The purpose of this research study was to determine the support and resources needed by first generation college students and how community mentor programs could bridge the gaps in existing support. A purposeful sampling method was used to select three first generation college student participants who had personal experiences in community mentor…

The shift to remote teaching induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased pre-existing academic disparities in the student community, augmenting the disadvantages for students who already experience opportunity gaps. This work describes the implementation of an online chemistry co-class focused on providing educational and social support to…

Self-selection refers to the decision of qualified students to not pursue their highest possible educational degree, including higher education. In this systematic meta-review, we used the conceptual framework of college choice to identify resources or mechanisms for students' self-selection from higher education in international reviews and…

While community colleges promote American ideals of democracy, opportunity, and social mobility; provide a vital accessible and affordable education for nearly 12 million first-generation, economically-disadvantaged, and minoritized students; are engines of local workforce and economic development; and enroll nearly half of all students who go on…

This dissertation is motivated by a need in the higher education learning sciences field to understand the cultural, social, and emotional processes of student learning and development in advancing equity for students from first-generation, low-income, and marginalized backgrounds. To address this need, I develop and examine a sociocultural…

Underrepresented college students have been traditionally excluded from full participation in our society and its institutions. Illinois statute defines underrepresented students in higher education as citizens or permanent residents who are minorities, including African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, American Indian,…

College student persistence is of the most challenging issues currently facing higher education. This study is an exploration of grit, tenacity, and perseverance as demonstrated by 43 first-year students at a small, teaching-intensive university in South Texas in response to two required exercises assigned in a first-year seminar. Student…

This dissertation explores the role of parents in freshman, first generation scholarship recipients' access to higher education. Three overarching goals guide the research: To gain knowledge and a better understanding of the college choice process of freshman, first generation scholarship recipients; to better understand the role of parents in the…

Over the past decades, community college attendance has continued to be the first stop and school of choice for over half of the college student population, particularly for first-generation students. However, despite their enrollment, degree attainment remains low for first-generation students. It is not enough to get them in the door--it is…

Achievement motivation theories propose that student motivation is composed of multiple factors. Models of self-regulated learning adopt this assumption and further articulate that multiple metacognitive processes--planning, monitoring learning, and self-evaluation--are essential to guide progress toward a learning goal. Learners' motivations are…

With emerging evidence about the efficacy of integrated support programs for college students and increasing attention nationally to creating such programs, it is important to understand implementation barriers that might affect program success. This study is one of the first to examine implementation of integrated programs, with a particular…

This article investigates whether attending a community college is related to an increase in the number of students majoring and graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at four-year colleges. We follow a longitudinal sample of students in North Carolina from middle school through college graduation,…

Two set of studies were conducted to better understand grades and grading practices in physics courses, and how these might influence demographic representational disparities in physics. The first study investigates the relationships between grades and the student-level factors of standardized test scores, (binary) gender, underrepresented…

Indian higher education (HE) system has undergone rapid expansion over the last two decades, emerging as one of the largest HE systems in the world. Expansion is accompanied by the challenge of ensuring comparable quality education across a diverse institutional spectrum. Simultaneously, academic reforms in the sphere of general HE have been…

Cultural Mismatch Theory (CMT) has emerged as a paradigm to account for the disparate experiences and outcomes of first-generation students (FGSs). Past research on CMT demonstrate how social class disposition can shape cultural mismatch among FGSs; however, the sole focus on social class sacrifices attention to other social markers of…