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First generation college students and disadvantages
First generation college students and disadvantages
First generation college students and disadvantages
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This study has been done to see if parental support distinguishes the education of first generation students in compared to non-first generation students. “Greater numbers of students from non-college educated families are realizing that in order to gain equal footing with their peers, a college degree is a must” . As the number of first generation students in the college environment begin to increase, so due the worries of their educational aspirations and achievements within this new atmosphere. This article also states that, “current research suggests that first- generation students differ in significant ways from their non-first-generation peers in areas including academic preparation, racial/ethnic demographics, socioeconomic status …show more content…
Studies show that in comparison with non-first generation students, first generation students do differ in many ways. Such as, demonstrating that there are many “socio-cultural variables” that affect the availability of these students to continue forward in their academics. Examples being, language barriers and role models, people whom they can relate themselves to as they grow. As well as, when the student needs to meet certain family obligations that may interfere with his/her school responsibilities, making them less prepared for the …show more content…
Regardless of standing, parental support in a college student’s education may make a definite impact on their academic achievements. Typically literature has the tendency of painting a picture of first generation students lacking in personal and social skills that can subsidize positive academic outcomes when attending
Being the first generation means setting an example and paving the way for future generations. However, this also means additional challenges like high expectations, guilt, and lack of guidance. During my secondary education, my family was not supportive or informed on the educational system and how it worked.
First, no longitudinal study currently exists that follows children from kindergarten to college and beyond. Of course, costs for such a study would be exorbitant, but what social implications exist from the scarcity of available research? Second, the qualitative interviews concentrate on first-generation college students from one elite university. To the best of my knowledge, no study has qualitatively analyzed the differences between first-generation and continuing-generation college students. Additionally, one elite university cannot serve as the paragon for all elite institutions. Third, the qualitative study samples from a variety of cohorts to measure change across time, but a better method would be to re-interview each student in one year increments from the time they matriculate to several years after expected degree attainment. Finally, to fully understand the experience of first-generation college students, interviews with parents, educators, and gatekeepers can provide insights that the students themselves were unaware
Everett pointed out the favorable circumstances provided by public community colleges which created access for first-generation students. She divided access into five categories: financial, geographic, programmatic, academic, and cultural/social/physical accessibility. She went on to elaborate the different ways in which these elements aided first-generation students in attending college. She concluded the article with a few challenges faced by first-generation students and the programs that were implemented to combat such challenges.
The competition in today’s job market makes it seemingly impossible to be considered a competitive candidate without having some sort of college degree. This very fact has pushed researchers to analyze and report on the performance of students with various educational backgrounds along with the factors that affect their ability to obtain a college degree. One particular subset of students who show interesting graduation patterns are first generation students, whose parents have do not have a college degree. First generation students frequently encounter difficulty in school and must jump over many hurdles in order to graduate and receive a college degree. These hurdles include language barriers, intergenerational gaps and social class achievement
Being a first-generation student has been life changing in so many ways. Applying for college wasn't the easiest thing to do for me considering that my parents did not attend college. To overcome the struggle, I had to reach out to various resources such as my friends who are currently attending a four year college. The most complicated part was completing the paperwork for the FAFSA. There are multiple documents that create a maze of paperwork that I had to work my way through to complete the FAFSA. One of the most nerve-racking parts of the process was not knowing for certain if I had completed all of the paperwork exactly as specified. The FAFSA was definitely the most challenging obstacle I had to overcome. My Freshman year of High School,
are taught by their parents that determination and persistency are the keys to academic achievements. In addition, many Asian parents are extremely involved and invested in their children’s education. For many first-generation immigrant and refugee parents, they believe the way to realize the American dream is through higher education and professional status. They encourage t...
Lack of parental involvement is an issue that most college students have to deal with. It becomes difficult for students to know how to deal with challenges related to school when being the first generation in their family to experience college. This...
Being a first generation college student has been my biggest struggle in life. For years, I was told to attend Allen Community College before any big changes of course I didn’t listen. For years I was told I wouldn’t last in a big university, I have been told I will be unprepared and behind. I have been told that three out of five first generations students do not complete a degree. Being told something isn’t possible is a hard thing to deal with.
In today’s day and age, the percentage of monitories attending college decrease more every day. Many studies indicate that there are more African Americans with high school diplomas then college degrees. The question being asked reputably amongst many people is why African Americans still face huge challenges in terms of accessing and completing higher education. The answer to this argument is that single parent household can have a huge effect on how they prosper down the road. Single parent households can influence a child drive for pursuing higher education by failing to push or ensure them that it’s possible to achieve higher than a high school diploma
In addition, first-generation students lack an established skill set when entering college due to the lack of exposure to higher education. After years of research, Dr. Ryan Padgett and Megan Johnson (2012) found that first generation students lack interpersonal skills when entering college because they are unfamiliar with how to interact with individuals who have a postsecondary education. By demonstrating a certain lack of skills before entering college, Jennifer Guerra of the National Public Radio extends the findings of Padgett et al. by stating first-generation students feel out of place when assimilating to their college campus.
First generation students come to college with their unique challenges such as X,Y,Z (CITE). A student group this large and vulnerable deserves special attention if they want to make it to graduation. This paper seeks to review the literature on first generation college students and answer the question: Why do first generation college students leave and how can we get them to persist to graduation?
A first generation student expresses frustrations about connecting to campus life: “We all want to be a part of the university. I just don’t know how…”, and another student helps finish by adding, “…how to act. I am proud of my roots. But who I am doesn’t fit in with who these other people are” (Lowery-Hart and Pacheco 62). First generation college students can be defined differently by many organizations, but they basically are the first in their respective families to attend and/ or complete a four year college or university to obtain a bachelor’s degree (Soria and Stebleton 7). Students face many obstacles on the road to college, and can experience even more difficulty once
As a first generation college student, we tend to be in need of financial assistance in order to attend college. Scholarships and financial aid would be of great assistance in supporting my goal for higher education, I noticed the only way out of poverty from a single family with low income is to pursuing higher education and obtain a skilled job. Although my father has made many sacrifices to allow me to focus on education throughout high school, but college is just a new level of challenge on financial need ever since my grandma were diagnosed with cancer. She is a strong old lady that never give up fight cancer throughout the past five years, and she taught me never give
Finally, it is a general opinion among many that academic performance is a manner of will and determination of an individual rather than their socioeconomic status. For instance, in schools of higher learning, there are a lot of students from richer backgrounds who do not perform well as compared to those perceived to be from poor backgrounds (Sacerdote, 2002). Research has shown that while socioeconomic status may influence the availability or access to learning materials, it is the student’s personal determination to excel that determines the kind of lifestyle they
Being a college student could be very stressful; many students feel pressure from their family and peers to do well. The struggles of college; in academic, social, and economical factors, would be much harder without a support system. Encouragement of family members is a very important factor in a first year college student. One reason is because individuals seek praise from their family members and friends. If these people encourage the student to do well in all their courses, and then express approval when he or she does excel, then more than likely this student will continue to do well. According to studies of Hackman & Dysinger, a familys expectation may be as significant as a student’s own. Many graduates note that their parents assumed that they would graduate rather than just hoping. Students of educated parents are more likely to be motivated in college because of their understanding and encouragement.