First-Generation College Students: A Guide to Resources: Studies, Reports, etc.

Working paper, School of Education, Fayetteville State University.

"This study focused on the expressed needs of first-generation and non-first-generation college students to determine whether differences exist in academic expectations. In addition, this study sought to lead to an increase in the understanding of the academic expectations shared by firstyear first-generation and non-first-generation college students."

"Discussion Paper from the Institute for Research on Poverty
"The first children in a family to attain a higher education, referred to as “first-generation students,” embody the realization of social mobility. Previous analysis has often portrayed them as succeeding despite their family background. This research suggests that although they face many material challenges, their families are often a key resource, rather than a constraint. This research attempts to reveal what enabled the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage to be broken. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from Israeli families in which intergenerational mobility took place (N = 50). Employing a grounded theory approach, the analysis reveals that breaking the intergenerational cycle mostly concerns family day-to-day life, and that it reflects three main components: time horizon, interpersonal relationships, and family values."

From Inside Higher Ed, March 23, 2012.

Brief video slideshows for students. Also materials for purchase.

"It is crucial that we study if this group of students who constitute half the student population in higher education are able to reap the expected rewards after higher education and are able to contribute to the nation‟s economic revival as expected. It is important, therefore, to consider: if students completing higher education from families with no-college background, from low-income, immigrant or minority families stand the same chance in the competition for high skilled high wages jobs as those from middle class, educated backgrounds (Mitchem, 2009); if lack of social, cultural and the “personal capital” (Brown & Hesketh, 2004, p. 31) affect the chances of these firstgeneration students in the KBE; if the financial and academic support being provided to firstgeneration students within higher education are sufficient enough to enable them to develop the “personal capital” that the employers in a KBE demand?"

"What has not been well studied, however, are the coursetaking experiences of first-generation students after entering college. What do firstgeneration students study in college? How well do they do in their coursework? Is their coursework
different from that of their peers whose parents went to college? This report explores these questions by using data from the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS) of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to examine the majors and coursetaking patterns of first-generation students and to compare their postsecondary experiences and outcomes with those of students whose parents went to college."

"This study explored the activities in which first-generation students engage that might promote academic and social integration... First, first-generation students engaged in a number of academic behaviors that often contribute to academic integration and success. Although they were not always confident in their abilities as a student, first-generation participants attended most of their classes, completed assignments, participated in class discussions, and visited their professors to seek assistance. Second, although informants seemed to devote more time to academic pursuits, they did take time to enjoy conversations and activities with peers and attend meetings and events on campus. Third, Caucasian and Multicultural first-generation students were nearly equally involved in academic pursuits...Fourth, both Caucasian and Multicultural students found ways to be involved socially on campus, but Caucasian students were more comfortable describing their time spent out of the classroom.

"Remediation is a broken system. There’s a better way — start many more students in college courses with just-in-time support."