Despite the existent gender parity in undergraduate biology degree attainment, gendered differences in outcomes are prevalent in introductory biology courses. Less is known about whether these disparities persist at the upper-division level, after most attrition is assumed to have occurred. Here, we report the consistent presence of gender equity…

In July 2022, the University of California (UC) permanently eliminated the standardized tests requirement for its freshman admissions in order to alleviate the severed socioeconomic gap and college access barriers that were heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. This critical policy analysis research explored the immediate effects of UC's policy…

Many college students, especially first-generation and underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students, desire courses and careers that emphasize helping people and society. Can instructors of introductory science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses promote motivation, performance, and equity in STEM fields by emphasizing the…

Although not a universal practice, many U.S. postsecondary mentoring programs employ paid student mentors as part of a structured student-to-student (peer) mentoring model. Limited research has explored how student mentees view paid mentorship and if mentees can detect whether their mentor is paid or unpaid through mentor behavior. This…

Self-efficacy has a strong influence on the learning and motivation of science students at the postsecondary level, especially in upper division science classes, which are key to student success in science majors. This empirical mixed methods research study (N = 205) examines the associations between students' participation in an online…

In the past decade, we have seen a significant growth in Latina/o college enrollment. Rarely is Latino families' engagement in their children's educational aspirations acknowledged for this increase in the rate of Latinas/os attending college. I examined how first-generation Latina/o students reflected on and retold stories of how their families…

The purpose of this study is to understand the personal impact of first-generation community college students of color have after taking a psychology course. This research study focused on studying groups of people who were excluded from past research and were missing during the literature gap. This qualitative study examined the general impact…

This case study analysis explored the experience of senior level first-generation college students without access to intensive academic support programs for first-generation students at a northeast public research university. This study asked the question: how do senior college students who identify as both first-generation and are not served by…

This qualitative phenomenological research study explored and examined the lived experiences of first-generation student-athletes' motivations to achieve academic success, whether goal-setting impacted their academic success, and whether university services support their academic success. This study needed to be conducted as there was limited…

The Hispanic community within the U.S. has steadily grown over the last few decades. People identifying as Latina/o/x are already the largest minority population and are projected to become 29% of the U.S. population by the year 2050 (Salinas, 2015). Since 1980, the number of school age children within the Latina/o/x community increased from 8.1%…

FGCS experience barriers to college completion, graduate at lower rates, and drop out before the second year compared to non-FGCS. Previous research showed FGCS socially involved in programs, clubs, and organizations persist at higher rates than FGCS who are not socially involved. Astin's (1984) student involvement theory proposes students who are…

Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) coordinated the development and administration of the Washington Student Experience Survey (WSES) in 2022 as a response to research showing that unmet basic needs represent an increasing barrier to the success of higher education students. This survey collected census-level data on basic needs security…

First-generation students are faced with different challenges when joining the institutions of higher learning. Some of the experiences encountered by these students when entering these institutions can disorient them in a manner that affects their learning abilities. For this reason, it is necessary to come up with an approach that enhances their…

This article is the result of research conducted with first-generation upper-class college students enrolled at a comprehensive university in Georgia. The researcher sought to answer the following research question: How do first-generation college students perceive the impact of out-of-classroom engagement experiences on persistence? The study…

Food insecurity, a condition of limited access to nutritious food, is a critical issue for college students' health and well-being. In this report, we present results from our project that examines the long-term effects of college students' food insecurity on future socioeconomic status, wealth, and food insecurity using nationally representative…