1st Generation College Students and Barriers to Academic Success

Fabiola Gutierrez

Professor Ramos

Brandman University

Fall II 2020
 1st Generation Students and Barriers to Academic Success

Obtaining a college degree can open many doors. However, the road to a college degree

can be long and complicated. For 1st generation college students, obtaining a college degree

comes with various barriers and challenges. The barriers and challenges 1st generation students

face affect their academic achievements and success. There are significant gaps in academic

achievement between 1st generation students and those students whose parents have earned a

bachelor's degree. This paper will explore the various barriers 1st generation students face and

how in turn, these barriers get in the way of their academic success.

Problem Statement

1st generation students have lower graduation rates and grade point average than their

peers whose parents have obtained a bachelor's degree. Graduation rates and grade point

averages are the biggest indicators of academic success. 1st generation students face systemic

barriers, academic barriers and financial barriers that get in the way of reaching their academic

potential.

Purpose​ ​of the Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate what kind of barriers 1st generation students face

and how these barriers impedes their academic achievement.

Research Question. ​ ​To what extent do the obstacles first-generation college students

face impact academic achievement?

This study is significant because it will expose patterns and similarities in the

experiences of 1st generation students. This study will allow for higher education professionals

to learn more about the challenges and barriers 1st-generations students face. This information
will provide higher education professionals the information necessary to make systematic

changes and support for these students.

Literature Review

Research indicates that 1st generation college students graduate at lower rates than their

continuing generation peers (Phillips et al., 2020). 1st generation college students have more

familial obligations than their continuing generation peers and struggle with learning to navigate

the higher education system. These challenges affect their academic achievements and GPA

which in turn keeps them from graduating at the same rate as their continuing generation peers.

First-generation students are likely to enter college with limited access to information about the

college experience, either firsthand or from relatives (Thayer, 2000).

Familial Barriers to Academic Success

Parents of 1st generation students do not understand the importance of college because

they do not have knowledge of going to college (Evans et al, 2020). These parents often don't

support their students because they fear that their kids will move away, be consumed by school

and no longer be able to help with household responsibilities (Evans et al., 2020). Because of

their familial obligations, these students are more likely to hold full time jobs and go to school

part time (Prospero &Vohra-Gupta, 2007). These family obligations are time consuming and

stressful. First-generation students may encounter a cultural conflict between home and college

At home, they are expected to help out with siblings, bills and house duties but this interferes

with the high academic expectations (Tym et al., 2004). This greatly affects their academics

because they cannot dedicate as much time to them.

In addition, first generation college s motives for attending college often “reflect

interdependent cultural norms (e.g., to give back to their communities and families) that do not
match the ideal cultural norms of independence that tend to be prioritized in higher education”

(Phillips et al., 2020). While these students considered their family and communities to be an

important aspect of their college experience, colleges do not typically take these entities into

account. In college, you are expected to be fully dedicated to being a student and engaging in

academics. Having to deal with household and family responsibilities gets in the way of being

able to fully immerse in academics and this becomes a barrier in reaching their full academic

potential.

​Systematic Barriers to Academic Success

1st generation students start college with little information about college. Because their

parents did not go to college, first-generation students have limited access to information about

the college experience (Thayer, 2000). Because of this, they need to learn how to navigate the

various systems such as financial aid, course selection, professor-student relationships and

student support programs. Students that are first-generation face obstacles that include: lack of

knowledge of campus life, academic expectations, and bureaucratic operations. The lack of

knowledge and preparation makes it harder for students to meet the rigorous expectations of

higher education and leaves them with a steep learning curve.

1st generation college students struggle with the bureaucratic systems and have

perceptions of ​a “hostile climate (and ) negative student-faculty interactions” this may lead to a

low “academic self-concept and sense of belonging, which may lead to dropping out” (ASHE,

2013 p. 51). Dropping out and dropout rates are another indicator of academic achievement or

lack thereof. Research also shows that 1st generation college students use resources at lower

rates. For example, only 55% of first generation students sought out academic advising and only

30% sought out academic support services such as tutoring, homework help and study groups
(NASPA , 2019). The lack of knowledge about academic advising and support services are

barriers that may lead to not being able to reach their full academic potential and may lead to

more drastic consequences such as dropping out.

Methodology

This research project will use mixed methods in order to gather the information needed.

A mixed methods study will allow for us to gather experiences and interview 1st generation

students about the barriers they faced and how this may affect their GPA and grades. Group

interviews are a part of quantitative methods and will be used to learn more about the student

experiences in their own words. The interviews will ask a few structured questions but also

allow time for unstructured questions and for participants to share whatever they want about their

experiences. In addition, participants will also be given a survey that asks questions about their

letter grades, GPAs and majors. Questions about GPAs and grades will be asked because these

are the best indicators of academic success. This information along with the interviews, will be

used to show how barriers faced affect their GPAs and grades.

Participants will be recruited from student organizations on college campuses that focus

on the recruitment and retention of 1st generation students. As a researcher, it is important the

research project is presented to potential participants and they have the chance to ask questions.

Potential participants will then be reached out to via email. Following this, we will start the

informed consent process and make sure all their questions and concerns are taken care of.

Following our interview process, we will code the information accordingly. When

coding the interviews, we must code it based on common themes and information. After coding,

we will see what major themes come up. By coding all the interviews and finding the major,

common themes, triangulation will be addressed because multiple interviews will be looked
through before coming up with similarities. The survey data will be analysed to reject or prove

that barriers faced by 1st generation students do in fact affect their academics. After the surveys

are conducted, we will 1st gather the raw data, clean it, organize it then statistically analyze it.

By rallying statistics and rejecting or not rejecting our previous hypothesis, we can use

ANOVAS to differentiate criteria relevant to our study.

The limitations of this proposed research are few. One limitation is being able to collect

a sample size big enough for validity. While the number of 1st generation college students is

growing, they still only represent a small demographic of college students. Another limitation is

time. College students are very busy. School combined with personal obligations does not leave

much time for much else. This poses a limitation because it may affect how many students are

willing to participate. Having a smaller number of participants may lead to issues of validity and

reliability.

Reflection

` The inspiration for my research question came from my experience as a 1st generation

college student. In speaking to my peers who were also 1st generation students, I knew we all

faced similar issues with family responsibilities, navigating a new and extremely bureaucratic

system and the rigorous nature of the academics. Despite all the issues we faced, we pushed

through and made it to graduation. In thinking of what I wanted to focus on for my research

project I knew right away I wanted to focus on 1st generation college students. I knew what I

had experienced and what my peers had experienced but I wanted to know if there was any

research out there that also confirmed what I had faced. What I found was that there was already

a lot of research on the effect of barriers on academic achievement.

 Since I wanted to find out if other 1st generation students experienced the same things as

I knew I wanted to use qualitative methods to conduct my research. Group interviews were the

best approach for my topic because I wanted the conversations and ideas brought up to be

honest and organic. I did not want the questions and interviews to sound forced. After reading

more about my topic, I realized the value of quantitative research also. I decided that a mixed

methods approach would be better. A group interview would allow us to get narratives from

students in detail and the qualitative questions would account for grade point averages, letter

grades and majors. By combining these 2 methods, I will be able to get a wide range of

experiences and compare those experiences to metric measures such as GPA and letter grades.

My methodology will allow me to see how barriers affect students through the interview and I

will be able to connect that to how it affects their academics through looking at information

about GPA, grades and majors.

This research would help promote changes in higher education and in secondary schools.

Higher education professionals can use this research to inform their policy making and student

support services. 1st generation students would benefit from programs that help them financially,

parent education programs, and programs that teach them about how to navigate the higher

education system. Professors may use this information to make sure that they are empathetic of

1st generation students and their needs and build better relationships with them. Additionally,

this study may improve the practice of teachers and professionals in secondary schools. In high

school, teachers and counselors can use this research to better prepare students for college

through lessons and workshops.

My experience in designing this research proposal was challenging and insightful. Prior

to designing this research proposal, anything related to research methods was daunting to me. I
would shy away from conducting any research because I felt overwhelmed by the enormous

amount of methods, sources, formats and components of research. Designing this proposal,

allowed me to learn more about the different components of research. This project permitted me

to take a topic I am passionate about and think about how I could use research to bring about

change. Sometimes, I felt overwhelmed by the immense amount of thinking that goes into a

research proposal but I was able to overcome that by organizing my topics and themes. I was

very happy to see that there has already been a lot of research done on academic success and 1st

generations students. I was able to read some of the research and analyze and critique it myself.

I appreciate all the knowledge I have gained and I hope to one day be able to be part of the

amazing research community out there.

 References

Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). (2013). Challenges to Latino student

success. ASHE Higher Education Report, 39(1), 39-52.

Evans, R., Stansberry, D., Bullington, K. E., & Burnett, D. (2020). First in College: A

Qualitative Exploration of Experiences of First-Generation Students. ​Inquiry,​ ​23(​ 1).

Moisés Próspero & Shetal Vohra-Gupta (2007) First Generation College Students: Motivation,

Integration, and Academic Achievement, Community College ​Journal of Research and

Practice​, 31:12, 963-975, DOI: ​10.1080/10668920600902051

Phillips, L. T., Stephens, N. M., Townsend, S. S. M., & Goudeau, S. (2020). Access Is Not

Enough: Cultural Mismatch Persists to Limit First-Generation Students’ Opportunities

for Achievement Throughout College. ​Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,​

119​(5), 1112–1131. ​https://doi-org.libproxy.chapman.edu/10.1037/pspi0000234

Thayer, Paul B. 2000. Retention of Students from First Generation and Low Income

Backgrounds (ERIC ED446633). Opportunity Outlook (May), 2-8.

Tym, C., Robin McMillion, Barone, S., & Webster, J. (2004). First-Generation College

Students: A Literature Review. ​Research and Analytical Services .​

“Use of Student Services among Freshman First-generation College Students.” 2019.

Washington, DC: NASPA. Available at:

https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/NASPA_FactSheet-03_FIN.pdf