scholarly journals Generating social capital in first-generation students through a first-year seminar at a midwest university

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christine Sudbrock

Graduating college is an important milestone, but, for first-generation students (FGS), this can be more of a challenge than continuing-generation students. First-year seminars (FYS) aim to integrate students academically and socially to university life. The literature has not measured how social capital may differ based on parental education or in different types of FYS. No evidence was found for considering FGS-none (students where neither parent has had any education beyond high school) and FGS-some (students where at least one parent has had some education beyond high school, but did not complete a four-year degree) distinct populations. Social capital at the end of the semester for FGS-none was significantly smaller than continuing-generation students. There were significant increases in total social capital for FGS-none and continuing-generation students but not FGS-some. Factor analysis revealed five dimensions of social capital in the survey instrument: advisor, faculty, institutional, family, and peer. All FGS groups increased advisor social capital; FGS-some and continuing-generation students increased faculty social capital; FGS-some increased peer social capital; and continuing-generation students increased institutional social capital.

Author(s):  
Randall Clemens

This paper uses the life history method to narrate the experiences of Camilla, a 19-year-old, first-year student at a four-year university. Camilla emigrated with her mother from El Salvador to the United States during her freshman year of high school. Based on two years of data collection, the author presents Camilla’s experiences at different stages, including her childhood in El Salvador, first and last year in high school, and her first year in college. The paper explores the sources and influences of social capital for a low-income, first-generation student and highlights its dynamic and contextual nature. The author argues that the findings have direct implications for the development of college access and readiness policies.


Author(s):  
Janel E. Benson ◽  
Elizabeth M. Lee

Chapter 2 provides a portrait of first-generation students who attend selective colleges by placing them in comparison with continuing-generation students, the dominant demographic group on these campuses. This chapter focuses on students’ high school backgrounds—the ways they get to college—and then discusses briefly the ways this background leads them into an initial institutional sorting process. While first-generation students share a similarly strong high school academic profile as their continuing-generation counterparts, they come of age within very different contexts. The authors show that some of these differences have implications for how first-generation students identify connections on campus during the first few weeks of college. Moreover, first-generation students find themselves in somewhat different campus geographies than continuing-generation at the end of their first year of college. First-generation are more likely to be Disconnected than their continuing-generation peers and less embedded in campus geographies connected to mainstream social life (Play Hard and Multisphere).


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-49
Author(s):  
Natalie Spadafora ◽  
Emily L. Murphy ◽  
Danielle S. Molnar ◽  
Dawn Zinga

It is estimated that 15-22% of students have high levels of test anxiety (von der Embse, Jester, Roy, & Post, 2018), which can be associated with greater academic stress and poorer educational performance (e.g., Steinmayr, Crede, McElvany, & Withwein, 2016). First-generation students (where neither parent has completed post-secondary education) are a critical group to study given that they are at higher risk for poorer educational attainment and being unsuccessful at the post-secondary level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the link between basic psychological needs and test anxiety in a sample of first-generation Ontario high school students across two points in time (N = 147;  Mage = 14.82, SD = 1.28). Self-report data was collected as a part of an on-going longitudinal study focusing on students attending a high school with specialized programming to enhance the transition to post-secondary institutions. Results from cross-lagged path analyses indicated that being older, female, and having higher levels of needs frustration significantly predicted higher levels of test anxiety over time within this sample. Our results highlight important educational implications, emphasizing the importance of fostering classroom environments where students perceive their psychological needs to be met, particularly within this unique population of students.


Author(s):  
Rachel Forsyth ◽  
Claire Hamshire ◽  
Danny Fontaine-Rainen ◽  
Leza Soldaat

AbstractThe principles of diversity and inclusion are valued across the higher education sector, but the ways in which these principles are translated into pedagogic practice are not always evident. Students who are first in their family to attend university continue to report barriers to full participation in university life. They are more likely to leave their studies early, and to achieve lower grades in their final qualifications, than students whose families have previous experience of higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a mismatch between staff perceptions and students’ experiences might be a possible contributor to these disparities. The study explored and compared staff discourses about the experiences of first generation students at two universities, one in the United Kingdom (UK), and the other in South Africa (SA). One-to-one interviews were carried out with 40 staff members (20 at each institution) to explore their views about first generation students. The results showed that staff were well aware of challenges faced by first generation students; however, they were unsure of their roles in relation to shaping an inclusive environment, and tended not to consider how to use the assets that they believed first generation students bring with them to higher education. This paper explores these staff discourses; and considers proposals for challenging commonly-voiced assumptions about students and university life in a broader context of diversity and inclusive teaching practice.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 438-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Hudley ◽  
Roxanne Moschetti ◽  
Amber Gonzalez ◽  
Su-Je Cho ◽  
Leasha Barry ◽  
...  

Among academically talented students, SES and racial group membership predict both college expectations and matriculation, and youth less often attend and complete postsecondary education if their parents did not go to college. For successful adjustment to college, significant adults during high school matter more than they might imagine. Talking to teachers and counselors had strong relationships with social and academic adjustment as well as with positive attitudes for all students. Interestingly, the more participants talked to teachers in high school, the more academically competent they felt in college, and this relationship was especially strong for first-generation students. Such findings suggest that “getting ready” experiences may prepare students to more effectively balance the multiple developmental tasks they face as college students on the threshold of adulthood. This preparation may be especially important for persistence among vulnerable populations, including first-generation students, who spend the least time of any group talking to teachers outside class. Students in low-income, urban communities may be in reasonable proximity to a community, vocational, or 4-year college; students in rural schools may more often see relatively few opportunities for higher education. An academically oriented high school peer group also may prepare students to become socially engaged on the college campus. These preliminary findings are a strong argument for policies and practices that bring all new college students together in personalized social interactions as quickly as possible rather than focusing on groups perceived to be “at risk.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.34) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Farida Nursjanti ◽  
Indra Taruna ◽  
Shinta .

As a private college-oriented quality, Widyatama University has some quality commitments including receiving potential prospective students and giving priority to customer satisfaction. However, the university only uses entrance exam score, does not use previous academic performance such as national exam score to select potential prospective students. The aims of this research were to examine and to evaluate the factors which affect students’ First Year Cumulative GPA (FYCGPA) in Widyatama University. This research also investigated the determinants of students’ FYCGPA by the factors to explain variances in FYCGPA. This research used gender, major in high school, national exam score and entrance exam score as independent variables. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out in this study. The result indicated that gender, entrance exam score, and major in high school have significant effect to FYCGPA. The model used in this study showed that 24.6% of the variances in FYCGPA can be explained by gender, entrance exam score, and major in high school. This results show that Widyatama University should consider more factors in selecting potential prospective students and providing services to first year students.  


Author(s):  
Britta Wittner ◽  
Simone Kauffeld

AbstractAn important factor for First Generation High School students (FGS) in higher education is social capital. To highlight differences in social capital between FGS and their Non-FGS peers (NFGS) by analysing the structure of their ego-centred social networks and its’ effect on their career planning, we conducted two cross-sectional studies: on high school students during their first career planning stage and on college students at the beginning of their first semester. FGS have significantly less social capital in their networks than NFGS during school and university. Having academic supporters is associated with career planning amongst high school students, having instrumental support for career planning amongst college students.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mariana Silva Mendonça ◽  
Rogério Fernando Pires

GeoGebra software has an interface that enables the simultaneous operation of two types of representation of function records, algebraic and graphic. This possibility of exploring two types of records matches the idea of the Theory of Semiotics Representation Registers (TRRS), handling and coordination of at least two representations of the same mathematical object, defended by Raymond Duval. Thus, this article aims to understand how the use of GeoGebra software can help high school students in learning exponential function through mobilization, manipulation and coordination of semiotic representations during an interventional activity. Therefore, an intervention instrument composed of seven activities which included the study of the exponential function based on TRRS. The instrument was administered to a group of students first year of high school from public school located in the extreme south of Bahia. The analysis of this instrument was qualitative and revealed that the GeoGebra software can assist students in learning exponential function, since the answers given by the students in the activities indicated that most of the students responded assertively, building knowledge about the mathematical object under study through mobilization, manipulation and coordination of representations and exploitation properties of studied function.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1932202X2095182
Author(s):  
Ainur Almukhambetova ◽  
Daniel Hernández-Torrano

Globally, universities have an interest in recruiting the most talented students; however, limited attention has been given to how these students experience their transition and adjustment to university life. This mixed-methods study analyzes the academic, social, emotional, and institutional dimensions of gifted students’ adjustment to university in the context of post-Soviet Kazakhstan, a country characterized by a strong emphasis on the education of gifted students. The findings of the study confirm that the process of gifted students’ adjustment to university is a complex phenomenon, and all the aspects of students’ first-year experiences should be carefully taken into consideration when studying the transition to postsecondary education. The results of the study are useful for understanding the issues that gifted students face in the transition to higher education and have important implications for research on gifted students’ postsecondary experiences internationally.


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