FIRST VERSUS NON-FIRST GENERATION STUDENTS: DETERMINING VARIABLES OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Michelle Coffman

Heather Osterman

Hanover College

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FIRST GENERATION AND NON-FIRST GENERATION

First generation students “sometimes lack the rigorous academic preparation, family funding, and encouragement that others (non-first generation students) have” (Martin, 2007).

First generation students have different needs than non-first generation, and that these differences inhibit those students’ ability to succeed in college (Fallon, 1997).

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Help understand differences and problems of first generation students.

Contribute to intervention programs Help educational providers to understand

problems, thereby improving overall academic success

TERMS

First generation student student who neither parent has received a BA

Success GPA and social adjustment

SUPPORT FACTORS

Support to go to college, post-college plans, finances, and financial support.

Parents, siblings, and friends are sources of support

PARENTAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Parental support of first-generation students may be limited for various reasons (Duggan, 2001; Terenzini et al., 1996; Warburton et al., 2001 as cited in McCarron and Inkelas, 2006).

SIBLING EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Students whose parents have a college degree may also have more siblings attend college.

Students who have siblings who have college experience tend to have higher GPA than students who do not have siblings (Clark, 1927).

FRIEND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Peers can be more helpful than parents in terms of specific challenges and finding resources (Rodriguez et al., 2003 as cited in Dennis et al., 2005).

PARENTAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Parents who have a college degree may be better equipped to provide financial assistance to students.

The majority of first generation students tend to fall in the lowest socioeconomic status category (McCarron and Inkelas, 2006) .

HYPOTHESES

We expect that various support factors will be lower in first generation students than in non-first generation students.

We also predict that first generation students will be less successful as measured by GPA and social adjustment than their counterpart

PARTICIPANTS

136 Hanover College students Contacted ADs and house directors through

email Age

18-41 Avg. age = 21

Gender 52 male; 84 female

Generation 57 first generation; 79 non-first generation

MATERIAL—SUPPORT FACTOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Questions about support factors Parental emotional support (α =.83)

How likely are you to seek advice from parents about life stressor?

Sibling emotional support (α =.93) How supportive were your siblings of your decision to

go to college? Friend emotional support (α =.86)

How supportive are your friends of your post- graduation plans?

Parental financial support How much of your financial obligations do your parents

pay for?

MATERIAL—STUDENT ADAPTATION TO COLLEGE QUESTIONNAIRE

Social Adjustment (α =.69) I feel that I fit in well as part of the college

environment.

METHOD—PROCEDURE

Online questionnaire Informed consent Demographics Support Factor Questionnaire Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire Debriefing

RESULTS OF GPA

Independent T-test for GPA t(133) = 2.22, p = .03

RESULTS—SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT

Factors predicting social adjustment (using linear regression): Parental education: β= .24, t(133)= 3.21, p= .00 Friend support: β= .42, t(133)= 5.23, p= .00 Financial support: β= .19, t(133)= 2.30, p= .02 Parent support: β= .16, t(133)= 1.96, p= .05 Sibling support: β= -.10, t(133)= -1.21, p= .23

DISCUSSION

We found that there were some differences between first and non-first generation students in terms of GPA. Parental education was the only predictive

support factor that was significant. Study habits may already be formed in

high school, so emotional support may not be predictive of GPA

There could be other predictive variables that have yet to be identified.

DISCUSSION

Our regression analyses suggest that parental education, parental financial assistance, parental emotional support, and friend emotional support are significant predictors of social adjustment. By receiving emotional support from parents and

friends, the student may be better equipped to make the transition from one social sphere to another

By receiving financial assistance, students may not have to get a job to support themselves, allowing more time to spend with new friends.

FUTURE RESEARCH

Expand research out to other colleges Compare public colleges to private colleges

Define more variables of academic success The linear regression suggests that there are

differences other than emotional support

CONCLUSION

Results do indicate that there are differences between first generation and non-first generation students More academic assistance is needed for first

generation students Because there are inherent differences

between these two groups of students, colleges should try to create programs designed to help first generation students to be more successful in college.

QUESTIONS???