This exploratory inferential, single-university study (N=700) joined institutional, external, and survey data to examine how first-year students' food insecurity links to non-cognitive attributes, first-semester performance, and persistence. Regressions indicate LGBTQ, multi-racial, international, transfer, and first-generation students exhibit…

Statistics show black students are more likely than white students to be the first in their families to attend college. For instance, white students represent 70 percent of all continuing-generation college students, while black students represent 11 percent of all continuing-generation students. But when it comes to first-generation students,…

Research on the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) student development pipeline has largely ignored social class and instead examined inequalities based on gender and race. We investigate the role of social class in undergraduate student research publications. Data come from a sample of 213 undergraduate research participants…

First-generation college students (FGCS) often have different cultural values, practices, and goals from those of students from college-going families. As they navigate college, FGCS coordinate these values, practices, and goals with those of their families, noncollege-going friends, and communities. We draw on longitudinal and cross-sectional…

Despite gains in expanding the student pipeline to postsecondary education, first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students complete college at disproportionately lower rates and have limited access to the resources necessary to make informed decisions about higher education. Research has shown that FGLI students are less likely to apply to…

Background: Differences in post-secondary academic outcomes along dimensions of gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are a major concern. Few studies have considered differences in patterns of academic outcomes and underlying mechanisms driving disparities across different STEM disciplines. Using data from about 4000 undergraduates in…

The transition from high school to college is challenging for many students, especially first-generation college students. College courses require disciplinary specific reading, writing, and thinking skills not often taught in high school, such as reading and analyzing complex texts and constructing original arguments in discipline-specific…

The purpose of this study was to examine determinants of faculty-student engagement for Southeast Asian men in community colleges. Using data derived from the Community College Survey of Men (CCSM), this study investigated faculty-student engagement for 140 Southeast Asian men attending community colleges in the United States. Five groupings of…

The purpose of this research was to discover what specific attitudes and behaviors first year students believed were necessary to transition to college by employing a qualitative lens. We chose to explore how students describe building their identities as college students, responding to the cultural shifts between high school and college, and…

Low-income, first-generation (LIFG) students complete college at disproportionately low rates. This qualitative study examines this gap from the perspective of university actors who directly support LIFG students in two student support programs at one public university. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations, this study investigates how…

"On My Own: The Challenge and Promise of Building Equitable STEM Transfer Pathways" is the first book of its kind to provide a detailed, on-the-ground examination of the difficult paths--curricular, interpersonal, and institutional--that students must chart through community college. The book follows 1,670 two-year college students over…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the phenomenon of motivation to discover the role it played in the persistence of five first-generation college students who completed online baccalaureate degree programs at a proprietary higher education institution. A purposeful sample consisted of students who graduated…

Background: Academic literacy(ies) is a major determining qualifier for success in a university qualification. Academic literacy(ies), in this study, are seen as social practices or discourses that occur within specific academic disciplines. Students therefore needed to 'learn' the academic literacy(ies) discourse of the faculty. Aim: This study…

Policy makers internationally are increasingly preoccupied with the need for education systems to be developed in ways that mitigate unfairness. What is more contestable is what might need to change. In England this emphasis has informed the development of fair access policies that aim to improve the representation of 'disadvantaged' young people…

Background/Context: To enhance postsecondary completion and minimize equity gaps, researchers have focused on defining, measuring, and developing students' college readiness, or the preparation required to persist in higher education. While this work has been useful to identify the ingredients of postsecondary success, the emphasis on individual…