Understanding the first‐generation student experience in higher education through a relational dialectic perspective

Abstract

The authors use relational dialectics theory to argue that first‐generation college students (FGS) often struggle with a give‐and‐take tension between getting involved in campus life and losing their familial and working‐class identity. They suggest that because FGS straddle two different cultures of academia and home, institutions must address these tensions to improve the students' retention and graduate rates.

Front Row Friendships: Relational Dialectics and Identity Negotiations by Mature Students at University

“…Subsequent to conducting and transcribing all of the interviews in this study, transcriptions were systematically analyzed and coded, producing inductive constructs which appeared most useful for explicating the data (cf. Brown, 2011;Goins, 2011;Lowry-Hart & Pacheco Jr., 2011;Simmons et al 2013). Particular attention was given to common patterns in responses (including similar metaphors and repeated terms) as well as anecdotes used to illustrate tensions of one sort or another.…”

“…For example, Dumlao and Janke (2012) pointed out that scholars from a range of disciplines, including psychology, communications, and business studies, have used RDT to study a wide variety of topics, such as friendship (Rawlins, 1992), diverse families (Sabourin, 2003), postmarital relationships (Graham, 2003), and community health initiatives (Medved et al, 2010). Though the majority of early studies focused on two-person relationships, scholars have increasingly sought to extend the dialectical perspective beyond the interpersonal dyad to wider social relationships (e.g., Goins, 2011;Lowry-Hart & Pacheco Jr., 2011;Orbe, 2008;Simmons, Lowery-Hart, Wahl, & McBride, 2013). Furthermore, Altman (1993) has argued that scholars should consider dialectical tensions within individuals (what he terms intraindividual dialectical processes) as well as those experienced at the intergroup level.…”

The Experience of Transition as told by First-Year, First-Generation Appalachian College Students

“…First-generation (FG) students are considered an "at-risk" group (Lowery-Hart & Pacheco, 2011) who are "situated in the margins, despite being in the same campuses and classes as their peers (p. 56). FG students are "an often-overlooked, marginalized group" and so, "because they don't look different from other marginalized groups, such as Hispanics or African-Americans, they often aren't perceived as needing help" (Hand & Payne, 2008, p. 14).…”

“…For FG students, this "constituted a major disjunction in their life course", and they were "breaking, not continuing, family tradition" (Terenzini, et al, 1994, p. 63). Lowery-Hart and Pacheco (2011) found that FG students are struggling to "maintain cultural identity while navigating the college experience" (p. 56), which they identify as a dialectic tension of "in versus out", which represents a desire to be apart of and adapt to college culture while resisting, maintaining their roots. Orbe (2008) identified a dialectic tension of "independence versus interdependence", as FG students find themselves creating distance between themselves and family members, while trying to maintain family bonds.…”

“…FG students are defined as "those for whom parents or guardians have a high school education or less and did not begin a postsecondary degree" (Inkelas et al, 2007, p. 404). They have been described as being over-looked and marginalized (Hand & Payne, 2008), as "at-risk" (Lowery-Hart & Pacheco, 2011), and as ''educational pioneers'' (London, 1996, p. 11). Housel and Harvey (2011) describe their position as one of straddling two distinct cultures: academic and something other than academic.…”