The typical educational stressors experienced by college students, in conjunction with developmental stressors such as separation from parents, individuation, and perceived social support, can interact to impact adaptation significantly. First generation college students (students who are the first in their family to attend college) can experience stressors beyond the typical educational stressors experienced by later generation college students, including lack of support from family and peers as well as financial difficulties that can interact to impact the pursuit of an education beyond the undergraduate level. The present study examined factors that may be especially influential in the pursuit of a higher education for first generation college students. Results indicated that aspects of family enmeshment were related to academic motivation for first generation students, but not for later generation students. Exploratory analysis showed that family and finances were mentioned more often among first generation students when compared to later generation students as stressors that strongly influence the desire to continue beyond the undergraduate level.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Liberty University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is an investigation of the lived experience of first generation female students in their first year of study at the University of Guelph in Guelph Ontario, Canada. The study highlights the importance of learning about the lived experience of first-generation female students, from their perspectives and in their own words. As previous research focuses most often on the demographics, academic performance, and persistence rates of first-generation students, this study is significant as it approaches the female first-generation student experience from a phenomenological standpoint. The women spoke at length about the effect their parents and siblings had on their academic lives. They talked of their experiences transitioning to university and the issues and challenges associated with their new environments. The participants in this study also shared what advice they would give to other first-generation students entering higher education.

The number of first-generation college students (FGCSs) attending four-year colleges/universities is on the rise. While numerous studies have examined descriptive characteristics of this growing population, few studies have examined why FGCSs choose to attend college. This study sought to tackle this question by conducting focus groups with thirty-five FGCSs. Participants were asked to identify sources of vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) that were influential in their decision to pursue a college degree as well as the VAS messages they received from these sources. Focus group data revealed seven sources of VAS with parents being the number one source of VAS messages regarding higher education. Results also revealed five VAS message types, though messages referencing a perceived overall better quality of life were the most common. The findings show that FGCSs receive socializing messages from a variety of sources but parents maintain the greatest influence.

The Life of Ben and Other Poems consists of two sections. The first, The Life of Ben, is a series of seventeen poems about the life of a first-generation American and his family's immigration. The second section, Other Poems, includes twenty-one poems on a variety of themes.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2007. / Thesis advisor: Marc Goldstein. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-84). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The degree of access to American higher education has changed over the years. During the 1980s and 1990s, higher education witnessed an increase in the diversity of students while enrollment in higher education reached approximately 14,000,000. With the matriculation of a wider array of students, higher education realized a need to understand these students better. Researchers began to investigate issues that they considered possible influences on the experiences of students in higher education. Questions were raised as to the roles that gender, race, and socioeconomic status might play in a student's college experience. Comparatively, generational status is one factor that has not been given as much attention by researchers. The purpose of the present study was to compare a sample of first generation students and non-first generation students who enrolled at the same institution in the same year. The goal was to provide a description of first generation students' demographic characteristics, pre-college behaviors, and values and beliefs. Data on 3,966 first-year students who completed the Annual Freshman Survey (CIRP) and who enrolled at the selected institution in the fall of 1998 were analyzed. Results revealed significant differences on 64 out of 206 total chi-squares conducted. The majority of significant differences related to issues of money. / Master of Arts

The door to college is open for increasing numbers of students for whom adapting to college may be a great challenge (Kamphoff, Hutson, Amundsen, & Atwood, 2007). Hansen (1998) noted that the overall academic preparation level has declined for students entering college and that academic disengagement in college has increased among many students. The educational background of the parents has been shown to have a significant impact on a student's decision to attend college (Choy, 200). Many firs-generation students come from ethnic and educational backgrounds that historically have struggled with the educational system (Somers, Woodhouse, & Cofer, 2004). The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a relationship between students' parental educational background and selected academic and non-academic variables of entering college freshmen. The participants in this study were enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a comprehensive public Midwestern research university, during academic years 2006-2008. Academic and non-academic factors were assessed to determine if differences existed between first-generation and non-first-generation students. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences versions 16.0 (SPSS 16.0) and Microsoft Excel 2007. Descriptive statistics were calculated to provide a general profile of the students. Descriptive data analyzed included demographic information, non-academic data (assessed using the Bryson Instrument for Noncognitive Assessment), and academic data (high school GPA and rank, ACT composite and subscores).

Small and medium-sized businesses are a major contributor to many economies, but it is lesser known that some of these are also classified as family businesses. These family businesses are created due to the entrepreneurial mind set and ability of one or more of its founders, who identify an opportunity and seek to exploit such an opportunity. To be able to survive, sustain and grow the business they need to maintain at least their entrepreneurial orientation through other generations. Although these businesses face similar challenges, the literature showed that family businesses are very different to other non-family businesses due to their uniqueness and the overlapping of the family relationships. Family businesses represent a large proportion of the businesses registered world-wide, and they make an important contribution to economic growth and wealth creation in the world. South Africa is no exception and it is estimated by scholars that for the last 300 years family businesses have contributed to the South African economy. However, very few of these businesses will continue to exist after the first generation because of succession failure. This results in a great loss in skills and wealth transfer, and a change in the contribution to economic growth. Family business leaders need to learn how to manage the factors that affect the succession process. Researchers in family business literature acknowledge that leadership is vital to the success and survival of the firm. Leadership can be seen as a process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its efforts towards goal setting and goal achievement. Interestingly, family business researchers typically refer to succession and not leadership succession, and additionally, there is little crossover between the two fields of study and scholars rarely reference one another. Bridging this gap will greatly benefit the family business literature and will enhance the understanding of both fields of study. Therefore, the high failure rate for family businesses in the second and later generations has led to the problem that the succeeding generations might not have developed sufficient leadership practices to sustain the business performance of the family business. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between leadership practices and business performance. The results of this quantitative correlational study indicate that positive significant correlations exist between the occurrence of leadership practices and measures of business performance for first generation leaders of the selected family businesses. In addition, a disparity was found where effectively only two correlations existed between the variables for the second generation leaders. These results illuminate the potential differences in the ways that first and second generation leaders‘ lead family businesses. By empirically investigating the leadership practices of leaders in family businesses, this study has added to the limited quantity of leadership-related topics in family business literature. By way of the conceptual model developed in this study, a significant contribution has been made towards understanding the possible impact leadership practices have on business performance in these selected family businesses. As a result, this study presents propositions to assist founders to train future and existing family business leaders in leadership practices. / PhD (Business Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Small and medium-sized businesses are a major contributor to many economies, but it is lesser known that some of these are also classified as family businesses. These family businesses are created due to the entrepreneurial mind set and ability of one or more of its founders, who identify an opportunity and seek to exploit such an opportunity. To be able to survive, sustain and grow the business they need to maintain at least their entrepreneurial orientation through other generations. Although these businesses face similar challenges, the literature showed that family businesses are very different to other non-family businesses due to their uniqueness and the overlapping of the family relationships. Family businesses represent a large proportion of the businesses registered world-wide, and they make an important contribution to economic growth and wealth creation in the world. South Africa is no exception and it is estimated by scholars that for the last 300 years family businesses have contributed to the South African economy. However, very few of these businesses will continue to exist after the first generation because of succession failure. This results in a great loss in skills and wealth transfer, and a change in the contribution to economic growth. Family business leaders need to learn how to manage the factors that affect the succession process. Researchers in family business literature acknowledge that leadership is vital to the success and survival of the firm. Leadership can be seen as a process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its efforts towards goal setting and goal achievement. Interestingly, family business researchers typically refer to succession and not leadership succession, and additionally, there is little crossover between the two fields of study and scholars rarely reference one another. Bridging this gap will greatly benefit the family business literature and will enhance the understanding of both fields of study. Therefore, the high failure rate for family businesses in the second and later generations has led to the problem that the succeeding generations might not have developed sufficient leadership practices to sustain the business performance of the family business. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between leadership practices and business performance. The results of this quantitative correlational study indicate that positive significant correlations exist between the occurrence of leadership practices and measures of business performance for first generation leaders of the selected family businesses. In addition, a disparity was found where effectively only two correlations existed between the variables for the second generation leaders. These results illuminate the potential differences in the ways that first and second generation leaders‘ lead family businesses. By empirically investigating the leadership practices of leaders in family businesses, this study has added to the limited quantity of leadership-related topics in family business literature. By way of the conceptual model developed in this study, a significant contribution has been made towards understanding the possible impact leadership practices have on business performance in these selected family businesses. As a result, this study presents propositions to assist founders to train future and existing family business leaders in leadership practices. / PhD (Business Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014