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The Challenges Behind Living a Double Life Among First-Generation University Students: The Clash Between Interdependent and Independent Identities

The Challenges Behind Living a Double Life Among First-Generation University Students: The Clash Between Interdependent and Independent Identities

Audrey Cornell (Ferris State University, USA) and H. Russell Searight (Lake Superior State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2023 |Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6961-3.ch009
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Abstract

First-generation (F.G.) university students whose parents did not attend college comprise 30-50% of those pursuing higher education in the United States. Research suggests that compared with those whose parents attended college, F.G. students are less likely to graduate. American universities reflect upper middle class values, implying that academic success requires students' independence from family. Previous research suggests that F.G., compared with non-F.G. students, place a greater value on interdependence relative to independence. The current study was a multi-method investigation involving quantitative and qualitative assessment approaches. Specifically, on standardized measures, F.G. students scored significantly higher on the Communal Orientation Scale, reflecting norms of social reciprocity and attentiveness to others. Results of qualitative interviews indicated that F.G. students are often self-conscious about their family status more likely to experience university culture as ambiguous and frequently overwhelming and lack a knowledgeable support system.
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Introduction

The standard definition of first-generation students are students whose parents do not have a Bachelor's or Associate's degree (Stephens et al., 2012). While exact percentages vary across four-year institutions, it is estimated that up to 50% of community college students and 30% of university students are first-generation (F.G.) students (Pascarella et al., 2004; Stephens et al., 2012; Weaver, 2011). College retention studies have consistently found that parental educational status is one of the strongest predictors of whether young adults would attend or complete college (Stephens et al. 2012). By implication, students whose parents did not complete college are at higher risk of dropping out. There are probably multiple reasons for this pattern.

Historically, those attending college have been from middle to upper socioeconomic classes, emphasizing the importance of emerging adults developing personal independence. However, as the pool of college students has grown, more students from America's non-dominant cultures have enrolled in community colleges and universities. For example, while students of Latinx background are more likely to begin college than European Americans, they are less likely to graduate (Vasquez-Salgado. Greenfield, & Burgos-Cienfuegos, 2015).

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