 163–171). Routledge.
United States Census Bureau. (2021). 2020 census frequently asked questions about race and

266

ethnicity. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-
census/decade/2020/planning-management/release/faqs-race-ethnicity.html
United States Department of Education. (2018). First-generation students: College
access, persistence, and post-bachelor’s outcomes (NCES Publication No. 2018–
421). National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018421.pdf
U.S. Department of Education. (2022). Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
Program. https://www2.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/index.html
Valentine, K.S. & Kosloski, M.F. (2021). Developing the key constructs of career literacy: A
delphi study. Journal of Research in Technical Careers, 5(1) 1–22.
Vallejo, J.A. (2015). How class background affects Mexican Americans’ experiences with subtle
racism in the white-collar workplace. Latino Studies, 13(1), 69–87.
Vargas, E.D., Juarez, M., Cacari Stone, L., & Lopez, N. (2019). Critical ‘street race’ praxis:
advancing the measurement of racial discrimination among diverse Latinx communities
in the U.S, Critical Public Health, 31(4), 381–391.
Velez, E.D., Lew, T. Thomsen, E., Johnson, K. Wine, J., Cooney, J. (2019). Baccalaureate and
beyond (B&B:16/17): A first look at the employment and educational experiences of
college graduates, 1 year later. (NCES 2019–241). U.S. Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019241.pdf
Walton, G. M., & Brady, S. T. (2017). The many questions of belonging. In A. J. Elliot, C. S.
Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and
application (pp. 272–293). The Guilford Press.
Weiser, S. (2020, October 8). What big businesses said in all those anti-racism statements: Not
much, says our analysis. Colorlines. https://www.colorlines.com/articles/what-big-

267

business-said-all-those-anti-racism-statements-not-much-says-our-
analysis?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10_15_2020&ut
m_term=What%20Big%20Business%20Said%20in%20All%20Those%20Anti-
Racism%20Statements%3A%20Not%20Much%2C%20Says%20Our%20Analysis&&ut
m_content=email&&
Weisinger, J.Y., Borges-Méndez, R., Milofsky, C. (2015). Diversity in the non-profit and
voluntary sector. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(1), 3S–27S.
Whitley, S. E., Benson, G., & Wesaw, A. (2018). First-generation student success: A landscape
analysis of programs and services at four-year institutions. NASPA– Student Affairs
Administrators in Higher Education. https://firstgen.naspa.org/2018- landscape-analysis
Wilder, C. S. (2013). Ebony & ivy: Race, slavery, and the troubled history of
America’s universities. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press.
Williams, M.T., Skinta, M.D., Martin-Willett, R. (2021). After Pierce and Sue: A revised racial
microaggressions taxonomy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 991–1007.
Williams, Q.A., Williams, B. M., & Brown, L. C. (2020). Exploring Black girl
magic: Identity development of Black first-gen college women. Journal of Diversity in
Higher Education. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000294
Woolf, S.H., Aron, L., Dubay, L., Simon, S.M., Zimmerman, E., Luk, K.X. (2015). How are
income and wealth connected to health and longevity? Urban Institute.
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/49116/2000178-How-are-Income-
and-Wealth-Linked-to-Health-and-Longevity.pdf
Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community
cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8, 69–91.

268

Yu, H. H. (2020). Revisiting the bamboo ceiling: Perceptions from Asian Americans on
experiencing workplace discrimination. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 11(3),
158–167. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000193

269

Appendix A: Eligibility Survey (Exported From Qualtrics)
Thank you for your interest in participating in this study centering the experiences of
first-generation college graduates of color transitioning from school to the workplace. The study
has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern California.
Please complete the eligibility form below, followed by additional information on this
study. Please ask questions about anything that is unclear to you. Completing this form does not
commit you to participating in this study or confirm that you will be selected as a participant.
Those who meet the study criteria may receive an e-mail invitation to set up an interview within
the next month. Participation in this study is completely voluntary and any data you share will be
detached from your identity.

STUDY TITLE: Amplifying the Counter-narratives of First-generation College Graduates of
Color as they Navigate the Journey Toward Decent Work

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Hayley Haywood, Doctoral Candidate in the Organizational
Change and Leadership program at University of Southern California

FACULTY ADVISOR: Alan Green, PhD

Q1 Preferred first name
________________________________________________________________

270

Q2 What is the best e-mail to reach you at?
________________________________________________________________

Q3 Please share the highest degree you have earned.
o High school diploma
o Associate’s degree
o Bachelor’s degree
o Master’s degree
o Doctorate or Professional degree

Q4 What is the name of the college or university where you earned your bachelor’s degree?
________________________________________________________________

Q5 What year did you graduate with your bachelor’s degree?
▼ Prior to 2010 (26) ... 2019 or later (37)

Q6 After graduating from college, did you enter the workforce immediately after?
o Yes
o No, I enrolled full-time in another academic degree program
o Other: __________________________________________________

271

Q7 What was your employment status during the 6 months after you graduated with your
bachelor’s degree? Check all that apply.
o Employed full-time in one job
o Employed full-time with at least one part-time job
o Employed part-time in one job
o Employed in multiple part-time jobs
o Unemployed or between jobs

Q8 Please indicate your racial/ethnic identit(ies). Select all that apply.
o Asian, Asian American, South Asian, or Southeast Asian
o Black, African American, or African
o Indigenous, Native, or Alaskan Native
o Latine, Latinx, or Latin American
o Middle eastern or North African
o Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian
o White or European American
o Not Listed (please share):
__________________________________________________
o Prefer not to say

Q9 Please share your gender identity.
________________________________________________________________

272

Q10 Upon graduating with your bachelor’s degree, were you legally eligible to work in the
United States?
o Yes
o No
o Prefer not to say

Q11 When you completed your bachelor’s degree, did anyone in your immediate family already
have a bachelor’s degree or higher? Check all that apply.
o No, I am the first in my immediate family to earn a bachelor’s degree.
o Yes, I had at least one sibling who earned a bachelor’s degree before me.
o Yes, at least one of my parents/guardians earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.
o I’m unsure.

Q12 Please select the following statements that apply to your current employment situation
based on your perspective. Select all that apply.
o I am employed full-time.
o I am adequately compensated for my work.
o My job provides health insurance.
o My job is personally fulfilling.
o My job provides a work environment that is physically safe.
o My job provides a work environment that I feel is emotionally safe.
o My work schedule provides time away from work.
o The values of my employer are compatible with my personal values.

273

o None of the above.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to learn about your experiences transitioning from your
college experience to full-time employment as a first-generation college graduate of color. I hope
to learn how your experiences and identities have influenced your career journey.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT: If you decide to participate in this study and are selected,
you will be asked to share your most recent resume, which you do not have to update for the
purposes of this study. You will also be asked to participate in a 60–90-minute interview via
Zoom. Interviews will be recorded for transcription purposes, and all information will be kept
confidential and stored on a locked computer. Your information will be stored and referred to
under a fake name that you may choose.

CONFIDENTIALITY: Only the Principal Investigator listed above will have access to the
identifying data. When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
identifiable information will be used. All information that you provide will be stored in a locked,
password-protected computer under a fake name that you may select. The original Zoom
recordings will be locked for a period not to exceed 4 years from participation date. Transcripts
will be anonymized and kept indefinitely. Information on your participation in this study will not
be shared with any party.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions about this study,
please contact Hayley Haywood at HHaywood@usc.edu.

274

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions about your rights as a research
participant, please contact the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at
(323) 442-0114 or email irb@usc.edu.

275

Appendix B: Semi-structured Interview Protocol
As this was a semi-structured interview, not all questions were asked. Probes elicited
more detail and explored the role of participant identities as they navigated experiences related to
college and decent work. The following script served as an introduction to the interview:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study. The purpose of this interview is to
learn more about your experiences as you transitioned from your time as a college student
to your first-full time employment as a first-generation [insert race they shared] graduate.
Participation is totally voluntary and no identifying information will be shared. Any
references to what you share will be identified using a pseudonym (or fake name), that
you’ll choose as part of this process. I am hoping to record this interview for notetaking
and analysis purposes. Do I have your permission to record?
This process is meant to give you an opportunity to share your story. This means
that you can speak for as long as you feel is necessary to share all the relevant details or
experiences related to each question. After you are done responding, I may ask follow-up
questions to clarify or get a deeper understanding of your experiences.
1. Describe your career development journey from when you first started
thinking about careers through when you first started your first post-college
job. Please include all the events, experiences, and people that were an
important part of this journey.
2. What, if anything did you do to prepare for the job search? Where did you
learn to do this?
3. Let’s talk about the period between graduating from college and when you
accepted your first job offer. What was that time like? What were some of the

276

challenges you faced during this period of transition? What was most helpful
to you during this time?
4. How did you decide to accept your first job offer?
5. How do you think going to college helped prepare you for your career, if at
all?
6. What university resources or individuals were most helpful to you when you
think about your career development?
7. How do you think your identities impacted your transition from school to
work, if at all?
8. Can you share a story or example to help me understand how your identities
impact your experiences in the workplace?
9. Now we are going to talk a bit about what is known as decent work. I’m going
to show you a list of the key elements of decent work and I invite you to share
the story of how you’ve been able to achieve each throughout your career.
Please include any reflections on the supports or barriers that have impacted
your ability to access these elements of decent work.
10. If you had the magic ability to re-imagine how your university supported your
transition to successful employment after graduation – what would that have
looked like?
11. What if you had the same ability and could change the way your first
employer supported your transition to the workplace?

277

12. When you think about your career journey as a first-generation college
graduate of color, is there anything else I didn’t ask about that you would like
to share?
Conclusion to the Interview
This information offered rich insight into your experiences, and I appreciate that you’ve
shared this information with me. It’s always helpful to ensure that I’ve correctly captured what
was shared. Would you be open to reviewing some of my initial analysis of the themes I identify
in our conversation today? I want to remind you that everything you shared will be re-coded
using a pseudonym. What name would you like me to use to represent what you shared? If you
have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, and I will follow up with
more information on the initial themes at some point in the next month or two. Thank you again
for your time.

Appendix C: Transition Trajectory Visual

Note. Figure is a screenshot from Microsoft Excel to depict the use of visuals to assist in the restorying and comparison of
participants’ career trajectories.
278

Abstract (if available)

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Beyond persistence and graduation rates: examining the career exploration processes of first-generation college students

PDF

An intersectional examination of inequity in Black Bahamian men’s employment experience: a critical theory and social cognitive perspective

PDF

First-generation professionals: career transition and success

PDF

Racial diversity in the marijuana industry

PDF

Navigating transitions: experiences of female students from refugee backgrounds in higher education

PDF

Navigating the academy and beyond: an examination of major and career self-efficacy of Latin* first-generation college students

PDF

And still we rise: examining the strengths of first-generation college students

PDF

But who really wins?: College athletes' analysis of name, image, and likeness policy narratives

PDF

Addressing financial barriers to college completion through community cultural wealth

PDF

Leading from the margins: an intersectional qualitative analysis of the leadership experiences of Black mothers

PDF

Examining the pandemic’s impact on remote worker wellness in community colleges: organizational lessons and strategies

PDF

Gender barriers towards women on the career path and within executive leadership

PDF

Using cultural capital skills as a woman of color in student affairs: what does it take to get ahead?

PDF

Building capital: supporting students of color in STEM degree attainment

PDF

The paucity of women of color in senior leadership roles in higher education administration

PDF

An unlikely partnership: engaging diasporas as stakeholders to international development donors

PDF

An unlikely partnership: engaging diasporas as stakeholders to international development donors

PDF

African American officer's experiences as leaders navigating the United States Armed Service

PDF

Pa’delante, la lucha continúa: resiliency among Latinx college students with past experiences of bullying

PDF

Evaluating the problem of college students graduating into underemployment and unemployment

Asset Metadata

Creator Haywood, Hayley A. (author)

Core Title Amplifying the counter-narratives of first-generation college graduates of color as they navigate the journey toward decent work

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-12

Publication Date 06/12/2023

Defense Date 12/02/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag career development,career transition,college outcomes,community cultural wealth,critical narrative study,critical race theory,decent work,first-generation,Higher education,OAI-PMH Harvest,organizational equity,professionals of color,school-to-work

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Green, Alan (committee chair), Brady, Melanie (committee member), Kim, Esther (committee member), Morris, Mounira (committee member)

Creator Email Hayley.Haywood@gmail.com,hhaywood@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC112620681

Unique identifier UC112620681

Identifier etd-HaywoodHay-11359.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-HaywoodHay-11359

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Haywood, Hayley A.

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20221214-usctheses-batch-996 (batch), 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 author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu