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.

Do adolescents’ self-concepts moderate the relationship between STEM stereotypes and motivation?

This study assessed students’ trait-based nerd and genius stereotypes about STEM and related self-concepts as well as their STEM motivation (competence and value beliefs).

Social Psychology of Education / July 2019

Using Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Educational Opportunities and Student Services in Higher Education

The education community is just beginning to find ways to successfully implement AI for staff and students. Artificial Intelligence should be leveraged to create a better student experience.

The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges / July 2019

The Relationship between Student Admissions Data and Six-Year Degree Completion

This study was conducted as part of the university effort to assess annual progress toward its retention and graduation goals.

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension / July 2019

Improving Completion Rates for Underrepresented Populations

This article reflects on the need to increase resource allocation on both the academic support side and the student support services side to increase structured contact between the student and the support to decrease the “stigma” of seeking help.

The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges / July 2019

Teachin' It!: Breakout Moves That Break Down Barriers for Community College Students

Teachin' It! is a hands-on guide to cutting-edge research and classroom strategies that redress the graduation gap in community and open-access colleges.

Darling / June 2019

Early Modern Culture: First-Generation Shakespeare, Volume 14 (2019)

The collection of essays discuss the context for the editing assignment, its foundation in critical pedagogy, the assignment’s outcomes, and how it might offer some insights into teaching first-generation students more generally.

Stockton et al. / June 2019

How Relevant Is Grit? The Importance of Social Capital in First-Generation College Students’ Academic Success

This study employed social network analysis to operationalize dimensions of social capital.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / June 2019

Scaling Success: Lessons From the ASAP Expansion at Bronx Community College

ASAP was designed to improve completion rates by providing wraparound services for eligible students, including financial, academic, and personal support.

Community College Research Center / June 2019

Professors' Pedagogical Strategies for Teaching Through Diversity

This study describes the teaching strategies of two sociology professors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

The Review of Higher Education / May 2019

Indicators OF HIGHER EDUCATION EQUITY IN THE UNITED STATES

As more students continue to enroll in college and earn degrees, inequalities in U.S. higher education opportunity are increasing, according to the Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States — 2019 Historical Trend Report.

The Pell Institute & PennAHEAD / May 2019

Challenges and Realizations of First-Generation Students Who Navigated through Transfer Momentum Points

This study amplified the voices of first-generation community college students who were achieving success towards transferring and described the challenges and learning that they experienced in the process.

Community College Journal of Research and Practice / May 2019

The Guilt of Success: Looking at Latino First-Generation College Students’ Experience of Leaving Home

This study looked at the experiences of six participants and their feelings of guilt.

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education / May 2019

Creating a College-Going Partnership with Latina/o Parents of Elementary School Students

This study aims to show how a more inclusive parental engagement framework will push research forward in understanding the experiences of an educational leader and Latina/o/x parents within the school site as they collaboratively develop and implement strategies to support a college-going culture.

OSR Journal of Student Research / May 2019

The Tenure-Track Process for Chicana and Latina Faculty: Experiences of Resisting and Persisting in the Academy

This anthology addresses the role of postsecondary institutional structures and policy in shaping the tenure-track process for Chicana and Latina faculty in higher education.

Peréz / May 2019

(Un)Fulfilling Requirements: Satisfactory Academic Progress and its impact on first-generation, low-income, Asian American students

This study explored how Asian American students experienced the financial aid process, including the ways in which the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy that establishes eligibility criteria for continued student financial aid impacts their experiences in college.

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs / May 2019

Facing and Overcoming Academic Challenges: Perspectives From Deaf Latino/a First-Generation College Students

The author examined the experiences of first-generation Latino/a college students who graduated from college and those who did not graduate.

American Annals of the Deaf / May 2019

Qualitative Research on Barriers to Workplace Inclusion for First Generation Professionals

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether socio-economic status (SES) may also be a diversity characteristic for which there are barriers to inclusion for employees from low SES backgrounds.

Center for Behavioral Science Methods Research and Methodology Directorate, U.S. Census Bureau / May 2019

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Retention in First-Generation College Students

The current project uses our university’s new student survey to compare previously reported trends in first-generation college student (FGCS) retention with those found on our campus and discusses potential directions for future research and intervention programs.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / May 2019