This study offers recommendations for community college personnel in assisting first-generation Mexican American male college students access and properly utilize college agents and services to succeed and transfer to a four-year institution. Students must recognize that colleges have many programs and services designed to help them become…

Existing research illustrates that although Latinos make up the largest ethnic minority group in the country, Latinos continue to have the lowest college degree attainment rates (Ramirez, 2014). Despite the increasing rates of high school graduation rates, there remains a large educational achievement gap between Latinos and their white and Asian…

The narrative of first-generation, low-income students (FGLI) has a long, and often complicated tradition in the history of American higher education. FGLI students experience challenges in postsecondary retention. FGLI students are rapidly enrolling in higher education, but they are dropping out of college at alarming rates. Over 4.5 million FGLI…

The rapid shift from face-to-face to remote instruction in 2020 has resulted in recalibration of lecture and laboratory pedagogy. This research analyzed the impact of remote learning on student motivation and sense of belonging in large enrollment chemistry courses. Student responses were parsed according to specific demographics including gender,…

Prior literature suggests that self-transcendence (other-oriented) values may be a primary mechanism for moving beyond transitory feelings of empathy toward a compassionate orientation to addressing structural injustice. Active learning techniques in the classroom may then offer a fruitful platform for students to engage in the critical reflection…

This study uses a subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to examine protective factors for lower-income, first-generation students. A logistic regression model is used to explore the impacts of (1) gender, (2) race, (3) perceived sense of belonging during middle or high school, and 4) protective adult…

A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine if self-esteem, social support, locus of control, or coping strategies could predict perceived stress in first-generation college students. All variables studied were found to predict stress, while self-esteem and emotional-support seeking coping added statistical significance to the…

TICAS' [The Institute for College Access & Success'] latest fact sheet provides five proven examples of evidence-based college completion programs at four-year public institutions that increase persistence, graduation rates, and student earnings upon graduation for low-income, first-generation, and students of color.

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore the role of Latino parents and their contributions to their daughter's pursuit of higher education from the perspective of both the parent and the daughter. Yosso's (2005, 2006) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework served as a data analysis tool to explore the primary question guiding…

First-generation college students are associated with lower educational outcomes leading to decreased career aspirations. Student engagement has been linked to positive college retention outcomes. The present study surveyed 6,421 technical and two-year college students, who were in their first term of college, to determine if there are differences…

This dissertation consists of both quantitative and qualitative studies. The quantitative study utilized the 2017 public use data set from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (n = 16,383). The purpose of this study was to describe female first-generation doctoral students who have successfully completed PhDs in STEM fields through analysis of…

The Western pedagogy dominating higher education institutions creates a barrier that is difficult for many Indigenous students (IS) to overcome. To address the concern of low IS retention rates, a local community college (CC) infused culture-based education (CBE) into the existing curriculum. Grounded in Cross's cultural competence framework, the…

The problem addressed in this study was the equity gap in college certificate and degree completion between first and continuing generation college students. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of first-generation, low-income students regarding their persistence decisions for…

The authors present a three-pronged approach to developing metacognitive strategies in two targeted populations in STEM--deaf/hard-of-hearing students and (separately) first-generation students--who share similar obstacles in their transition to college.

A comparison of choices of first-generation and non-first-generation Mississippi College students make to obtain a higher education was conducted by survey instrument and data analysis. The research was conducted to compare choices including the people influencing the student's choice to obtain a higher education, motivating factors of where to…