This qualitative case study explored the perceptions of struggling students who identified as first- generation, low-income, and/or Students of Color (i.e., Historically Excluded Groups), and their beliefs about success, struggle, and characteristics of supportive instructors. Thematic analysis revealed student participants understood academic…

This study explored self-efficacy in a sample of urban community college students. The main goal of the study was to determine levels of both general and academic self-efficacy in this population, consisting of first-generation, immigrant, and traditional students. Self-efficacy is an important psychological factor affecting academic motivation,…

Effective veteran-student programs that include advising help to bridge military culture with campus culture. These programs assist with military-to-campus transitions and achieving veteran-student academic success. Persistent outreach is an advising strategy that includes proactive and intentional engagement that anticipates student concerns. The…

We estimate the impact of one of the largest college-to-student outreach efforts in the nation, the College Board's Student Search Service. In an oversubscribed "order," colleges receive contact information of a randomly chosen subset of PSAT and SAT exam takers who opt into the service and meet colleges' search criteria from a larger…

Social and cultural capital are critical components of success among college students. In this paper, we examine the creation, accumulation, and distribution of social and cultural capital by and among underserved college students who participated in a summer bridge program at one regional public state university. Using qualitative data from…

A sense of inclusion and belonging are critical for students? learning and personal development in higher education institutions. Learners who identify as non-majority identities (racial/ethnic minority, LGTBQ+, disability, and first generation) are at greater risk of feeling isolated and unwelcome. Lack of belonging and inclusion among…

Researchers have examined the experiences of Black undergraduate students attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Yet, there is little research on the experiences of first-generation Black undergraduate women who create and use support systems; as well as the role that these support systems play in the journey to obtain their…

African American, female, first-generation students face unique social and academic challenges due to their triple minority status of being Black, female, and first-generation and often perceiving low social support. The problem this study addressed is the role that self-efficacy and social support play for this group of students is insufficiently…

Marketing strategy involves selecting a target market and determining the desired product positioning to attract the desired customers (Silk, 2006). Recently, community colleges have seen a decrease in student enrollment. In some cases, this was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic; in other cases budget constraints have posed challenges to…

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is a psychological construct that causes high-achieving individuals to doubt their competence, intelligence, and sense of belonging. IP has only recently been examined among people in the music education community. The student teaching experience is a time of transition and professional identity development for…

Background/Context: Sometimes students with the academic credentials to attend more selective colleges enroll in a less selective institution or do not enroll at all, a phenomenon known as undermatching (Bowen et al., 2009; Roderick et al., 2011; Smith et al., 2013; Rodriguez, 2015). Undermatching is associated with lower graduation rates and…

This study focuses on the mother's experience when her first-generation college student attends college and the mother-daughter relationship. The goal is to understand further the mother's perspective and the relationship between mother and daughter. At the same time, the study aims to add to the literature about the parental college experience…

This study reported the effects of a research-based laboratory module on students' scientific research, green chemistry, and research skills self-efficacy in a second-semester general chemistry laboratory course. The research-based laboratory module was designed based on the course-based research experience (CURE) model, which features materials…

The overall goal of this dissertation, comprised of three empirical studies, was to examine the role of social support as a source of resilience in the face of two chronic stressors: low socioeconomic status and first-generation college student status. Study 1 of this dissertation sought to examine neighborhood support from members of one's…

An increasing portion of the U.S. population is interested in and enrolling in higher education, and colleges and universities across the country are responding and actively recruiting a wider variety of students than in the past to maintain if not increase enrollment (Holland 2015; Irlbeck et al. 2014). Many of these students are considered…