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ABSTRACTWithin migration and globalization the concept of ethnic identity, religious identity and belonging have come to play a significant role in both immigrants’ lives and as well in social context. Sweden, as a multicultural society has been dealing with different ethnic groups of immigrants and the way these minority groups perceive themselves to be and how they are perceived by others in the society has also come to be of high importance. By migrating people also change their position. They often occupy inferior positions in the society when they settle down in the new country. Identity as a phenomenon is very abstract. It is a process that is shaped by social processes. My own thoughts to the questions of identity shape and belonging inspired me to specifically look into the Kosovar Albanian immigrants in Sweden and investigate their views and experiences of their shapes and changes of identity while living in Sweden, where they constantly are facing cultural differences. I wanted to research this phenomenon, partly because this subject lies personally close to me and see if other Kosovar Albanians share the same experiences.From the experiences of the respondents that were selected during the interviews it is shown that immigrants are always in between two cultures, which gives the sense of confusion while they do not know where ‘home’ really is. The respondents show everything from how they feel themselves to how they are perceived by others. They have a background with different values and norms, they have an existing identity and they are influenced by Swedish values and norms, which leads to identity shape. The important theories that are described in the text strengthen the respondents’ views and experiences and give a broader understanding to the issue of identity. Ethnicity, culture, religion, diaspora and transnationalism are highly crucial to the subject. The historical background of the Kosovar Albanians is also important because of their pre-existing national and ethnic feelings about their country as an independent state and their rights to express their culture. Keywords: identity, ethnicity, first & second generation immigrants, culture, diaspora, transnationalism, ‘Kosovar’ identity.

First generation students face significant challenges with respect to college enrollment (Choy, 2001) and remain disproportionately underrepresented in certain segments of American higher education particularly in graduate education (Callan, 2001). Among those individuals who shape the educational plans of first-generation students are their parents (Hossler & Stage, 1999; McDonough, 1997). Researchers operationalize parental influence as the transmission of various forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1977). The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between various forms of capital parents transmit to their children and graduate school aspirations of first generation and non-first generation students attending highly selective institutions. Three dimensions of capital were explored in this study: (a) human, (b) cultural, and (c) social. Additionally, this study was designed to determine whether there are differences in the degree of these forms of capital among groups classified by race, gender and institution type. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF) (Massey et. al, 2003) which included a sample of Asian, Black, Hispanic and Caucasian first year, first generation and non-first generation students from 28 highly selective colleges and universities were used for this study. The findings suggest that human, cultural, and social capital transmitted to students by parents are marginally related to graduate school aspirations regardless of generation status. Also, graduate school aspirations differ by race/ethnicity and gender, but do not differ substantively between first generation and non-first generation students in this sample. Finally, the type of institution students attend does not relate to their graduate school aspirations. / Ph. D.

This qualitative bounded case study examines both the benefits and challenges faced by first-generation African American students who have completed early college access programming (ECAP). Not all children have equal access to higher education, therefore educators have been trying to bridge the gap in education for years. Due to socio-economic challenges in society, there has been a colossal increase in the need for diversity and inclusion within postsecondary institutions. Students from various ethnicities and backgrounds bring different experiences to education and the education learned through those various experiences are valuable. Inequalities in college access experienced by first-generation African American students is the lens for this study. This study addresses the effectiveness of early college access and its effects on first-generation African American students' postsecondary academic and psychosocial outcomes. Driven by critical race theory, this study analyzed student perceptions of their participation in ECAP and whether it supported their academic achievement in college. The study consisted of 10 interviews with Achievable Dream alumni enrolled in six universities across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Results were analyzed using inductive coding to identify components that affect academic achievement. Findings suggest that participation in early college access programming established an educational foundation which led to positive outcomes in academic achievement throughout postsecondary education. In addition to positive outcomes, barriers to achieving academic success were also identified. / Doctor of Philosophy / This case study examines both the benefits and challenges faced by first-generation African American students who have completed early college access programming (ECAP). Not all children have equal access to higher education, therefore educators have been trying to bridge the gap in education for years. Due to socio-economic challenges in society, there has been a huge increase in the need for diversity and inclusion within colleges and universities. Students from various ethnicities and backgrounds bring different experiences to education and the education learned through those various experiences are valuable. Inequalities in college access experienced by first-generation African American students is the lens for this study. This study addresses how early college access effects academic achievement of first-generation African American students while in college. This study analyzed student perceptions of their participation in ECAP and whether it supported their academic achievement in college. The study consisted of 10 interviews with Achievable Dream alumni enrolled in six universities across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Findings suggest that participation in early college access programming established an educational foundation which led to positive outcomes in academic achievement throughout college. In addition to positive outcomes, barriers to achieving academic success were also identified.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the ways current higher education approaches to career education, counseling, and preparation models served, or disserved, economically marginalized first-generation Latinas (EMFGL) and their career identities. In centering EMFGL-identifying college graduates, this study used interviews to glean an understanding of what the EMFGL career education experience was like and how forms of career preparation in college equipped, or unequipped, students’ career pathways. Driven to assess how higher education institutions can come to eradicate the generalization of their career counseling and education practices and ideologies, this work further uncovers how EMFGL graduates use their career counseling and education realities as a faculty—a sensibility—to (a) critique and question the dominant forms and depictions of career success operating under Western and capitalistic paradigms and (b) to (re)define the spaces that constrain, define, and drive EMFGL steps beyond the collegiate space.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of participation in a federally funded TRiO program. Specifically, it was designed to determine if the TRiO program was a good indicator of producing statistically significant outcomes in college self-efficacy and perseverance of first-generation African American Women (AAW) in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)-related disciplines in comparison to those who were not enrolled in TRiO. The research design for this study was inferential statistics with a causal-comparative design. This study consisted of 55 participants enrolled at a large, 4-year, public, doctoral degree-granting institution in the Southeastern rural region of the United States who identify as first-generation AAW. Out of the 55 participants, the researcher identified 31 AAW who (a) were enrolled in STEM-related disciplines during the spring 2018 semester and (b) who were enrolled in a TRiO program. Analysis using a series of one-way ANCOVA tests found TRiO to not have a statistically significant difference for the perseverance score, consistency score, course efficacy score, and the social efficacy score. Moreover, years of participation in a TRiO program positively correlated with social efficacy. A Multiple Regression was conducted, and it was found that for social efficacy there was a statistically significant difference for the number of years of participation in a TRiO program. This study generated limited results in regards to identifying a statistical significant difference in the impact of college self-efficacy and perseverance of first-generation AAW in STEM-related disciplines based on their demographic characteristics (e.g., age, classification, family income) for the perseverance score, consistency score, course efficacy score, and the social efficacy score. Conclusions based on the findings in this study indicated that years of participation in TRiO positively correlated with social efficacy as there was a statistically significant difference for the number of years of participation in TRiO. Therefore, the researcher recommends that a longitudinal study be designed to monitor participants’ college self-efficacy and perseverance from their freshman year to their senior year of college.

This study is a two-part manuscript dissertation that examined the relationships between academic resilience (perseverance, negative affect and emotional response, reflecting and adaptive help-seeking), wellness (spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and psychological wellness), and imposter syndrome among first-generation graduate counseling students (FGGCS). Survey data from 172 FGGCS’s was analyzed using bivariate correlational and regression analyses to answer four primary research questions: (1) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and academic resilience, (2) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and perceived wellness, (3) Are FGGCS’s level of academic resilience and perceived wellness statistically significant predictors of imposter syndrome, (4) What is the relationship between age, gender, race, enrollment status, parental education status, and imposter syndrome while accounting for academic resilience and perceived wellness? The results indicated no significant correlation between academic resilience and imposter syndrome, and a moderate negative correlation between perceived wellness and imposter syndrome. Further analysis revealed emotional wellness as a significant predictor of imposter syndrome. No statistically significant differences in FGGCS level of imposter syndrome were predicted by varying demographic factors such as age, gender, race, enrollment status, and parental education status while accounting for academic resilience and perceived wellness. Implications for higher education stakeholders are discussed to support FGGCS mental health and retention.

This study examined what differences in resiliency traits, if any, exist between successful and non-successful first and continuing-generation college students through the use of a survey. For the purposes of this study, first-generation students were those students whose parents have never attended college and continuing-generation college students were those students whose parents have attended some college. For the purposes of this study, the term successful was defined as those students who after being enrolled during fall 2005 re-enrolled for the spring 2006 semester and the term non-successful is defined as those students who after being enrolled fall 2005 semester failed to re-enrolled for the spring 2006 semester. A sample of 164 students was surveyed by collecting demographic data, resiliency traits, attitudinal characteristics, level of familial support, and reasons for dropping out of college. A sub-sample of 40 students participated in a face-to-face, in-depth interview. This study found that successful first-generation community college students possessed certain common qualities or resilient characteristics that include: 1) social competence, 2) problem-solving skills, 3) critical consciousness, 4) autonomy, and 5) sense of purpose. Through the face-to-face interviews common themes emerged. Many of the students used similar words to describe their feelings and experiences about beginning, continuing and withdrawing from college. Many of the first-generation college students expressed the lack of familial support once they enrolled. Common themes emerged for the continuing-generation college students in that each student was comfortable with the process of selecting a major, selecting courses to enroll in, and the amount of time they expected to devote to studying. The return rate for each of the four groups studied was limited and rigorous follow up efforts failed to increase the return rate. This is a fundamental limitation of the study, and the results can only be generalized to the institution studied. However, the findings in this study are consistent with the literature on retention and dropout rates for these students.