First Principles: Designing Services for First-Generation Students

Abstract

For many first-generation college students, traditional academic culture and structures can create barriers to their engagement on campus and academic success. To ensure that academic libraries are not also presenting unnecessary challenges to these students, first-generation needs and expectations should be important considerations in library service and facility design initiatives. Drawing on a multidisciplinary literature review and a survey of high school counselors' experiences advising firstgeneration students, the current study identifies common needs and challenges of first-generation students and provides correlated recommendations for how libraries can best equip themselves to meet those needs.

“We’re Gonna Figure This Out”: First-Generation Students and Academic Libraries

“…Arch and Gilman contend that the goal "should be to make our library services 'student-ready,' instead of expecting first-generation students (or any students) to be 'college-ready.'" 9 Asset-based approaches adjust the lens through which FGS are viewed, focusing on the strengths that students bring from their families, communities, and previous education; the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators advocates using such an approach for working with first-generation students. 10 Morrison writes that, "Rather than forwarding the story of being placed at the margins," these approaches "tackle the colonial narrative by placing communities' cultural wealth alongside it, giving prominence to cultural wealth and assets."…”

Assessing the Information Literacy Skills of First-Generation College Students

“…First-generation students, defined for the purposes of this study as students whose parents did not graduate from a four-year college, are more likely to experience barriers and are less likely to graduate than their continuing-generation peers. 1 As campuses develop learning communities, courses, and other programs for first-generation students, librarians have begun to get involved. While some librarians have fully embedded in first-generation programs on their campuses, 2 others are still working to develop collaborative relationships with program leaders or are limited to resource awareness-focused one-shots.…”

Akademická integrace do studia: Pohled první generace vysokoškolských studentů na své vyučující

“…Při odchodu člena rodiny na vysokou školu se rodiče často obávají odloučení až ztráty člena domácnosti, který pomáhá s jejím chodem. Mají proto tendenci ke zvýšené četnosti komunikace a kontroly nad začínajícím studentem, to ale vede k neschopnosti jedince se soustředit na studium a přijmout roli studenta (Arch & Gilman, 2019;Katrevich & Aruguete, 2017). Vlivem rodinného prostředí je pro studenty první generace mnohdy těžké přijmout kulturu nového prostředí, do kterého vstupují, a plně se tak do tohoto prostředí integrovat (Covarrubias et al, 2019;Katrevich & Aruguete, 2017).…”