The Success and Outcomes of First Generation College Students

Abstract

The research topic discussed is the success of first generation college students. The target population is first generation-college students. This article reviews three studies conducted about the overall preparedness and support systems for first-generation college students. The research analyzed is specifically in the areas of financial literacy, parental support, correlated stress factors and opportunities of self-disclosure or opportunities of sharing experiences. First-generation college students do not have readily available a familial support system that can empathize with their transition. They generally also lack the same preparation as continuing generation students, such as financial literacy which can lead to potential issues with staying on track and college completion. Due to the lack of parental support, first generation college students often have fewer social outlets to share experiences allowing them to decompress during the often stressful transition. There are many factors that contribute to the success of a college student. First time college students have unique and complex obstacles. This critique will analyze research conducted to explore the journey of first-generation college students and provide insight on how future research can be improved.

 

The Success and Outcomes of First Generation College Students

The topic of this summary is the success of first generation college students. The target group of this summary is first generation college students. The success of college students is often researched and investigated so that a plan of action can be put into place for better outcomes. Within the college student population there are certain groups that are more at risk for stress and obstacles, therefore more predisposed to lower grades, higher drop-out rates, and degree non-completion. One of these marginalized groups is first-generation college students. These students are the first within their families to go to college. To accurately assess what programs and administration should be implemented, it is important to understand how the college experience of a first-generation college student is different and more complex than a continuing generation student. It is imperative that the success of the first-generation college student is researched, detailed and improved if possible. The success of continuing generations of college students beyond this initial group greatly depends on it. A critical analysis of three published articles on the success of first-generation college students will be discussed.

Summary of the Literature

Main Findings

The overall findings of research completed on financial literacy, parental support, stress factors and self-disclosure is that first-generation college students do not have equal preparation or support systems and therefore unequal opportunities for college success (Eitel & Martin, 2009). The financial literacy study showed that while it was only a small contributing factor to student persistence and graduation outcomes, it is one of many areas that first-generation college students lack in preparation for college. This study also clearly showed that further marginalized within the first generation population were students of color whom were younger in age and were freshman or sophomore in school status. The majority of students whom did well on the financial literacy assessment were White students at junior or senior school status. 16% of the variance in scoring was explained by ethnicity and 19% of the variance was explained by school classification.

(Sy, Fong, Boehme, & Alpert, 2011-2012) Research findings of the effects of parental support and correlated stress found that first-generation college students had lower levels of parental support compared to continuing generation students. The stress of transitioning into college was found to be equal among both first-generation and continuing education college students, however parental support as a predictor of this stress was only found in first-generation college students.

Additionally, research has been conducted to find the level of self-disclosure within first- generation college students among their families, friends, peers and school professionals (Barry, Hudley, Kelly & Cho, 2009). Self-disclosure is described as the student’s ability and opportunity to confide about their personal experiences in college to their support system. It was hypothesized that first-generation college students had less outlets to discuss their experiences and therefore had higher levels of stress. They do in fact have fewer opportunities of self-disclosure but the effect size is small. This was found not to be a true indicator of stress levels.

Critique

One consistent limitation throughout these studies is the lack of equal race and gender representation for the participants of the studies. Without equal representation, the findings of the research cannot be applied to a broader audience of students. Race often culturally effects the way a person views money such as, individualistic versus collective family values. Gender must be equally assessed as well to conclude the results as accurate for both men and women. Also, within the folds of first generation student success is the added disadvantage of socio-economics which none of the research accounted for.

In the financial literacy study, it is not taken into account that culturally, financial literacy or the understanding of money is completely different depending on cultural background and socio-economics. The value of money and what is considered financially literate can take on different meanings in individualistic family norms versus collective family norms. The researchers admitted to having no real standard measure of financial literacy but even if there was, that measure would need to consider additional variables including culture, those whom live at home, those that live independently and if they have a family of their own.

A significant limitation within the study on parental support and the correlation to stress is the over simplified approach to measuring parental support or lack thereof and stress. Students that are first-generation college attendees are clearly at a disadvantage when it comes to parental and familial support as they are the first to experience this transition. No one in their immediate family would be able to relate or empathize with their transition. However, it is overlooked that depending on a student’s preparation, temperament for change and attitude this may or may not directly affect their stress levels. A lot of students who choose to embark on this experience find alternative support systems within friends, school administration or counselors. For a better assessment, stress levels should have been measured prior to the transition; perhaps the junior or senior year of high school and then again measured during the transition to college. This same assessment should have been completed for continuing generation students. Completing a within subject research design would have provided much more accurate findings.

Within all three studies, the general measures used for financial literacy, parental support and self-disclosure are not standardized or thorough enough to fully prove or support the hypothesized ideas. When measuring abstract ideas such as success and stress, certain bench marks should be firmly established in the beginning. These bench marks or levels of measurement should be as broad and inclusive as possible. Defining success or stress that caters to only one group of people will not work to accurately measure the results of others that do not fall within that particular group.

Future Direction

Future research to be completed should focus on the differences of financial literacy within cultural context. Separate studies should be designed to measure financial literacy within the context of individualistic versus collective family values. Those results can then be more appropriately applied to a larger audience. Gender and race also need to be treated as important variables. Separate studies may not be necessary but men, women and ethnic varieties should be represented equally in each experimental design.

To properly measure the levels of stress in any student, there must be measures of stress levels before and after the predicted stressful event such as college transition. This will more accurately assess the level of stress the event is causing. Students should be monitored by their senior year in high school and measured for stress levels and parental support. This same data should be collected after the transition of college for both first-generation and continuing generation college students. Parents should also be interviewed separately for their level of support provided and this data can be compared to the student self reporting.

Conclusion

In conclusion there were many limitations found within these studies that address the experience and success of first-generation college students. Equal representation of gender and race proved to be an issue but can solved with more attention to participants. The measure of financial literacy, student success and parental support all have to be clearly defined to obtain accurate results. Directions of future research should include more attention to the detailed status, background, and culture of the participants included in the studies. With more accurate findings in this area of research, more improvements can be made to the first-generation college experience. Hopefully this will serve as an incentive for the success of continuing generations.

References

Eitel, S. J., & Martin, J. (2009). First-generation female college students' financial literacy : Real and perceived barriers to degree completion. College Student Journal (43)2, 616-630. Retrieved from http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/42427187/first-generation- female-college-students-financial-literacy-real-perceived-barriers-degree-completion

Sy, S. R., Fong, K., Carter, R., Boehme, J., & Alpert, A. (2011-2012). Parent support and stress among first-generation and continuing-generation female students during the transition to

college. J College Student Retention (13)3, 383-398. doi: 10.2190/CS.13.3.g

Barry, L. M., Cho, S., Hudley, C., Kelly, M. (2009). Differences in self-reported disclosure of college experiences by first generation college student status. Adolescence (44)173, 56- 68.