Assessment, Teaching, and Learning Conference 2014 Concurrent Session: College Culture Brokers - A Model for Supporting First-Generation College Student Success

1. College Culture Brokers
A Model for Supporting First-Generation College Student Success
Sally E. Heilstedt

2. Presentation Outline
• First-Generation College Students
• College Culture
• Good Information and Meaningful
Relationship
• Cultural Brokers
• College Culture Brokers:
Implications for Practice

3. First Generation College Students
Students whose parents did not earn baccalaureate degrees.
Characteristics:
• Low-Income
• Older
• Ethnic minorities
• English Language Learners
• Employed while in school
• Dependent children
(NCES, 1998)
Challenges:
• Lack of preparation
• Anxiety (A LOT)
• Finances
• Failure
• Lack of connection to the
college environment
Impact: Lower persistence, academic achievement,
and degree completion

4. (Mis)Perceptions
and
Assets & Abilities

5. College Culture
Consider what you take for granted.
Language
Processes
Norms
Values, Beliefs, and Assumptions

6. Good Information
and
Meaningful Relationship

7. Cultural Brokers
Roles and Alignment with First-Generation Students’ Needs
Role Characteristics Student Need(s) Met
Liaison  Knowledge of both cultures
 Ability to communicate between cultures
Information
Cultural
Guide
 Deep understanding of both cultures
 Respected and trusted in both cultures
Information and
relationship
Mediator/
Mentor
 Ability to establish and maintain trust
through meaningful relationships
 Willingness to invest time
 Use of relationship to address difficult
issues
Information and
relationship (emphasis on
relationship)
Change
Agent
 Ability to create inclusive and collaborative
environments
 Use of knowledge and understanding of
both cultures to address institutional and
college culture issues
 Willingness to serve as student advocate
Information and
relationship
(NCCC, 2004)

8. Cultural Sensitivity and Competence
The Importance of Self-Reflection (Hofstede &
Hofstede, 2005)
Crucial Questions:
• Was my status first-generation or non-
first-generation?
• How did participating in the college
culture impact my personal development?
• What cultural values, beliefs, and
practices informed my approach to
college? And now, my approach to
students and the issues they present?
• How has integration into the college
culture impacted identity and values?
• What norms are taken for-granted?

9. Good Information
Use multiple avenues for
communicating good information
• Office Hours
• Pre- or Post-Class Sessions
• Handouts
• Blogs
Stay up-to-date
Build relationships

10. Meaningful Relationship
“We let people tell their stories. We
honor what they say.”
Patricia Hunter, Associate Dean of
TRiO Projects at LWTech
Intentionally seek out students
Follow up
Celebrate!

11. Initiating Change
Advocating for First-Generation
College Students
Provide good information to and develop
meaningful relationships with staff,
faculty, and administrators
Lead by example and through more formal
avenues (Goleman, 1998)

12. College Culture Brokers
Meeting the Need for Good Information
and Meaningful Relationship

13. References
Goleman, D. (1998). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 93-102.
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the
Mind – Intercultural communication and its importance for survival (2nd ed.). New
York: McGraw-Hill.
National Center for Cultural Competence. (2004). Bridging the cultural divide in
health care settings: The essential role of cultural broker programs. Retrieved from
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, NCCC website:
http://www.culturalbroker.info/index.html
NCES. (1998). Characteristics of first-generation college students. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 42(3), 220.