Supporting first-generation college students: analyzing academic and social support’s effects on academic performance

Abstract

Although the growing attendance of first-generation college students attests to higher education’s commitment to access and social mobility, by many measures students who are the first in their family to attend college are not as successful as their later-generation peers. The increasing number of first-generation students and the social, economic, and civil ramifications of their inequitable struggles in higher education require researchers to move beyond measuring outcomes and to explore influences on student success in new ways. Grounded in a theoretical perspective informed by developmental ecology and the relationship between engagement and learning, this study analyzed survey data on academic support, social support, and academic outcomes. The findings indicate that even in the same university, first-generation students had lower GPAs and experienced lower levels of social support than their later-generation peers. The study also finds that although no differences exist in the perceived academic support provided to both groups, first-generation students were not as successful in translating equal levels of academic support into equal academic performance.

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