FIRST IN THEIR FAMILIES: UNDERSTANDING THE NEED OF FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

Stacy Brinkman, Katie Gibson, Jason Michel, Jenny PresnellMiami University Libraries

When Mom can’t help you…

…where do you go instead?

Who are First-Generation College Students?

3 Definitions:1. Neither parent has ATTENDED

college or postsecondary school2. Neither parent has GRADUATED

FROM college or postsecondary school

3. Neither parent has earned a Bachelor's Degree

First-Generation (FG) Students Demographics to consider:

About 20% of all college students in US are FG (1992-2007)

38% of all Latino college students are FG

More women are FG than men

Compared to other students, FG students…

Are more likely to come from lower SES backgrounds

Are less likely to have taken AP courses in high school

Are more likely to drop out of college Have lower levels of academic self-

confidence, self-efficacy, and self-esteem

Perceive less support from their parents May experience estrangement or

alienation from their families while at college

Significance for Libraries

Library Anxiety studies Lower academic self-perception

correlates highly with increased library anxiety

No existing studies on FG students in library literature

Existing literature focuses on students from the pre-Google era

Our studies: Miami University Faculty-Staff Perceptions study

(2008) Online survey (n=150) In-depth interviews (n=27)

Student Experiences study (2009-2010) Focus Groups (n=19)

Profile of Miami University

15,000 undergrads on Oxford campus 5,000 in Hamilton + Middletown 2,000 grad students

68% in-state 98% first-years live on campus (Oxford)

Demographics 90% white 56% have parental income of over $100,000

20% have parental income of over $200,000 18% first-generation *

Study #1: Fac/Staff Perceptions Online Survey

Total Participants: 150 Female = 70%

Ratio Fac/Staff: 2:3 White = 85%

Median Age = 41 (Mean = 44)

First-Generation = 56%

Nonprobability sampleEmail listservsSnowball sampling from initial

distribution

Online Survey: FG Students…

Agree/Strongly

Agree

All “Agree”

Categories

Are a unique population on campus

51% 88%

Would benefit from special services

56% 90%

Have different attitudes about college

62% 90%

Don’t want to be identified as FG

37% 72%

6-point Likert scale (no midpoint)

Online Survey: Wording matters

Online Survey: Perceptions of FG students

Seek advice on college from peers or fac/staff

Drop out Be independent,

mature, and hardworking

Come from lower SES, and be concerned with finances

Work on campus or off campus

Use the library as a place of study

Seek advice on college from their parents

Major in Arts or Humanities

Be self-confident Be academically

prepared for college Seek personal

counseling Participate in Greek life,

student government, sports, or study abroad

Demonstrate leadership

First generation students are MORE LIKELY to

First generation students are LESS LIKELY to

Online Survey: Perceptions of FG students

First generation students are intimidated by faculty

First generation students are intimidated by other students

Study #2: Faculty/Staff Interviews (Qualitative Inquiry of Perceptions) 27 interviews Consensual Qualitative Research

Interview guides (30-60 minute interviews) Recorded and transcribed Open coding Creating shared codes

Consensual coding, establishing inter-rater reliability

Establishing core ideas from open codes Cross-analysis to construct themes

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews

FG students: experience difficulty in “navigating the system”

“I remember when I was first in at a college, the whole idea of, that there were a series of classes that you had to take and that there were these requirements and that if you followed one path you’d go in this direction but if you followed another path you’d go a different direction, and not really understanding that those weren’t necessarily equal, and at the end of it, it didn’t necessarily mean that you were going to get the job that you thought that you were going to get”

FG students want to “belong” but feel different or isolated

“I worry a lot about umm singling out students because on the basis of what their, their parents went to college or not or something like that, because while that’s well intentioned it may have some, it may not make people happy in every situation”

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews FG students have less financial resources than

other students“And so their college experience will be different and in terms of they may have to negotiate when to buy a book, its not you go to the bookstore at the beginning of the semester and buy all your books. They may have to negotiate when they can go home because financially its not a given that you’re going to be able to go home. “

FG students are less prepared academically“In terms of assumptions I had, I think it was especially

where I went to school sort of the nagging sense that I’m not going to be able to make it at this level.”

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews

FG students can’t gain support from their family

“College ideally changes the way you look at the world and that kind of thing and I do think there are times where, yeah, I clearly look at the world differently than my brothers and sisters and my parents. At the same time I’m really sort of sensitive about these things the last thing I want to be is the college boy that comes back and lectures people on thinking correctly. Because of all that sort of sacrifice that goes into sending me to school and that kind of thing. Yeah I do think actually, yeah, there are basic, I mean not just communication differences, but we see the world in a lot different ways actually.”

FG students don’t experience any more research anxiety than other studentsI don't know..how broadly based that it would be ... I guess you would phrase or frame it as a more general anxiety about ... the research and scholarship process, I think that's a bigger concern. We see it all the time...we see large numbers of students not able to complete an honors thesis ... because it becomes this sort of incredibly.. amorphous massive.. I don't know how to do that ... the research process is probably part of a bigger picture.

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews

“I don’t think that the university should assume what those needs should be. I think first generation students should definitely play a role in umm as far as expressing what their needs are. And I think the university would need to be understanding if first generation students are be reluctant to reveal what they don’t know or fear reaching out to umm those who are trying to help them. Because I think that it can be interpreted as well these fgs just don’t care or you know we’re trying to help them but they’re not helping us help them. I think that the university and the librarians need to understand why there will be some reluctancy to be a part of programs to help them. “

Faculty/staff perceptions: interviews

Study #3FG Student experiences: Focus groups

n = 19 Focus Groups

• Groups of 3-6• Used interview guide (60-90 minutes)• 2 groups of men/women• 2 groups of women only• Video and audio recorded

Preliminary findings only

FG Student experiences: Focus Groups

Navigating the system: Students feel others know things about college

they don’t know Jargon used on campus is confusing

“There were so many hidden things I was supposed to do that I didn’t know about”

“I didn’t know that if I was struggling with something, that there were people who I could talk to, like professors in office hours.”

“The bursar’s office… What’s that?” “What’s Blackboard?”

FG Student experiences: Focus Groups

Information seeking: Sources for information

about college Web – desire to be

independent and self-sufficient

Faculty and staff advisors – mixed feelings

Information is difficult to find

“Sometimes you gotta be cutthroat, and say, ‘I’m gonna be back here every day until you make this work for me.’”

FG Student experiences: Focus Groups

Family relations: Talk to parents, but not necessarily about

college Parents don’t “get it” Don’t want to “stress out” parents by talking to

them about difficulties in college “I practically have to divorce my family 10 months

out of the year. And that’s hard.” Being a role model for family members

“My parents call me to help my brothers with their homework”

FG Student experiences: Focus groups

Library experiences “I’m going to get lost.” “The library’s like a mall!” “Finals week is chaos. It’s kind of like being in a crowded airport.” “I’ll never use this – there aren’t any books.” “It’s so complicated to find books – there are too many sections,

and everything is in different libraries. I didn’t think I’d fail at that, too.”

Library Anxiety?

Mellon, C. (1986). Library anxiety: a grounded theory and its development. College & Research Libraries, 47(2), 160-165. intimidated by the size of the library lack knowledge about where everything was

located lack knowledge about how to begin the

research process lack knowledge about what to do

So what?

 Questions?

Billson, J.M., & Terry, M.B. (1982). In search of the silken purse: Factors in attrition among first-generation students. College and University, 58, 57–75.Choy, S. (2001). Students whose parents did not go to college. NCES 2001-126 Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.Hellman, C. M., & Harbeck, D. (1996). Academic self efficacy: Highlighting the first generation student. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 4, 69-75.Hertel, J. B. (2002). College student generational status: Similarities, differences, and factors in college adjustment. Psychological Record, 52, 3-18.Ishitani, T. T. (2003). A longitudinal approach to assessing attrition behavior among first- generation students: Time-varying effects of pre-college characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 44, 433-449.Ishitani, T. T. (2006). Studying attrition and degree completion behavior among first- generation college students in the United States. Journal of Higher Education, 77, 861-885.London, H. B. (1989). Breaking away: A study of first-generation college students and their families. American Journal of Education, 97, 144-170. Martin Lohfink, M., & Paulsen, M. B. (2005). Comparing the determinants of persistence for first-generation and continuing-generation students. Journal of College Student Development, 46(4), 409-428.

Selected Bibliography

McGregor, L., Mayleben, M. A., Buzzanga, V. L., Davis, S. F., & Becket, A. H. (1991). Selected personality characteristics of first-generation college students. College Student Journal, 25, 231-234.Nunez, A., & Cuccaro-Alamin, S. (1998). First-generation students: Undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education. NCES 98-082. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.Pascarella, E. T., Pierson, C. T., Wolniak, G. C., & Terenzini, P. T. (2004). First-generation college students: Additional evidence on college experiences and outcomes. Journal of Higher Education, 75, 249-284.Ramos-Sánchez, L., & Nichols, L. (2007). Self efficacy of first-generation and non-first- generation college students: The relationship with academic performance and college adjustment. Journal of College Counseling, 10, 6-18. Saenz, V. B., Hurtado, S., Barrera, D., Wolf, D., & Yeung, F. (2007). First in my family: A profile of first-generation college students at four-year institutions since 1971. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA. Strage, A. A. (1999). Social and academic integration and college success: Similarities and differences as a function of ethnicity and family educational background. College Student Journal, 33, 198-206. Terenzini, P. T., Springer, L., Yaeger, P. M., Pascarella, E. T., & Nora, A. (1996). First- generation college students: Characteristics, experiences, and cognitive development. Research in Higher Education, 37, 1 - 22.Wang, C. D. C., & Castañeda-Sound, C. (2008). The role of generational status, self- esteem, academic self-efficacy, and perceived social support in college students' psychological well-being. Journal of College Counseling 11, 101-118.