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An Initiative Of NASPA and The Suder Foundation

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.

The first edition of the inaugural Journal of First-generation Student Success is slated for release in April 2021. Learn more about the Journal.

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At the Intersection: Understanding and Supporting First-Gen Students

This book is intended to challenge the reader to explore what it means to be a first-generation college student in higher education.

Grice & Grice / April 2021
The role of relationships and belonging on future college entrance

The author explores the implications for both policy and practice and advocates for future research investigating which environmental factors exert the most influence on propelling low-income, first-generation students into higher education.

Social Psychology of Education / April 2021
Health, Satisfaction, Communication, and Help-seeking during COVID-19

This study examines the psychological well-being, life satisfaction, supportive parent communication, and likelihood to seek mental and emotional support from different sources between FGCSs and non-FGCSs during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journal of College Student Psychotherapy / March 2021
two latino students studying
The pathways to degree attainment of first-gen Latinx student-athletes

Under the guise of Latinx critical race theory, this qualitative study found cultural capital to be an essential pathway to degree attainment of first-generation Latinx student-athletes.

Journal of Latinos and Education / March 2021
A Mental Health Literacy Approach to Supporting First-Gen Students

The aim of this present quantitative investigation was to test the utility of the REDFLAGS model, a mental health literacy based tool for supporting mental wellness, with a national sample of first-generation community college students.

Community College Review / March 2021
teacher talks to a group of students
Information Seeking Anxiety and Preferred Information Sources

This study is one of the first to directly compare the information seeking preferences and anxieties of first-generation and continuing-generation students using a non-binary approach.

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice / March 2021
Faculty Staff helps Student
Staff perceptions of the experiences of first gen students

The purpose of this study was to explore whether a mismatch between staff perceptions and students’ experiences might be a possible contributor to disparities.

The Australian Educational Researcher / March 2021
Classism and Social-Emotional Experiences of First-Gen Students

This study examined the association between institutional classism and students’ social-emotional experiences in higher education, and how these relations vary based on sociorace, first-generation college student status, and subjective social status.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / February 2021
Transitioning to College: Experiences of Successful First-gen Students

This qualitative study explored the high school to college transition experiences of ten successful first generation college students.

Journal of Educational and Research Practice / February 2021
How First-Year and First-Generation Students Navigate Campus Life

College Belonging reveals how colleges’ and universities’ efforts to foster a sense of belonging in their students are misguided.

Nunn / February 2021
two female students sitting with male professor
When Low-Income, First-Gen Students Seek Help From Programs

The author conducted in-depth, longitudinal interviews with 8 female, low-income, first-generation college students over the course of their first year to understand how they experience, utilize, and find value in two different student support programs at one public, 4-year university.

Journal of College Student Development / February 2021
Group of students walking
Difference-Education Improves First-gen Students’ Grades

At two universities, the authors delivered difference-education interventions during the college transition and examined long-term academic and intergroup outcomes.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin / February 2021
The case for first-gen status in Australian higher ed equity policy

Responding to calls for reform, this paper draws on survey data from 6,492 students in NSW government schools to examine the extent to which a new category warrants inclusion in the national framework: first-generation status.

The Australian Educational Researcher / February 2021
Mt Hood CC female student on bench
Experiences of first-gen scholars at a highly selective UK university

Drawing on 18 interviews with first generation students at Durham University, the researchers identified five sites of pressure: developing a sense of belonging within the terms of an elite university culture; engagement in student social activities; financial worries; concerns about academic progress, and self transformation.

Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences / February 2021
First-Gen Students in Distance Education: Resources and Outcomes

This study investigated whether two family resource variables—providing guidance about university and expressing supportive attitudes toward university—varied across generation status among distance education students.

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning / February 2021
Social media use by first-gen students and two forms of social capital

The purpose of this study is to examine social media use and its impacts on first generation students by answering the two questions: how do FGS use social media on college campuses, compared to their peers? How does the use of social media affect their academic experiences?

Information Technology & People / February 2021
Student Walking through a Door
Relationships of belonging and task socialization to GPA, intent to re-enroll

The authors examined longitudinal changes in new college students’ perceptions of belonging and task mastery socialization effectiveness and their relationships to re-enrollment intentions and subsequent GPAs as a function of race/ethnicity and first-generation status.

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education / January 2021
Family Support as a Protective Resource for Mexican First-Gen Students

The present study examines the potential protective effect of familial support among first-gen Mexican descent college students regarding GPA, college persistence, and depressive symptoms.

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education / January 2021