This document discusses first-generation college students and the challenges they face. It notes that roughly 30% of entering college freshmen in the US are first-generation students, with 24% being both first-generation and low-income. Nationally, 89% of low-income first-generation students do not complete college within six years. The document outlines some of the academic, cultural, social, and financial barriers first-generation students face, as well as strategies institutions can employ to help first-generation students, such as providing intensive support services and fostering relationships between students and faculty.

1. Today’s First Generation
THE NOW GENERATION:

2. Today’s First Generation
THE NOW GENERATION:

3. Todays First Generation
First Generation College Students have reason to be proud; Against daunting odds: THEY HAVE MADE IT!!!!

4. The Facts
ROUGHLY 30% OF ENTERING FRESHMEN IN THE USA ARE FIRST-GENERATION
COLLEGE STUDENTS UP FROM 17 PERCENT IN 2007 ACCORDING TO THE
HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE. U S A TO D AY
24% — 4.5 MILLION — ARE BOTH FIRST-GENERATION AND LOW INCOME.

5. The Facts
NATIONALLY, 89% OF LOW-INCOME FIRST-GENERATION LEAVE COLLEGE
WITHIN SIX YEARS WITHOUT A DEGREE. MORE THAN A QUARTER LEAVE
AFTER THEIR FIRST YEAR — FOUR TIMES THE DROPOUT RATE OF HIGHER-
INCOME SECOND-GENERATION STUDENTS. ANN MURPHY PAUL TIME MAGAZINE

6. History
THERE WAS A TIME, HIGHER EDUCATION CELEBRATED THEIR INCLUSION,
AS WELL AS OUR ABILITY TO PROVIDE NEED-BLIND ADMISSIONS AND
FINANCIAL AID. THESE STUDENTS WERE OUR SUCCESS STORIES; WE ALL
POINTED TO THOSE WHO, WITH OUR HELP, HAD PULLED THEMSELVES UP
AND OUT. THEY BECAME PART OF THE STORY WE TOLD ABOUT OUR
MISSIONS.

7. Today, one in
three students is
first generation
Student Challenges

8. First Generation Students are defined as:
those students whose parent(s) have not attained a college
degree.
These students, who have little or no family collegiate history, may;
•enter a college or university with limited knowledge about the jargon, traditions, and patterns
of expected behavior
•These factors may prevent first-generation students from fully engaging in a university setting
and may contribute to early departure from the university before the completion of a degree.

9. The Reality is:
No matter how intelligent and capable, first-generation students may benefit
from additional support as they adjust to a new environment. It can be helpful
to learn more about what other first-generation students have experienced as
well as what can be done to help maximize your performance and experience as
you work towards attaining your degree.

10. The Reality is:
While certainly immersed in an exciting experience, some first-generation
college students receive less support from their families while attending college.
Their families may not understand the demands of college work. Students may
also feel added responsibility from families to be ‘the one who succeeds’ in
college. This may increase the pressure the individual already experiences as a
new student.

11. What some Generation
First say they are
experiencing
AS A COLLEGE STUDENT

12. Who We Are

13. Pride
Pride – These students often feel an overwhelming sense of pride about being the first in their
families to attend and complete college. A college degree can provide many opportunities. This
is an important accomplishment!

14. Excitement and Anxiety
Excitement and Anxiety – Many students are thrilled but also somewhat frightened about being
away from home at college, living on their own, and being the first in the family to attend
college. These students may ask themselves, “Am I cut out to be a college student?” despite
their stellar academic performance in high school.

15. Responsibility
Responsibility – Many first-generation students have to help pay for their education, perhaps
more so than students of higher socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to financial
responsibility, these students may be pressured by family and friends to return home often, and
may receive mixed messages about their changing identities (e.g., wanting to succeed, but not
wanting to be different from the rest of the family or their peers).

16. Guilt
Guilt – In addition to pride, many first-generation students may feel guilt about having the
opportunity to attend college while others in the family did not have that opportunity. These
students may wonder if it is fair for them to be at school while their parents struggle financially
at home. They may feel the need to go home to support their families. First-generation students
may also feel guilty about their academic performance if it is not as good as they or their
families would like.

17. Embarrassment and Shame
Embarrassment and Shame – These students may feel embarrassment over their socioeconomic
status or the level of education in their family. First-generation students may try to act like their
family is more highly educated or financially advantaged than they really are. There may be
embarrassment around being different from their peers at college, particularly if their peers
have a long lineage of family members attending college or if they seem to know the ‘lingo’
when a first-generation student may not.

18. Confusion
Confusion - First-generation students may feel ‘out of the loop’ when it comes to college
processes and procedures such as application, graduation, job or graduate school searches, etc.
They may not be aware of the resources available to them or of options available to them after
graduation.

19. Meeting the Challenges
OF TODAY’S FIRST GENERATION STUDENT

20. Believe in your right to college
. . . get the knowledge you need

21. Academic Barriers
and University Challenges
BARRIER
Report lower educational aspirations
More likely to enter college academically
underprepared
Reading comprehension and critical
thinking do not improve at as high a rate
Earn lower GPAs and take fewer academic
hours
Avoid majors and courses in math,
science, and humanities
CHALLENGE
 Create an environment that affirms
students’ strengths and encourages
their educational pursuits
 Provide opportunities for
supplementary instruction, remedial
instruction, and/or learning skill
development
 Demonstrate the value of liberal
education

22. Underrepresented Minority Students in
STEM fields
Under-represented minorities make up only 10% of all of those working in science and
engineering occupations. What is even sadder is that only one in 10 STEM professionals is a
minority woman (Sobawale, 2012).The issue of minorities in STEM is relevant to all levels of
the academic pipeline, particularly from high school to the professoriate (Syed and Chemers,
2011).

23. Underrepresented Minority Students in
STEM fields
Among first-year college students, women are much less likely than men to say that they intend
to major in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). By graduation, men outnumber
women in nearly every science and engineering field, and in some, such as physics, engineering,
and computer science, the difference is dramatic, with women earning only 20 percent of
bachelor’s degrees. women’s representation in science and engineering declines further at the
graduate level and yet again in the transition to the workplace. (Washington Post, 2010)

24. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
OntheK-12levels,inequitableaccesstotechnologiesandtechnologycurriculuminpoorer
communitiesandschooldistrictsbeginsthetrendofunderrepresentedminoritieslosingground
inskilldevelopment

25. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
Narrow perception of available career path. The misconceptions among underrepresented
minorities and women remain about technology fields such as computer science and engineering is
a White male profession, thus the number of jobs held in these professions is White male
dominated.

26. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
Bias and Stereotyping. The cultural stigma placed on women and minorities that they are
subservient to their White male counterparts early on in their academic careers exacerbates the
challenges of pursuing those types of careers.

27. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
Absence of Role Models and Mentors. Because this trend has remained for so long, students
who show interests in these fields have little to no current representation, or those individual
they can look up to or discuss the challenges they face as a STEM student, becoming a STEM
student or withdrawing from STEM all together. One of the keys to student retention is mentoring
on every level from pre-secondary education to post secondary education. When mentoring
opportunities become few or non-existent, again it becomes a contribution to this negative
trend.

28. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
Isolation becomes a concern in that often as a minority and or a woman they are represented as the
only minority within a group whether it is in school or the workplace, or they may be one of a
handful that represents the area of technology. This feeling of not being a part of the group forces
isolation and lack luster performance as well as a shift in levels of motivation.

29. Barriers Facing Underrepresented
Students in STEM Education
Influential Social Networking or lack thereof combines with isolation, lack of mentoring and
absence of role models. In business, nothing gets done or it is much more difficult to move up
without making the necessary connections. Professional networking carries a lot of weight in
career opportunities.

30. Cultural Barriers
and University Challenges
BARRIER
Less likely to identify college as necessary
to achieving goals
Parents lack “college knowledge” related
to navigating the college environment
Only 50% identify their parents as
supportive of their decision to attend
college
“[Live] simultaneously in two vastly
different worlds while being fully accepted
in neither”
CHALLENGE
Demonstrate the long-term benefits of a
college education
Integrate with family to create “buy-in”
when possible and/or appropriate;
encourage autonomy as necessary
Assist students in recognizing and
accepting their dual roles
Provide culturally-sensitive services that
address the specific needs of first-
generation students

31. Social Barriers
and University Challenges
BARRIER
More likely to live off-campus
Less likely to participate in on-campus
organizations/events
Identify their closest friends as full-time
employees rather than college students
Report higher rates of isolation and
discrimination
Perceive faculty as “distant” or
unconcerned with them as individuals
CHALLENGE
Provide cost-effective housing options
and/or ways to integrate with Housing
programs and initiatives
Target first-generation students when
advertising organizations and events
Foster a safe and inclusive campus
community
Create opportunities for first-generation
students to form relationships with faculty

32. Financial Barriers
and University Challenges
BARRIER
Uninformed about financial aid – forms,
processes, etc.
More likely to have additional financial
obligations
Have fewer resources to pay for college
Nature of and time allotted to work differ
from that of second-generation students
More likely to meet employment
obligations than academic obligations
CHALLENGE
Supply materials about financial aid and
the financial aid process that are easy to
access and easy to understand
Assist students in minimizing out-of-
pocket costs
Provide ample opportunities for on-
campus employment

33. What Works
Outside of the classroom
◦ Ensuring that students are socially integrated
◦ Providing intensive, holistic support services
◦ Forming authentic relationships between students and
staff
◦ Recognizing and celebrating diversity
Within the classroom
◦ Ensuring that students form relationships with faculty
and feel appreciated as individuals
◦ Recognizing the unique circumstances of first-generation
students and allowing flexibility as appropriate
◦ Focusing on improving reading comprehension, critical
thinking, and mathematical abilities
Federal TRIO Programs
(Talent Search, Upward
Bound, Upward Bound
Math/Science, Veterans'
Upward Bound, Student
Support Services,
Educational Opportunity
Centers, and the Ronald
E. McNair Post-
Baccalaureate
Achievement Program)
help students to
overcome class, social,
academic, and cultural
barriers to higher
education.

34. Today’s First Generation
THE NOW GENERATION