The First Generation Student Experience: Implications for Campus Practice, and Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success

by Jeff Davis

Overview

This book provides high-level administrators with a plan of action for deans to create the awareness necessary for meaningful long-term change, sets out a campus acclimation process, and provides guidelines for the necessary support structures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781579225261
Publisher:	Stylus Publishing
Publication date:	03/12/2012
Series:	ACPA Books co-published with Stylus Publishing
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	214
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jeff Davis is an English professor, academic counselor, and administrator at Sonoma State University in California. He became interested in the plight of first-generation college students when he was exposed to the work being done with nontraditional students on the Sonoma State campus through federal TRIO grant projects, which led to his becoming Director of a TRIO Student Support Service project and a TRIO McNair Scholars project. He is currently involved in designing an institute for the study of the first-generation student experience to be housed at Sonoma State.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1 How Many First-Generation College Students Are There? 1

Definitions 2

Counting First-Generation College Students 7

How Institutions Can Count Students 8

What the Data Show 11

First-Generation Student Status as a Proxy for Ethnicity 14

Counting the Institutions That Will Be Counting First-Generation Students 17

Now Is the Time for Action 22

Sonoma State University 24

Notes 27

2 The Observable Behaviors of First-Generation College Students 29

Learning the Culture of College 32

First-Generation Status Is Not the Same as Low-Income Status 33

Section 1 Learning at College 36

Precollege Preparation 36

Being Underprepared at College 38

Learning How to Srudy 40

Different Way of Learning 41

New Way of Perceiving the World 43

Learning About Majors 45

Section 2 Campus Presence 47

The Imposter Phenomenon 48

Differences in the Classroom 50

Alternative Ways of Support 52

Validating the Presence of First-Generation Student 53

3 The Internal Psychology of First-Generation College Students 58

Section 1 An Extended Campus Acclimation Process 59

The Existential Question About College Attendance 60

The Existential Question and Low-Income Status 61

Developing a College-Student Identity 63

Engagement With Physical Space 65

Campus Size 69

Blending In 71

Section 2 The Importance and Impact of Personal Relationships 73

Family Relationships 73

Family Mythologies About College 77

Faculty Relationships 79

Nonfaculty Professional Relationships 82

Peer Relationships and Role Models 83

4 In Their Own Words 87

Narrative 1 Rosa Avila 89

Narrative 2 Crystal Halverson 94

Narrative 3 Calvin Knight 99

Narrative 4 Maria Bravos 107

Narrarive 5 Erica Camacho 110

Narrative 6 Jessica Gomez 114

Narrative 7 Jeff Peterson 118

Narrative 8 Anna Gutierrez 122

Narrative 9 John Hunter 127

Narrative 10 Natalie Jimenez 132

Narrative 11 Carlos Sosa 135

Narrative 12 Yolanda Ortiz 140

Narrative 13 Elizabeth Ordaz 144

Narrative 14 Phillip Hammer 148

5 Narrative Analysis 154

Narratives 1—3 Avila, Halverson, and Knight 155

Narratives 4—7 Bravos, Camacho, Gomez, and Peterson 160

Narratives 8—11 Gutierrez, Hunter, Jimenez, and Sosa 165

Narratives 12—14 Orciz, Ordaz, and Hammer 169

6 Recommendations 176

Section 1 Learning at College 180

Issue 1 180

Issue 2 182

Issue 3 184

Issue 4 185

Section 2 Campus Presence 186

Issue 5 186

Issue 6 187

Issue 7 189

Section 3 An Extended Campus Acclimation Process 190

Issue 8 190

Issue 9 191

Issue 10 193

Issue 11 195

Section 4 The Importance and Impact of Personal Relationships 196

Issue 12 196

Issue 13 199

Issue 14 200

Conclusion 203

References 207

About the Author 215

Index 217

Editorial Reviews

Jeff Davis does an excellent job of defining, deciphering, and discussing the experiences, issues, and successes of first generation college students on both the individual and institutional levels. However, the real richness of this resource comes from the voices of students themselves. Hearing their stories through personal narratives illustrates both the diversity of background yet the commonality of challenge that first generation college students experience in their transitions into and through higher education. The content of this book has the power to inspire higher educators to examine their commitment to the success of first generation college students, provides concrete recommendations for practice in service to this growing population of undergraduates, and, thus, brings us several steps closer to an answer.

Jennifer R. Keup

"This is a useful text for teachers in undergraduate programs of religion and theology, especially those teaching in undergraduate programs at religion-based institutions that attract larger numbers of first-generation and other non-traditional students. The observations in this book can help teachers begin to think about how this student population is defined and what'services are necessary to address student needs."

Joy Bostic, Case Western Reserve University

Teaching Theology & Religion

"Davis should be applauded for his effort to shed light on first-generation students and their experiences in particular. He tasks the field of higher education with better accounting for first-generation students and for working to identify a universal definition for first-generation students as coming from families where neither parent holds a college degree. The book is accessible to scholars and student affairs administrators and, most importantly, to the very population I suspect Davis hopes to reach with this book, first-generation students who are navigating the often rough and chilly waters on their way to being the first in their families to earn a college degree."

Journal of College Student Development

"The information in this book can be valuable to advisors and administrators who work in colleges with a large number of first-generation students. Even advisors who may not work with large numbers of first-generation students will find the information interesting and transferrable to other student groups. The process Davis described can be utilized with other student groups."

NACADA Journal (National Academic Advising Association)

"Author Jeff Davis offers keen insight into the first-generation student experience with this readable, informative, and persuasive volume. Smartly pairing academic analysis with student narratives, Davis describes and demonstrates the key barriers to student success for this growing contingent of American students. By decoupling parental education from family income, Davis underscores how many first-generation students'struggles originate in a lack of experience with college culture or college-going identity. He presents a range of promising recommendations to support the increasing number of first-generation students who are now enrolling in American higher education."

Diversity and Democracy

“Jeff Davis does an excellent job of defining, deciphering, and discussing the experiences, issues, and successes of first generation college students on both the individual and institutional levels. However, the real richness of this resource comes from the voices of students themselves. Hearing their stories through personal narratives illustrates both the diversity of background yet the commonality of challenge that first generation college students experience in their transitions into and through higher education. The content of this book has the power to inspire higher educators to examine their commitment to the success of first generation college students, provides concrete recommendations for practice in service to this growing population of undergraduates, and, thus, brings us several steps closer to an answer.”

Jennifer R. Keup, Director

National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition

From the Publisher

"The information in this book can be valuable to advisors and administrators who work in colleges with a large number of first-generation students. Even advisors who may not work with large numbers of first-generation students will find the information interesting and transferrable to other student groups. The process Davis described can be utilized with other student groups."

NACADA Journal (National Academic Advising Association)

"Author Jeff Davis offers keen insight into the first-generation student experience with this readable, informative, and persuasive volume. Smartly pairing academic analysis with student narratives, Davis describes and demonstrates the key barriers to student success for this growing contingent of American students. By decoupling parental education from family income, Davis underscores how many first-generation students' struggles originate in a lack of experience with college culture or college-going identity. He presents a range of promising recommendations to support the increasing number of first-generation students who are now enrolling in American higher education."

Diversity and Democracy

"This is a useful text for teachers in undergraduate programs of religion and theology, especially those teaching in undergraduate programs at religion-based institutions that attract larger numbers of first-generation and other non-traditional students. The observations in this book can help teachers begin to think about how this student population is defined and what services are necessary to address student needs."

Teaching Theology & Religion - Joy Bostic

"Davis should be applauded for his effort to shed light on first-generation students and their experiences in particular. He tasks the field of higher education with better accounting for first-generation students and for working to identify a universal definition for first-generation students as coming from families where neither parent holds a college degree. The book is accessible to scholars and student affairs administrators and, most importantly, to the very population I suspect Davis hopes to reach with this book, first-generation students who are navigating the often rough and chilly waters on their way to being the first in their families to earn a college degree."

Journal of College Student Development