Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-223).

Much scholarship on first-generation students has focused on their academic and social integration in college (Collier & Morgan, 2008; Lowery-Hart & Pacheco, 2011; Stuber, 2011). Little is known about the experiences of first-generation students in schools of social work. In this research I've expanded the focus beyond students' experiences of academic integration to explore how first-generation students in a school of social work describe their relational worlds and the implications for professional socialization. Informed by Standpoint Feminism and Postmodern/Post structural Feminism, I conducted focus groups with 19 students in two undergraduate programs and one graduate program in a school of social work and analyzed these conversations using Voice-centered Relational Data Analysis (Brown & Gilligan, 1992). This research highlighted how students bridge the cultures of home and school through 1) Experiences of support from home cultures while 2) pursuing school largely on their own and experiencing 3) the potential for distance from cultures of home, as they 4) work to stay integrated in home cultures while simultaneously 5) working to become integrated in school. I've also written about students' experiences of becoming caught "in-between" the cultures of home and school (Anzaldúa, 1987/2012), a less common but nevertheless important experience for educators to attend to. Here I've argued for broadening the focus beyond academic integration (Tinto, 1975, 1993) and underscored the relational nature of first-generation status, as well as drawing attention to potential for relational injury embedded in our narratives about educational attainment and class mobility. Implications for social work education, practice, and research are discussed.

First-generation and low-income college graduates are an invisible minority within medicine that has gone largely unstudied. I explored their unique experiences to better understand how diversity and inclusion can be improved. Through gathering stories from students, residents, and attending physicians, I identified unique challenges that they face, and formulated strategies to address them. First-generation college graduates in medicine have a unique set of strengths, challenges, and opportunities that position them to be valuable physicians in the communities that they serve. The American Medical Association states that when minority students finish medical school and residency, they go on to serve society in a way that has not been done before. Furthermore, they are more likely to serve underserved and minority populations, in turn fostering justice and equity in medicine. Some of the qualities that most first-generation college graduates possess that make them well-suited to become successful physicians are resilience, self-motivation, and efficacy. Paving the path for future physicians is a tremendous pressure that can motivate or overwhelm them as they trailblaze their way through medicine. There is an accumulated disadvantage as they are more likely to be underprepared academically, to have less guidance, and to have more financial struggles. First-generation students have several traits that characterize them as an at-risk population in higher education; they take longer to complete their bachelor’s degree and have lower degree aspirations when compared with their peers. They also face moral distress and a growing disconnect as they balance their familial obligations with academics and experience social mobility. Though these are factors that impact their success in college, they do not cease to pose issues when they successfully enter medical school and have to navigate the culture and hierarchy of medicine, as well as the disparate allocation of resources in medical school as they are not deemed as underrepresented in medicine. By understanding these factors, administrators can strengthen pipeline programs and support systems. In supporting the next generation of first-generation physicians at all stages of their training, they can promote a workforce as diverse as the patients it serves. / Urban Bioethics

This study examines the ways in which the education of children of undocumented immigrants is impacted by their parents’ undocumented status as well as their personal documentation status. In this thesis, I shed light on the experiences of fifteen college students and alumni who are variously-documented, including: undocumented students, DACA students, and documented students with undocumented family members. Drawing on these experiences, I argue that students’ education is impacted by legal and social exclusion, family stress and psychosocial impacts, personal legal status, and a lack of services for undocumented students and children of undocumented immigrants in educational institutions. I also argue that mothers and other family members lessen these challenges by providing students with the support and encouragement to complete a higher education. I conclude this study by making specific recommendations for what K- higher education institutions can do to better serve undocumented and documented students within mixed-status families.

his research addressed educational persistence among first-generation, low-income college students. The educational paths of 22 first-generation, low-income undergraduate students attending a large, urban university in the Northwest region of the United States were examined through a narrative framework. Half of the participants had persisted from year one to year two, and the other half left the university after their first year. Analytic procedures consisted of thematic qualitative coding, an analysis of student trajectories over educational histories, and the reconstruction of narrative stories. Data were used to examine: (1) How first-generation, low-income students understood and described their journey through their first year, (2) Reasons some students gave for leaving the university, (3) Meanings students gave to their experiences in college and how those meanings influenced future decisions, and (4) Differences between the stories of students who persisted versus those who left. The first-generation, low-income students who participated in this study were individually diverse and took various paths through college. After prolonged contact, evidence of interrupted enrollment and transfer among colleges was shown for approximately half of the participants. The descriptive codes most frequently discussed were financial issues, aspects of self, and family. Students described motivations for college in terms of themes related to family, gaining practical skills, existential discovery, desire for the college adventure, and affirmation of personal attributes. Students left the institution as a result of academic challenges, external life events, financial difficulties, dissatisfaction with the college process, unclear goals or reasons for continuation, and a need to stay near family. Students who persisted in college indicated adequate pre-college academic preparation, social connection to the university, family support for continuation, adequate financial resources, and support from social and cultural brokers that helped them navigate college. Findings from this study suggest social class, financial, individual and family contextual variables be added to Tinto's (1975, 1993) classic model of student departure. Higher education policies suggested by data include partnering with families, reducing social class barriers and providing better information to students about the hidden costs of transfer and interrupted enrollment.

Often considered the gateway to the middle class in the United States, community colleges are struggling to find ways to support all students in career planning and preparation. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of first generation students who enter community colleges through the door of open access, place into developmental education (remedial) courses and must satisfactorily complete this often-rigid sequence before beginning college level classes. For many first-generation, under-prepared, underresourced students, this is a frustrating and often insurmountable barrier, causing many students to abort their postsecondary training. Creating intentional conditions and instructional strategies that support student learning is essential in increasing the number of first-generation, under-prepared and under-resourced students who enter and complete postsecondary training and degrees. Advancement via Individual Determination Higher Education (AVID HE) is one identified holistic support strategy showing positive trends in supporting this student population on one community college campus. This study used a mixed methods approach which included both a statistical analysis of a treatment group in a combined reading/writing course called WR91 Mt Hood Community College AVID HE Learning Communities and two stand-alone reading/writing courses called RD90/WR90 courses, along with a case study qualitative methodology to investigate how AVID HE supports pre-college developmental education students to develop sufficient social capital to transition from non-credit (pre-college) to credited courses and programs.

Latina/o first-generation college students, along with their families, are learning a new culture when considering going to four-year universities. While the conversation involving Latina/o first-generation college students can often focus on attrition, I am interested in exploring what, from participants' point of view, are the successes they experience as well as the most challenging obstacles they encounter on their journey to graduating from four-year universities. Employing the theoretical frameworks of constructivism, critical race theory, and cultural capital, the purpose of this study was to go beyond the conversation of Latina/o first-generation college student attrition by examining how they navigate postsecondary institutions and explore the implications associated with how higher education affects them. I intend to highlight the already powerful voices of Latina/o first-generation college students who are brave enough to be the first in their immediate families to embark on a demanding odyssey to attain four-year degrees. My participants were recruited from classes in the Chicano/Latino studies department as well as a cultural resource center, both at a four-year university in the Pacific Northwest. Using qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, Draw-A-College-Student, and participant written reflections, I examined the lived experiences of persisting Latina/o first-generation college students from their own perspectives. To provide a well-rounded account of the Latina/o postsecondary experience, I engaged the voices of eight participants in this study. This research found that while Latina/o first-generation college students feel that they are trailblazers in working to improve family life through education, they often feel unseen and underrepresented in higher education. Through highlighting Latina/o first-generation college student voices and experiences instead of just focusing on attrition, this study also recommends actions for change based on participant feedback. Ultimately, participants in this study felt that more support is needed for Latina/o first-generation students to attain four-year degrees in higher education.

ABSTRACT EXPLORING COLLEGE READINESS: SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF EARLY COLLEGE STUDENTS by Kim R. Ramsey-White Research shows that too many students are graduating from high school ill-prepared to be successful in the postsecondary environment. This study examined the high school experiences of dual-enrollment students who participated in an Early College High School, and how the students perceived their high school experiences in preparing them for college. Additionally the study sought to understand the role that social capital played in the students’ preparation for college. In-depth interviews with 13 African American students, some of whom were first-generation college attendees, were used to illuminate the student voice in an effort to learn how early college practices and strategies were beneficial and/or detrimental to their preparation for college. Data from the study were analyzed using a college readiness framework developed by David Conley (2007) which focuses on four dimensions of college readiness: (1) Key cognitive strategies, (2) academic content, (3) academic skills and behavior, and (4) contextual skills and awareness. Findings from the study indicate that the students’ Early College High School experiences increased their confidence as college students (key cognitive strategies), taught them the benefits of time management and working in study groups (academic skills and behavior), and provided meaningful relationships and social networks that allowed them to navigate the college application and financial aid processes (contextual skills and awareness). The students also expressed concern that there was very limited alignment between the high school academic courses and expectations and those in the postsecondary institutions they attended. The results of the study contribute to the scholarship on the Early College model.

First-generation students and students of lower socioeconomic status often prepare for postsecondary education without the benefit of information provided by their families, resulting in lower levels of college access (Lundberg, 2007). Few researchers have sought to understand how potential first-generation college students might go about obtaining the necessary information for a successful transition to college. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine to whom students talk about college and to explore the potential reciprocal relationship between resources for and information about college provided by others and students’ educational beliefs. This dissertation consisted of two empirical studies. In the first study, the composition of students’ networks and differences in social capital were examined among middle and high school students from a rural Appalachian school district (N = 388). Students reported to whom they talked about college and answered questions about each person that they named. Junior and senior high school students spoke to fewer individuals about college than middle grades students. Senior high school students spoke to individuals in their networks more frequently than middle grades students. Boys spoke to fewer individuals about college than girls. Boys received fewer pieces of information about college compared to girls. Potential first-generation college students had fewer individuals in their network who had completed a college degree. The purpose of the second study was to examine the relationship between students’ college information networks and students’ beliefs about college. Participants were 364 students in Grades 6-12 from a rural Appalachian school district. Information on students’ college information networks was collected to better understand the relationship among first-generation college students’ access to social capital, their college-going self-efficacy, and their educational aspirations. College-going self-efficacy and educational aspirations were both significant predictors of available social capital. Social capital was not a significant predictor of students’ educational beliefs. College cultural capital was a significant predictor of students’ social capital and educational beliefs. Results of this dissertation are discussed relative to social cognitive theory and suggestions for educational interventions and future research are offered.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) provided a theoretical framework for the present study. Students’ beliefs in their abilities to perform academic tasks (i.e., academic self-efficacy; Solberg, O’Brien, Villarreal, Kennell, & Davis, 1993) and to make career-related decisions (i.e., career decision self-efficacy; Betz & Taylor, 2001) are influential in their completion of college. College students with limited financial resources and those who do not have a family member in an older generation who graduated from college may not experience the same degree of efficacy as those students with greater financial resources or a college graduate role model in their families (Horn & Nuñez, 2000; Oliver, Rodriguez, & Mickleson, 1985; Wohlgemuth et al., 2006-2007). The present study tested two hypotheses: 1) First-generation college students will express lower levels of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy than continuing-generation college students; and 2) College students with high financial stress will express lower levels of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy than those with low financial stress. A 2 x 3 factorial multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. Significant results of the MANOVA were explored using descriptive discriminant function analysis. Three post-hoc analyses were also completed. The results revealed no significant differences on levels of academic or career decision self-efficacy based on generational status, however, differences in both forms of self-efficacy were found based on financial stress. Strengths and limitations, implications for theory and counseling, and directions for future research are discussed. Consistent with SCCT, the salient factor of financial stress has an influence on college students’ academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy. Contrary to much of the past research, one’s generational status does not have an influence on these two variables. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services