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Characteristics of First-Generation Students

What defines and distinguishes first-generation students is that neither of their parents graduated from college. When a first-generation student graduates with a college credential, that student will be the first member of the family to do so.

The very act of attempting college is a “leap of faith” for first-generation students (Engle, Bermeo, & O’Brien, 2006). Once that leap is taken, it is followed by an even more challenging leap: persisting to college completion. Focus-group interviews with first-generation students conducted by Engle, Bermeo, and O’Brien (2006) revealed that these students felt that completing college was much more difficult than gaining access to college. As one student put it, “Getting into college is one thing. It’s actually sticking it through that’s the hard part” (Engle et al., 2006, p. 6). Such anecdotal reports from first-generation students are supported by quantitative data: Their college attrition rate is significantly higher than students who come from families with a college-going tradition. In fact, only about 50% of first-generation students earn a bachelor’s degree within six years after college matriculation (DeAngelo, Franke, Hurtado, Pryor, & Tan, 2011).

Although the distinguishing characteristic of first-generation students is that neither of their parents graduated from college, they often have other characteristics in common (Engle & Tinto, 2008; Inkelas, Vogt, Daver, & Leonard, 2007). Typically, they are more likely to

• be members of underrepresented racial or ethnic groups;
• come from low-income families, receive little or no financial support from parents, work more hours per week while attending college, and to be part-time students;
• enter college academically underprepared and in need of developmental education; and,
• commute to college from home rather than live on campus.

These characteristics are also commonly associated with college attrition (Adelman, 2006; Attewell & Lavin, 2007; Berkner, He, & Cataldi, 2003), working in combination to further increase the risk of first-generation students not completing college. Thus, if colleges wish to develop truly comprehensive plans for promoting the success of first-generation students, those plans should include strategies for addressing these related risk factors. However, addressing this constellation of factors alone will not be sufficient because even if a first-generation student has none of these related characteristics, that student still remains at higher risk for attrition (Glenn, 2008; Tinto, 2012). This finding suggests that first-generation student status is itself a risk factor, independent of other risk factors.

Why Are First-Generation Students at Greater Risk for Attrition?

Unearthing the root causes of first-generation students’ attrition is the first step toward fostering their success. Once these underlying causes are identified, a retention program can then be designed intentionally to target them, and, in so doing, maximize that program’s impact on student persistence,

The scholarly literature on first-generation college students point to four key factors that place them at higher risk for attrition. Each of these factors will be discussed in the following sections.

Lack of Knowledge About College

First-generation students are likely to enter college with limited information about how college works and how to navigate the postsecondary system (Stephens, Markus, Fryburg, & Johnson, 2012). They do not have family members at home who speak the “academic language” of higher education and who can pass on informal “tribal knowledge” about how college works. Said another way, compared to students from families with a college-going tradition, first-generation students have less “social capital”— norms and social networks that facilitate transfer of education from one generation to the next (Gonzalez, 2013)—and less “cultural capital”—knowledge and skills associated with higher socioeconomic status that are transmitted across generations (Passeron & Bourdieu, 1973).

Doubt About Whether College Is Worth It

First-generation students may doubt whether college is worth the time, effort, and money because no member of their immediate family has experienced the benefits of a college degree whom they can identify with and emulate (Davis, 2012). Focus-group interviews with first-generation students have revealed that many did not think going to college was necessary to get a good job. This was captured in the words of a first-generation student who did not initially see the economic value of a college degree but eventually came to realize it: “I was just like, ‘Oh, I’ll just work with my uncle or something and just help the family out.’ But, I mean, with a degree and everything, you make more money and you could help out more” (Engle et al., 2006, p. 20).

Self-Doubt About Whether They Deserve to Be in College or Are “College Material”

Because first-generation students have not witnessed anyone in their family succeed in college, they may experience what has been called the “impostor syndrome,” the belief that they do not belong or deserve to be in college and that their academic inadequacies will soon be revealed (Whitehead & Wright, 2016). This belief can result in lower self-confidence and self-efficacy, as reflected in the following comment made by a first-generation student: “I knew I was gonna go to college, but I felt like I would probably end up flunking out ‘cause both my parents did. So, I just thought I was gonna do the same thing” (Engle et al., 2006, p. 20). Meta-analyses of multiple research studies have revealed that academic self-efficacy is a potent predictor of student retention and academic achievement (as measured by GPA) (Robbins et al., 2004), particularly for underprepared and underrepresented students (Lent, Brown, & Larkin, 1987; Solberg, O’Brien, Villareal, Kennel, & Davis, 1993; Vuong, Brown-Welty, & Tracz, 2010; Zajacova, Lynch, & Espenshade, 2005).

Insufficient Family Encouragement and Support

First-generation students encounter not only academic barriers in higher education, but also cultural barriers (Engle & Tinto, 2008). The cultural norms, customs, and expectations of their families and home communities can sometimes conflict with the culture they encounter on campus (Rice et al., 2016). This cultural conflict can create tension and force first-generation students to live “simultaneously in two vastly different worlds while being fully accepted in neither” (Rendón, 1992, p. 56). Their success in college hinges heavily on how well they transition between these two cultural worlds, and this transition can be either aided or impeded by the level of support they receive at home and on campus (Phelan, Davidson, & Yu, 1993). Studies have shown that first-generation students’ perception of family support influences their ability to manage the academic and emotional rigors of college (Dennis, Phinney, & Chuateco, 2005; Melendez & Melendez, 2010).

Continuing-generation students view and experience higher education as a natural “continuation” of high school life and their family’s life, whereas first-generation students view and experience college as a disruptive “disjunction” (Engle et al., 2006). Many first-generation students report feeling motivated to complete college because doing so would make their parents proud and enable them to serve as role models for others in their family and community (Byrd & Macdonald, 2005; Wang, 2014). However, first-generation students commonly report strained relationships and/or lack of support from non-college-going family members and neighborhood friends (London, 1989, 1992; Olenchak & Herbert, 2002; Rosas & Hamrick, 2002; Terenzini et al., 1994; Terenzini, Springer, Yeager, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996). In fact, the families of first-generation students may resent or resist the student’s decision to attend college because of the toll it takes financially (i.e., money expended for college expenses plus income lost from earnings the student could garner by working full-time to help support the family) and socially (i.e., time spent by the student on college studies and with college acquaintances that would otherwise be spent with the family).

The four aforementioned factors may account for first-generation students remaining at risk for attrition even after controlling for other risk variables. These factors also suggest that “the problem is as much the result of the experiences these students have during college as it is attributable to the experiences they have before they enroll” (Engle & Tinto, 2008, p. 3). Thus, the problem of first-generation student attrition may be alleviated by altering their “during college” experience through intentional practices designed to combat the very factors that cause them to be at risk in the first place.

Practices for Promoting the Success of First-Generation Students

The following are recommended strategies designed to combat each of the previously cited causes of first-generation student attrition.

Support Strategies: Lack of Knowledge About College

• Summer Bridge: a program lasting from one to six weeks that occurs during the summer between students’ last term in high school and their first term in college, thus serving as a supportive “bridge” between high school and higher education.
• New-student orientation program that increases students’ awareness and knowledge of key campus support services, their purposes and benefits, and how to access them.
• First-year experience course that extends support to students beyond orientation throughout their first term in college.
• College-entry assessments that evaluate new students’ level of college readiness and that place students into moderately challenging courses commensurate with their entry-level skills.

Support Strategies: Doubt About Whether College Is Worth It

• Intentionally and proactively articulating to students (e.g., via academic advising, first-year seminar, and exposure to alumni) the meaning and value of a college education and the benefits, both fiscal and personal, of a college degree.
• Academic advising that goes beyond class scheduling to help students formulate educational goals and connect their current academic experience to their future life plans.
• First-year experience course that actively engages students in the process of educational planning—for example, via course assignments in which students develop a long-range success plan that includes coursework, experiential learning, and career exploration.
• Co-curricular workshops designed to help students make meaningful decisions about a college major and potential career path.

Support Strategies: Self-Doubt About Whether They Deserve to Be in College or Are “College Material”

• First-year convocation ceremonies in which members of the college community assemble to personally welcome and celebrate first-generation students’ entry into higher education.
• Peer-mentoring programs that connect first-generation students to other, more experienced and successful first-generation college students. Peer mentors and role models would include not only students who succeeded in college from the outset, but also peers who demonstrated grit by recovering from setbacks and converting those negative experiences into comebacks (e.g., students who recovered from early academic difficulties and went on to achieve academic success).
• Early-feedback practices that proactively inform students about the need to improve the quality of their academic performance before it leads to academic failure (e.g., early-alert/early-warning systems that deliver feedback during the first few weeks of the term; midterm grade reports; early low-stakes testing or non-graded practice assignments that students can use as feedback to identify productive and unproductive learning habits/strategies).
• Personalized correspondences that refer to students by name, recognize their efforts and accomplishments, and acknowledge their achievement of educational milestones. These correspondences might include personal e-mail messages congratulating students for successfully completing their first year in college, attaining academic excellence, or regaining good academic standing after being on academic probation.

Support Strategies: Insufficient Family Encouragement and Support

• A family orientation program held concurrently with new-student orientation to educate the families of first-generation students about the nature of the college experience, the benefits of a college degree, and how they can support the student’s initial transition to college.
• A family weekend program offered during the fall term that provides information and support to families while the student’s college experience is in progress.
• A family newsletter that apprises family members of key campus events, important deadlines, and timely strategies for supporting students at different stages of their college experience.
• Family support programs that allow family members to use campus facilities, access campus events, and enable families of first-generation students to connect with each other for mutual support.
• A family office staffed with specialists who can address a family’s questions about their student’s college experience and progress (including bilingual specialists who can communicate with family members whose primary language may not be English).

Caveat

When creating support programs for first-generation students, support agents should remain mindful of a phenomenon called “stereotype threat”—putting a group of at-risk students at further risk by confirming a negative stereotype about their group. Most of the research on stereotype threat has focused on African-American students (Steele & Aronson, 1995); however, this phenomenon is not limited to ethnic or racial groups. It can be experienced by any group that encounters stereotyped expectations of failure or poor performance, including groups whose membership is not based on visible or observable physical characteristics (see research cited at www.reducingstereotypethreat.org).

Certainly, recognizing the reality that first-generation students are at greater risk for attrition and offering support programs designed explicitly to reduce their risk for attrition is preferable to ignoring the problem and making no effort to combat it. However, support should be offered with an eye toward minimizing the risk of stigmatizing first-generation students and reducing their sense of self-efficacy. One way to reduce this risk is to avoid segregating or sequestering first-generation students in “special programs.” Instead, whenever possible, support programs should enable first-generation students to interact frequently with continuing-generation students who have social capital (i.e., college knowledge) that first-generation students should be able to access and use. Customized programs that meet the unique needs of first-generation students can still be offered by creating first-generation “affinity groups,” such as forming subgroups of first-generation students during new-student orientation and encouraging first-generation students to form their own campus clubs or organizations. These affinity groups can be formed without sending a stigmatizing message that their purpose is to rescue its members from failure. Instead, like any other affinity group, first-generation affinity groups are formed among members who have common experiences to share, including sharing (and celebrating) their opportunity to be “first-in-the-family” college graduates.

Conclusion

It is a disturbing irony that student groups who have the most to gain from completing a college degree (e.g., first-generation students) are often those least likely to do so. Not attaining a college credential has particularly negative impacts on the employment prospects of low-income, first-generation college students (Collins, 2009). It also adversely impacts the educational attainment of their children, since children of students who withdraw from college are themselves less likely to complete college (and high school) (Astone & McLanahan, 1991). Thus, college attrition among underserved student populations has a negative ripple effect that crosses generational boundaries (Kojuku & Nuñez, 1998).

On the other hand, effective efforts that promote the college completion of currently enrolled first-generation students will also benefit their children (and grandchildren) by increasing the likelihood that they, too, will become college graduates and experience the improved quality of life that comes with a college degree.

References

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Joe Cuseo holds a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology and Assessment from the University of Iowa and Professor Emeritus of Psychology. He’s a 14-time recipient of the “faculty member of the year award” on his home campus—a student-driven award based on effective teaching and academic advising, a recipient of the “Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award” from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, and a recipient of the “Diamond Honoree Award” from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) for contributions made to the field of student development and the Student Affairs profession.

Currently, Joe serves as a workshop facilitator and educational consultant for colleges and universities, including AVID for Higher Education—a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the college access and success of underserved student populations. He has delivered hundreds of campus workshops and conference presentations across North America, as well as Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.

Joe has authored numerous articles and books on student learning, student retention, and faculty development, the most recent of which are:

Peer-to-Peer Leadership: Research-Based Strategies for Peer Mentors & Peer Educators

Student-Faculty Engagement: Research & Practice

Thriving in College and Beyond: Research-Based Strategies for Academic Success & Personal Development

Humanity, Diversity, & The Liberal Arts: The Foundation of a College Education