This exploratory phenomenological qualitative study investigated the role of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) social-emotional competencies in five first-generation doctoral students' experiences in higher education. Data were collected via a written open-ended questionnaire and one-on-one in-depth interviews conducted via a web-based video call. Following interview transcription, the data were coded, organized, and analyzed. The study findings indicated the social-emotional competencies were utilized without conscious awareness, pivotal/critical to participants' experiences, increasingly important as participants progressed through multiple levels of higher education, and further honed and fine-tuned throughout participant experiences. Participants also identified social-emotional skills and competencies that were more or less important or relevant to their experiences in higher education, contexts that contributed to their social-emotional competency development, and skills or competencies that could have benefitted them with additional training or interventions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]