Research & Policy

Dedicated first-generation research allows for evidence-based decision-making that is critical to student success. This section highlights both foundational research and recent scholarship that informs understanding of the student experience, institutional approaches to programming, and identification of supports and barriers for first-generation students. Timely updates on public policy discussions shaping first-generation student success are also provided. In addition to the filters below, please utilize the “search” bar in the top, right corner to search by keyword, author name, or publication title.

First-Generation and Continuing College Students’ Social Media Use

This study explored how first-generation and continuing students used Facebook and Instagram, and how their usage was related to college social adjustment.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / January 2020

First-Generation College Students as Academic Learners

This systematic review examines how scholars study and conceptualize first-generation college students as learners.

Review of Educational Research / January 2020

The Journey Before Us

In this book, Laura Nichols shares the experiences of aspiring first-generation college students as they move from middle-school to young adulthood.

Nichols / January 2020

The Educational Experiences of Latinx Male Students

This article explored Latino male students’ educational experiences at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), and Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Texas.

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education / January 2020

A Meta-Analysis of Graduate School Enrollment from Students in the McNair Program

The authors conducted a meta-analysis of the impact of the McNair program on graduate program enrollment for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Education Sciences / January 2020

Hearing from the Voices Behind the Variables

With the inclusion of student voices and experiences in policy conversations, community colleges can build services that bolster greater outcomes, for first-generation college goers, immigrants, and students of color.

Anderson & Nieves / January 2020

Retention Matters: A Qualitative Understanding of Nursing Students’ Motivations

The purpose of this study was to determine what factors motivated undergraduate nursing students to continue on their current career path.

International Journal of Nursing and Health Care Research / December 2019

Educational Predictors for International Students in the US

Drawing on frameworks from marketing research literature, this study indicates that educational service augmenters are significantly related to international students’ academic adjustment.

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education / December 2019

First Year Research Experience (FYRE)

This chapter details the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program at Montana State University, describing the intent and design of the program.

New Directions for Higher Education / December 2019

College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A National Perspective

In a nationally representative sample, first-year U.S. college students “somewhat agree,” on average, that they feel like they belong at their school.

Educational Researcher / December 2019

Supporting Today’s Students in the Library

This book collects current strategies from all types of academic libraries for retaining and graduating nontraditional students, with many of them based on learning theories and teaching methodologies.

Tran & Higgins / December 2019

A Cross-Institutional Study of Instructional Characteristics and Student Outcomes

This article examines the relationship between these instructional characteristics, sometimes referred to as indicators of online course quality, and their relationship to student outcomes for all students and for underrepresented students.

Online Learning / December 2019

First-generation students’ information literacy in everyday contexts

The findings in this study reveal a variety of funds of knowledge concerning participants’ information literacy (IL) and lay the foundation for IL instruction that meets first-generation students where they are, thus serving them more equitably.

Journal of Information Literacy / December 2019

The Influence of Peer and Parental Norms on First-generation College Students

The current study compared the binge drinking trajectories of first-generation and continuing-generation students over their first three semesters.

Addictive Behaviors / December 2019

Enrollment patterns and student performance in online classes

In this quantitative study, researchers analyzed four years of institutional data during summer terms at a large public research university to show that certain characteristics can influence student enrollment by course modality.

The Internet and Higher Education / November 2019

Perceived Classroom Competition on the Experiences of First-Gen Students

A longitudinal study found that perceived classroom competition was associated with greater daily in-class imposter feelings among all students—but especially among first-generation students.

Social Psychological and Personality Science / November 2019

Assets-Based Learning Abroad: First-Generation Latinx College Students

This qualitative study counters deficit narratives about first-generation Latinx students by exploring multiple forms of community cultural wealth.

Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad / November 2019

Testing a critical cultural wealth model of well-being among first-gen students

This study's findings suggest that first-generation students’ sense of career choice and life satisfaction is predicted primarily by feelings of work volition and belonging on campus.

Journal of Counseling Psychology / November 2019