First-Gen Resources

The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the impact of institutional context on Black first-generation college women’s identity development. We examined their experiences along the lines of their minoritized race, gender, and first-generation student status using intersectionality theory. Six Black, first-generation college women participated in this study.

Institutions increasingly use first-generation categorizations to provide support to students. In this study, we sought to understand how students make meaning of their first-generation status by conducting a series of focus groups with 54 participants. Our findings reveal that students saw first-generation status as an organizational and familial identity rather than social identities.

As the first in their families to attend college, first-generation college students (FGCs) experience a discrepancy between the opportunities available to them and those available to their non-college-educated family members that elicits family achievement guilt. The present studies examined family achievement guilt among an ethnically diverse sample of FGCs and continuing-generation college students (CGCs), those whose parents attended college (Studies 1 and 2), and tested a strategy to alleviate such guilt (Study 2).

There have been numerous studies conducted in the higher education literature to determine whether parental education is related to the academic plans and success of their children. Within this literature, particular emphasis is often given to children who are "first-generation college students." However, researchers and policy makers have not reached agreement on what constitutes a first-generation college student and whether the definition affects the findings from their studies. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: In this study, we examined whether the way in which first-generation college status was defined affected its association with the likelihood of a student going to college.

Completing college required a survival balancing act-maintaining my GPA, bridging gaps back at home and navigating collegiate bureaucracies while carefully responding to microaggressions and prejudice in majority white spaces. Missing an assignment, being too tired to attend a bio lecture after working more than 30 hours a week, failing a 300 level course or even missing a tuition payment created a slippery slope back to the environment that suffocated dreams. Access to college and financial aid is not enough to secure a better quality of life for students coming from low-income backgrounds.

In my life, I have been gifted with two loving and supportive fathers. My biological father, Sabino, laid the foundation for me to be the person ...

This qualitative research analyzed how four-year, public institutions represent first-generation students that attend their colleges, on their websites, and what those first-generation students share about their experiences.