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Hailie Webster

UWRT 1103-009

4 November 2019

Put the Determination in First Generation

In 2010 thirty percent of all entering college freshmen in the United States were first

generation college students, meaning that they will be the first in their families to attend a

university (First Generation College Student Opportunities & Challenges). This is a staggering

number, but it is great to see so many students take part in post-secondary education. Statistics

recognize that first generation students have a more difficult time in college, but why would this

be and is this really true? First generation students are more likely to struggle not only with

academics, but also the social aspects of college. I want to know what factors contribute to

making college a more strenuous thing for first generation students, rather than their continuing

generation peers.

First generation students are more likely to drop out of college after the first year than

non-first generation students. According to a journal titled, ​“Closing the Social-Class

Achievement Gap: A Difference-Education Intervention Improves First-Generation Students’

Academic Performance and All Students’ College Transition.”​ ​college students who do not have

at least one parent with a 4-year college degree end up with lower grades and drop out more

often than students who have at least one parent with a 4-year degree. Even with students being

first generation, why is it that they would be dropping out at a much greater rate and getting

worse grades than those who are not first generation students? To give further statistics,

“​Specifically, young people whose parents did not attend college are about one-third as likely to
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enroll in a four-year institution after high school graduation (​Choy, 2001​) and are nearly 30%

less likely to graduate in 6 years compared to their peers with a parent who holds a bachelor’s

degree (​DeAngelo, Franke, Hurtado, Pryor & Tran, 2011​).” (​Fruiht and Chan). ​Again, these

statistics portray first generation students as having less likeliness to apply to school and then

complete school in a timely manner. The real question here is, what causes first generation

college students to end their college careers more often? Why is their college experience more

difficult than that of continuing first generation students?

One reason that first generation college students may have a more difficult time at

universities than their continuing generation peers is because of the financial hardships that many

of them may face. According to a journal titled ​“The Role of Family Support in Facilitating

Academic Success of Low-Income Students”, low income students are almost four times more

likely to drop out of college than their socioeconomically advantaged peers. This can show how

much money and status can deal with the rates of college students staying in or dropping out of

college. The difference in salaries through the different stages of education are explained by

Patrick Gleeson, who has a PhD in English, “​In 2014, workers without high-school diplomas

earned $24,000 annually; workers with high-school diplomas earned $30,500; workers who

completed some college earned $31,900 and workers with a bachelor's degree earned $49,900.

Workers with a master's degree or higher earned $59,200.” (Gleeson 2018). The jump in salaries

from some college to a bachelor's degree is very steep. Being a first generation student, their

parents have no college experience whatsoever, leaving them to a lower average salary. There

are exceptions to these numbers of course, but on average first generation students have more

disadvantages economically than others. This can lead to these students needing to take out loans
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and hold down jobs throughout school, which can make their lives much more stressful. A job

calls for a lot of extra time which can lead to less time for schoolwork and socializing. This

shows that those who are first generation college students, on average, may have a more difficult

time managing the expenses of college, making this one possible reason why many of these

students have lower grades or dropout and graduate at lower rates.

Another reason why first generation students may have a difficult time fitting into college

is because they are not able to have open communication with their parents that other college

students experience. Since their parents never went to college, they do not understand the

difficulties and hard work that comes with post-secondary education. These kids also may feel

like their parents can not help with whatever they need since they did not get the formal

education that they are now getting (Lightweis). Without their parents having gone to college,

these kids may feel like they lack the support from them since they do not have a clear

understanding of what all comes along with school. To expand this idea further,

“First-generation students also often lack the familial support and understanding that other

students have from parents who have attended college (​Boden​)” (Flink). This quote explains all

of this perfectly. Without having the experience of going to college, it can be tough for the parent

to be completely supportive and helpful when they do not know or have the experience on how

to be. These parents may want to be there for their children, but truly just do not know how to be.

Parents instill the values and ideals into their children that they themselves possess. If a

parent is a hard worker, then their child is likely to be as well. If a parent does not value

education, then their child is likely to not either. This can also feed into why first generation

students do not achieve as great of grades and why they are more prone to dropping out. This can
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also be applied to the social aspects of college. Students may not want to be a part of the social

things throughout college because their parents have no knowledge of them and did not

participate in them themselves. “This reluctance to participate in campus life may be due to the

lack of knowledge and experience about college from their working-class parents” (Lightweis).

These parents do not have first hand experience of the exciting things that go on throughout

college. They do not have the wisdom to provide to their children on how to do things and why

to do things, which may keep these students out of social events, especially in their early years at

the university. Having understanding parents who had the same experience that you are having

makes it easier for the student to feel like they fit in. When you feel accepted at home, it is much

easier to feel accepted in our society as well. Being able to openly share your own experiences

with someone else who understands, like your parents, makes it participating in it more fun and

easy to do.

First generation students also struggle with many of the social aspects of college.

According to ​Fruiht and Chan​ , “FGC students spend fewer hours studying, participate in fewer

extracurriculars and special programs, and spend more hours working for pay than continuing

generation students (Chen & Carroll, 2005; Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004;

Terenzini et al., 1996).” There are many factors that can contribute to why students struggle

socially in college. This quote describes how first-generation college students spend more time

working than socializing or studying, which can feed into the point on financials. This also

explains that they are more likely to lack the outgoingness that continuing generation students

tend to have more often. One reason for this lack in social and academic outgoingness is due to a

lack of confidence. Many first generation students may feel unprepared by not having taken the
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correct classes in high school, or simply because their parents did not experience college and

they are nervous they will struggle because of this (Brown). Seeing other students with the help

and support from their parents may also decrease their confidence and have them begin to think

that they will be unable to do it. Feeling good about what you are doing goes a long way. The

fake it until you make it saying is a true statement that really can change things for the better in

our lives. When we feel like we belong somewhere and have the confidence to say that, we are

immediately going to be more likely to be successful at it and do it. When we doubt and second

guess ourselves, that is often where we mess up and allow ourselves to fold and fail because we

were expecting it from the beginning. Students who have the confidence in themselves to

succeed in college are already one step ahead of those who do not.

Brown, Evelina. “Evelina Brown.” ​Emerging Education Technologies

On the other hand of all this, there are things that may make it less difficult to be a first

generation college student. For one, many students who are first generation, have hard working,

working class parents who are good role models to their children and pass on good traits to be

successful. ​“Studying first-generation Latino students, Auerbach (​2004​, ​2006​) argued that

parents play a crucial role in facilitating college pursuits by conveying the message that hard

work, studying, and college attendance are the steps children need to take to improve their lot in

life.” (Roksa and Kinsley). This is a really important point because it is almost always true that

parents want a better life for their kids than they had for themselves. Because of this, parents will

not only instill a determined mindset into their children, but will encourage and motivate them to

do good so that they can have a more comfortable life than they had. These principles that these

parents uphold will help their children to not only be better prepared to be successful, but will
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also give them a major sense of support from their parents, making them want to do well and be

better in their post-secondary education career. When their parents are pushing them to be

successful and are showing them the support and faith that they have for them, it makes actually

being successful and working hard much easier.

There are ways that people believe that these separations in numbers between first

generations and continuing generations can be improved. According to Jeff Davis who has a PhD

in English and is the author of ​The First Generation Student Experience Implications for Campus

Practice, and Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success​, first generation students should

be considered as something more serious and more specified through the application process.

Davis states, ​“I am not suggesting that first generation student status should be regarded as the

same as ethnic minority status when considering the composition of a person’s identity. I am

suggesting, however, that it should be regarded as similar in the higher education sphere.” This

could give more understanding to universities on why some people are struggling throughout

college. This can also help students who are first generation have more opportunities. Giving

help to these students and making it where they are recognized for their family collegiate status

can make grades and graduation rates go up. If these students know that people want to see them

succeed in the post-secondary education career, this can also give them a sense of support and

confidence that they need to be successful and work hard throughout college. Implementing

something like this can go a long way for these students both in a direct standpoint by having aid

from people, and indirectly from just feeling like their status is valued and that people care to see

them succeed.
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In conclusion, first generation students do have a more difficult time in higher education.

Factors including parent support, financials, and confidence all attribute to the added stress and

create more difficulty for these students. There are ways to give help to these students and add

more support to them as they go through college. Allowing these students to feel support from

those around them can go a long way. It is still daunting to think that in the United States almost

one third of our college students are first generation students, while a large percent of them

continue to have poor grades or drop out. This difficulty that these first generation students face

throughout college will never subside, but as a society we can do more to help ease this as much

as possible. It starts with knowing the struggles that these students go through. Every student

deserves to earn a college degree no matter where they come from.


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Works Cited

Brown, Evelina. “Evelina Brown.” ​Emerging Education Technologies,​ 2 Aug. 2019,

https://www.emergingedtech.com/2019/08/reasons-first-generation-college-students-not-

succeeding-in-college/

Davis, Jeff. ​The First Generation Student Experience Implications for Campus Practice, and

Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success​. Sterling: Stylus Publishing, 2010.

Print

“First Generation College Student Opportunities & Challenges” ​First Generation Foundation,​

http://www.firstgenerationfoundation.org/.

Flink, Patrick Jermain. “Latinos and Higher Education: A Literature Review.” ​Journal of

Hispanic Higher Education​ 17.4 (2018): 402–414. Web

Fruiht, Veronica, and Chan, Thomas. “Naturally Occurring Mentorship in a National Sample of

First-Generation College Goers: A Promising Portal for Academic and Developmental

Success.” ​American Journal of Community Psychology​ 61.3-4 (2018): 386–397. Web.

Gleeson, P. (2018, July 1). The Average Salary Without a College Degree. Retrieved from

https://work.chron.com/average-salary-college-degree-1861.html

Lightweis, Susan. “The Challenges, Persistence, and Success of White, Working-Class,

First-Generation College Students.” ​College Student Journal​ 48.3 (2014): 461–467.

Roksa, Josipa, and Peter Kinsley. “The Role of Family Support in Facilitating Academic Success

of Low-Income Students.” ​Research in Higher Education​, vol. 60, no. 4, June 2019, pp.

415–436. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1216398&site=ehost-live
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&scope=site.

Stephens, Nicole M, Hamedani, Maryam G, and Destin, Mesmin. “Closing the Social-Class

Achievement Gap: A Difference-Education Intervention Improves First-Generation

Students’ Academic Performance and All Students’ College Transition.”

Psychological Science​ 25.4 (2014): 943–953. Web

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