Today’s First Generation

Today’s First GenerationTHE NOW GENERATION:

Today’s First GenerationTHE NOW GENERATION:

Todays First Generation

First Generation College Students have reason to be proud; Against daunting odds: THEY HAVE MADE IT!!!!

The FactsROUGHLY 30% OF ENTERING FRESHMEN IN THE USA ARE FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS UP FROM 17 PERCENT IN 2007 ACCORDING TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE. U S A T O D AY

24% — 4.5 MILLION — ARE BOTH FIRST-GENERATION AND LOW INCOME .

The FactsNATIONALLY, 89% OF LOW-INCOME FIRST-GENERATION LEAVE COLLEGE WITHIN SIX YEARS WITHOUT A DEGREE. MORE THAN A QUARTER LEAVE AFTER THEIR FIRST YEAR — FOUR TIMES THE DROPOUT RATE OF HIGHER-INCOME SECOND-GENERATION STUDENTS. A N N M U R P H Y PA U L T I M E M A G A Z I N E

HistoryTHERE WAS A TIME, HIGHER EDUCATION CELEBRATED THEIR INCLUSION, AS WELL AS OUR ABILITY TO PROVIDE NEED-BLIND ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID. THESE STUDENTS WERE OUR SUCCESS STORIES; WE ALL POINTED TO THOSE WHO, WITH OUR HELP, HAD PULLED THEMSELVES UP AND OUT. THEY BECAME PART OF THE STORY WE TOLD ABOUT OUR MISSIONS.

Today, one in three students is first generation

Student Challenges

First Generation Students are defined as: those students whose parent(s) have not attained a college degree.

These students, who have little or no family collegiate history, may;

•enter a college or university with limited knowledge about the jargon, traditions, and patterns of expected behavior

•These factors may prevent first-generation students from fully engaging in a university setting and may contribute to early departure from the university before the completion of a degree.

The Reality is:

No matter how intelligent and capable, first-generation students may benefit from additional support as they adjust to a new environment. It can be helpful to learn more about what other first-generation students have experienced as well as what can be done to help maximize your performance and experience as you work towards attaining your degree.

The Reality is:

While certainly immersed in an exciting experience, some first-generation college students receive less support from their families while attending college. Their families may not understand the demands of college work. Students may also feel added responsibility from families to be ‘the one who succeeds’ in college. This may increase the pressure the individual already experiences as a new student.

What some Generation First say they are experiencingAS A COLLEGE STUDENT

Who We Are

Pride Pride – These students often feel an overwhelming sense of pride about being the first in their families to attend and complete college. A college degree can provide many opportunities. This is an important accomplishment!

Excitement and Anxiety Excitement and Anxiety – Many students are thrilled but also somewhat frightened about being away from home at college, living on their own, and being the first in the family to attend college. These students may ask themselves, “Am I cut out to be a college student?” despite their stellar academic performance in high school.

Responsibility Responsibility – Many first-generation students have to help pay for their education, perhaps more so than students of higher socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to financial responsibility, these students may be pressured by family and friends to return home often, and may receive mixed messages about their changing identities (e.g., wanting to succeed, but not wanting to be different from the rest of the family or their peers).

Guilt Guilt – In addition to pride, many first-generation students may feel guilt about having the opportunity to attend college while others in the family did not have that opportunity. These students may wonder if it is fair for them to be at school while their parents struggle financially at home. They may feel the need to go home to support their families. First-generation students may also feel guilty about their academic performance if it is not as good as they or their families would like.

Embarrassment and Shame Embarrassment and Shame – These students may feel embarrassment over their socioeconomic status or the level of education in their family. First-generation students may try to act like their family is more highly educated or financially advantaged than they really are. There may be embarrassment around being different from their peers at college, particularly if their peers have a long lineage of family members attending college or if they seem to know the ‘lingo’ when a first-generation student may not.

Confusion Confusion - First-generation students may feel ‘out of the loop’ when it comes to college processes and procedures such as application, graduation, job or graduate school searches, etc. They may not be aware of the resources available to them or of options available to them after graduation.

Meeting the ChallengesOF TODAY’S FIRST GENERATION STUDENT

Believe in your right to college . . . get the knowledge you need

Academic Barriersand University Challenges

BARRIER

Report lower educational aspirations

More likely to enter college academically underprepared

Reading comprehension and critical thinking do not improve at as high a rate

Earn lower GPAs and take fewer academic hours

Avoid majors and courses in math, science, and humanities

CHALLENGE

Create an environment that affirms students’ strengths and encourages their educational pursuits

Provide opportunities for supplementary instruction, remedial instruction, and/or learning skill development

Demonstrate the value of liberal education

Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM fields

Under-represented minorities make up only 10% of all of those working in science and engineering occupations. What is even sadder is that only one in 10 STEM professionals is a minority woman (Sobawale, 2012).The issue of minorities in STEM is relevant to all levels of the academic pipeline, particularly from high school to the professoriate (Syed and Chemers, 2011).

Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM fields

Among first-year college students, women are much less likely than men to say that they intend to major in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). By graduation, men outnumber women in nearly every science and engineering field, and in some, such as physics, engineering, and computer science, the difference is dramatic, with women earning only 20 percent of bachelor’s degrees. women’s representation in science and engineering declines further at the graduate level and yet again in the transition to the workplace. (Washington Post, 2010)

Barriers Facing Underrepresented Students in STEM Education

On the K-12 levels, inequitable access to technologies and technology curriculum in poorer communities and school districts begins the trend of underrepresented minorities losing ground in skill development


Narrow perception of available career path. The misconceptions among underrepresented

minorities and women remain about technology fields such as computer science and engineering

is a White male profession, thus the number of jobs held in these professions is White male

dominated.


Bias and Stereotyping. The cultural stigma placed on women and minorities that they are

subservient to their White male counterparts early on in their academic careers exacerbates the

challenges of pursuing those types of careers.


Absence of Role Models and Mentors. Because this trend has remained for so long, students

who show interests in these fields have little to no current representation, or those individual

they can look up to or discuss the challenges they face as a STEM student, becoming a STEM

student or withdrawing from STEM all together. One of the keys to student retention is

mentoring on every level from pre-secondary education to post secondary education. When

mentoring opportunities become few or non-existent, again it becomes a contribution to this

negative trend.


Isolation becomes a concern in that often as a minority and or a woman they are represented as

the only minority within a group whether it is in school or the workplace, or they may be one of a

handful that represents the area of technology. This feeling of not being a part of the group forces

isolation and lack luster performance as well as a shift in levels of motivation.


Influential Social Networking or lack thereof combines with isolation, lack of mentoring and

absence of role models. In business, nothing gets done or it is much more difficult to move up

without making the necessary connections. Professional networking carries a lot of weight in

career opportunities.

Cultural Barriers and University Challenges

BARRIER

Less likely to identify college as necessary to achieving goals

Parents lack “college knowledge” related to navigating the college environment

Only 50% identify their parents as supportive of their decision to attend college

“[Live] simultaneously in two vastly different worlds while being fully accepted in neither”

CHALLENGE

Demonstrate the long-term benefits of a college education

Integrate with family to create “buy-in” when possible and/or appropriate; encourage autonomy as necessary

Assist students in recognizing and accepting their dual roles

Provide culturally-sensitive services that address the specific needs of first-generation students

Social Barriers and University Challenges

BARRIER

More likely to live off-campus

Less likely to participate in on-campus organizations/events

Identify their closest friends as full-time employees rather than college students

Report higher rates of isolation and discrimination

Perceive faculty as “distant” or unconcerned with them as individuals

CHALLENGE

Provide cost-effective housing options and/or ways to integrate with Housing programs and initiatives

Target first-generation students when advertising organizations and events

Foster a safe and inclusive campus community

Create opportunities for first-generation students to form relationships with faculty

Financial Barriers and University Challenges

BARRIER

Uninformed about financial aid – forms, processes, etc.

More likely to have additional financial obligations

Have fewer resources to pay for college

Nature of and time allotted to work differ from that of second-generation students

More likely to meet employment obligations than academic obligations

CHALLENGE

Supply materials about financial aid and the financial aid process that are easy to access and easy to understand

Assist students in minimizing out-of-pocket costs

Provide ample opportunities for on-campus employment

What Works Outside of the classroom

◦ Ensuring that students are socially integrated◦ Providing intensive, holistic support services◦ Forming authentic relationships between students and

staff◦ Recognizing and celebrating diversity

Within the classroom◦ Ensuring that students form relationships with faculty

and feel appreciated as individuals◦ Recognizing the unique circumstances of first-generation

students and allowing flexibility as appropriate◦ Focusing on improving reading comprehension, critical

thinking, and mathematical abilities

Federal TRIO Programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math/Science, Veterans' Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers, and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program) help students to overcome class, social, academic, and cultural barriers to higher education.

Today’s First GenerationTHE NOW GENERATION