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Although college education is a key to upward mobility, students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to enter and complete college than their more advantaged peers. Prior literature has illuminated how cultural capital contributes to these disparities. An alternative conceptualization of cultural capital, however, suggests that it can also play a role in social mobility. In this study, we build on and extend the literature on cultural mobility by proposing that exposure to education can benefit not only individuals but also families. We examine the influence of older siblings who attended college on the experiences of younger college‐going siblings in families where neither parent has completed college (i.e., first‐generation families). We find that students rarely rely on their older siblings as sources of information and advice, except in a few instances where older siblings attended the same institution. However, both the topics and nature of conversations between parents and students differ between families with and without older college‐educated siblings. The primary benefit of having college‐educated siblings is thus related to students’ engagement with and support received from parents. These findings have important implications for cultural capital research and understanding experiences of first‐generation college students.

Extracurricular involvement in college is linked to positive outcomes including a sense of inclusion or belonging, which can facilitate retention and graduation. Research makes clear, however, that not all students find inclusion on campus. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 80 first-year students at a large public university, this study uses an intersectional lens to examine how inequality emerges in the extracurricular realm. I rely on a process-based model that considers the ways students approach, experience, and manage involvement, producing unique constellations of extracurricular outlets. Social class impacts students' capacities to find and join outlets that fit their interests. Moreover, inequality does not end when students enter these settings; rather, their experiences diverge at the intersections of gender and race. To find inclusion, female and racial/ ethnic minority students often navigate a more elaborate process of becoming involved, and their sense of belonging is frequently limited or contingent. Meanwhile, white male students typically feel welcomed in extracurricular outlets and accrue a durable sense of belonging. Additional divergence by class, race, and gender appears as students manage the tensions produced by disparate experiences. Presented findings offer an intersectional understanding of extracurricular involvement and illuminate the value of a dynamic approach to intersectional research.

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