Navigating New Worlds: A Real-Time Look at How Successful and Non-successful First- Generation College Students Negotiate their First Semesters

Abstract

This study of fifteen first generation American college freshmen documents their initial semester with a focus on factors and dispositions contributing to eventual success or failure. Students were identified prior to campus arrival, allowing for immediate and real-time data collection as they were experiencing the beginning of their college careers. Key factors identified and explored include the importance of active help-seeking, effective management of unstructured time, the dangers of underestimating academic rigor, and the crucial nature of the first two weeks. Suggestions for how the findings may be of practical use, as well as further research implications, are included.

The role of institutional agents in promoting higher education success among first-generation college students at a public urban university.

“…In contrast to Morales’ (2012) findings regarding the importance of dispositional attributes in determining first-generation college students’ academic success in the context of a private 4-year university, other research in higher education has presented findings more similar to Gonzalez and Padilla (1997), where institutional supports such as faculty mentors and tutoring services are found to be pivotal to the academic goal progress of first-generation college goers as compared to peers with college-educated parents (Garriott & Nisle, 2018). Engagement on campus is associated with increased academic motivation, persistence, and college completion (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008; Price & Tovar, 2014).…”

“…In another study using a similar framework but situated in a postsecondary setting, Morales (2012) conducted a prospective longitudinal qualitative study to identify resilience-promoting influences over the course of 15 racially diverse first-generation students' initial college semesters at a private 4-year university. As an analytic method, Morales operationalized educational resilience in terms of students' end-of-semester academic performance, defining successful students as those with a minimum 2.75 grade point average (GPA) and nonsuccessful students as those with a GPA lower than 2.75.…”

The impact that cultural food security has on identity and well-being in the second-generation U.S. American minority college students

“…Sixteen second-generation American undergraduate ( n =13) or graduate ( n =3) students at the University of Nevada, Reno participated in this study. Initially, participant recruitment was guided by examining similar studies with second-generation college student participants, which have had 5–15 participants (Brady and Stevens 2019 ; Eaton 2006 ; Morales 2012 ; Muñoz 2012 ; Schackmuth 2012 ; Skulley 2004 ). To uphold data saturation principles in qualitative research, the first author concluded the study after 16 interviews as new data did not provide added information (Glaser and Strauss 1967 ).…”

Understanding the Self-Regulated Learning Characteristics of First-Generation College Students

“…FGCS are less likely than their non-FGCS counterparts to engage in interactions with peers or instructors outside of class or to use other campus student support services (e.g., Engle & Tinto, 2008;Stebleton & Soria, 2013). While some researchers identify poor use of time management principles and practices as a substantial barrier to the academic success of FGCS (Morales, 2012) and a strong correlate of academic stress (Macan, Shahani, Dipboye, & Phillips, 1990), others suggest that time management may be a relative strength of FGCS due to their background-specific experiences managing competing demands on their time (e.g., Ecklund, 2013).…”