Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sociological Perspectives on First-Generation College Students

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of the Sociology of Education in the 21st Century

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

First-generation college students (FGS)—postsecondary students whose parents did not complete college degrees—are a theoretically critical group for understanding social inequality in higher education and processes of social mobility. They are successful in navigating into higher education institutions in spite of a lack of parental experience, and may derive particular benefits from their social origins in terms of motivation and novel sources of support. However, college experiences can prove challenging for FGS due to more limited social and cultural capital. Sociologists have arrived relatively late to the study of this group. I argue that sociological perspectives can add to our understanding of FGS by investigating the ways that first-generation status intersects with other dimensions of identity and experience (race/ethnicity, gender, social class, sexuality, immigration status, etc.). Sociological insight can also further develop understandings of how institutional variation as well as institutional neglect and abuse shape FGS experiences and outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Quotes from: More Stories | I’m First. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2016, from http://www.imfirst.org/more/

  2. 2.

    Although there are a variety of ways to define first-generation status, I follow Davis (2010) in including in my definition students whose parents attended no college, some college, or earned an associate degree while excluding those with either parent who earned a bachelor’s degree. I note when research cited uses different criteria to identify FGS.

  3. 3.

    To further highlight the importance of distinguishing between first-generation college students and first-generation immigrants, it is worth noting that only 11% of FGS were immigrants, compared to 6% of CGS (Warburton et al. 2001). However, intersections of immigration and first-generation college attendance should be examined more closely, as I discuss below.

  4. 4.

    Given that students are not analytically defined as FGS until after they enter college (with some researchers even withholding the designation until students reach a 4-year college), this focus is understandable. Nonetheless, future research should harness the power of longitudinal data sets collected by the U.S. Department of Education to better delineate the pre-college and 2- to 4-year college transfer experiences among FGS and investigate how they shape experiences and outcomes in 4-year colleges.

References

  • Aries, E., & Seider, M. (2005). The interactive relationship between class identity and the college experience: The case of lower income students. Qualitative Sociology, 28(4), 419–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, E. A., & Hamilton, L. T. (2013). Paying for the party. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Arum, R., & Roksa, J. (2011). Academically adrift: Limited learning on college campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Astin, A. (1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, S., & Flores, S. M. (2011). Higher education and children in immigrant families. The Future of Children, 21(1), 171–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beattie, I. R. (2002). Are all “adolescent econometricians” created equal? Racial, class, and gender differences in college enrollment. Sociology of Education, 75(1), 19–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beattie, I. R., & Thiele, M. (2016). Connecting in class? College class size and inequality in academic social capital. The Journal of Higher Education, 87(3), 332–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birani, A., & Lehmann, W. (2013). Ethnicity as social capital: An examination of first-generation, ethnic-minority students at a Canadian university. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23(4), 281–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American occupational structure. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In J. Karabel & A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideology in education (pp. 487–511). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1997). The forms of capital. In A. H. Halsey, H. Lauder, P. Brown, & A. S. Wells (Eds.), Education: culture, economy, and society (pp. 46–58). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (2004). Science of science and reflexivity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchmann, C., & DiPrete, T. A. (2006). The growing female advantage in college completion: The role of family background and academic achievement. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 515–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, P. L. (2003). “Black” cultural capital, status positioning, and schooling conflicts for low-income African American youth. Social Problems, 50(1), 136–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, P. L. (2006). Straddling boundaries: Identity, culture, and school. Sociology of Education, 79(4), 304–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambliss, D. F., & Takacs, C. G. (2014). How college works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Choy, S. (2001). Students whose parents did not go to college: Postsecondary access, persistence, and attainment (Findings from the condition of education). Washington, DC: NCES, U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, P. J., & Morgan, D. L. (2008). “Is that paper really due today?”: Differences in first-generation and traditional college students’ understandings of faculty expectations. Higher Education, 55(4), 425–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, P. H. (1991). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J. (2010). The first-generation student experience: Implications for campus practice, and strategies for improving persistence and success. Sterling: Stylus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deil-Amen, R. J. (2015). College for all Latinos? The role of high school messages in facing college challenges. Teachers College Record, 117(3), 1–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumais, S. A., & Ward, A. (2010). Cultural capital and first-generation college success. Poetics, 38(3), 245–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, M. (2007). Settling into campus life: Differences by race/ethnicity in college involvement and outcomes. The Journal of Higher Education, 78(2), 125–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gofen, A. (2009). Family capital: How first-generation higher education students break the intergenerational cycle. Family Relations, 58(1), 104–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldrick-Rab, S. (2016). Following their every move: An investigation of social-class differences in college pathways. Sociology of Education, 79(1), 67–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González, K. P., Stoner, C., & Jovel, J. E. (2003). Examining the role of social capital in access to college for Latinas: Toward a college opportunity framework. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 2(2), 146–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haller, A. O., & Portes, A. (1973). Status attainment processes. Sociology of Education, 46(1), 51–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students’ sense of belonging. Sociology of Education, 70, 324–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishitani, T. T. (2003). A longitudinal approach to assessing attrition behavior among first-generation students: Time-varying effects of pre-college characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 44(4), 433–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishitani, T. T. (2006). Studying attrition and degree completion behavior among first-generation college students in the United States. Journal of Higher Education, 77(5), 861–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jack, A. A. (2014). Culture shock revisited: The social and cultural contingencies to class marginality. Sociological Forum, 29(2), 453–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jack, A. A. (2016). (No) harm in asking: Class, acquired cultural capital, and academic engagement at an elite university. Sociology of Education, 89(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. K., & Sax, L. J. (2009). Student–faculty interaction in research universities: Differences by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status. Research in Higher Education, 50(5), 437–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D. H., & Schneider, B. (2005). Social capital in action: Alignment of parental support in adolescents’ transition to postsecondary education. Social Forces, 84(2), 1181–1206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kojaku, L. K., & Núñez, A. M. (1998). Descriptive summary of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students, with profiles of students entering 2-and 4-year institutions. National postsecondary student aid study: 1995–96. Statistical analysis report. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, G. D., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E., Andreas, R. E., Lyons, J. W., Strange, C. C., Krehbiel, L. E., & MacKay, K. A. (1991). Involving colleges. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E. J., & Associates. (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (1989). Home advantage: Social class and parental involvement in elementary education. London: Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A., & Weininger, E. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment. Theory and society, 32(5–6), 567–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E. M., & Kramer, R. (2013). Out with the old, in with the new? Habitus and social mobility at selective colleges. Sociology of Education, 86(1), 18–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann, W. (2013). Habitus transformation and hidden injuries: Successful working-class university students. Sociology of Education, 87(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lohfink, M. M., & Paulsen, M. B. (2005). Comparing the determinants of persistence for first-generation and continuing-generation students. Journal of College Student Development, 46(4), 409–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • London, H. B. (1989). Breaking away: A study of first-generation college students and their families. American Journal of Education, 97, 144–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg, C. A., & Schreiner, L. A. (2004). Quality and frequency of faculty–student interaction as predictors of learning: An analysis by student race/ethnicity. Journal of College Student Development, 45(5), 549–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg, C. A., Schreiner, L. A., Hovaguimian, L. D., & Miller, S. S. (2007). First-generation status and student race/ethnicity as distinct predictors of student involvement and learning. NASPA Journal, 44(1), 57–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, J. (2016). Connecting in college: How friendship networks matter for academic and social success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, J., & Jackson, B. A. (2016). Pathways to financing college: Race and class in students’ narratives of paying for school. Social Currents. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329496516636404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonough, P. M. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen, A. L. (2010). Degrees of inequality: Culture, class, and gender in American higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz, S. M., & Maldonado, M. M. (2012). Counterstories of college persistence by undocumented Mexicana students: Navigating race, class, gender, and legal status. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25(3), 293–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Núñez, A. M. (2011). Counterspaces and connections in college transitions: First-generation Latino students’ perspectives on Chicano studies. Journal of College Student Development, 52(6), 639–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Núñez, A. M. (2014). Advancing an intersectionality framework in higher education: Power and Latino postsecondary opportunity. In Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 33–92). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Núñez, A. M., & Cuccaro-Alamin, S. (1998). First-generation students: Undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education (NCES statistical analysis report 98-082). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, C. (2001). Comment: Making sense of the complexity of social identity in relation to achievement: A sociological challenge in the new millennium. Sociology of Education, 74, 159–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2012). Education at a glance 2012: OECD indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D., Gwosc, C., & Netz, N. (2011). Social and economic conditions of student life in Europe. Synopsis of Indicators. Final report. Eurostudent IV 2008–2011. Bielefeld: W. Bertelsmann Verlag. [Cited in Spiegler & Bednarek, 2013].

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrove, J. M., & Long, S. M. (2007). Social class and belonging: Implications for college adjustment. Review of Higher Education, 30(4), 363–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascarella, E. T., Pierson, C. T., Wolniak, G. C., & Terenzini, P. T. (2004). First-generation college students: Additional evidence on college experiences and outcomes. Journal of Higher Education, 75(3), 249–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfirman, A. L., Miller, M. K., Alvarez, G. A. S., & Martin, J. P. (2014, October). First generation college students’ access to engineering social capital: Towards developing a richer understanding of important alters. In 2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings (pp. 1–7). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike, G., & Kuh, G. (2005). First-and second-generation college students: A comparison of their engagement and intellectual development. Journal of Higher Education, 76(3), 276–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puquirre, W. V. (2015). Sibling social capital and college success among underrepresented students. MA thesis, Department of Sociology, University of California, Merced.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rendón, L. I., Jalomo, R. E., & Nora, A. (2000). Theoretical considerations in the study of minority student retention in higher education. In J. M. Braxton (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 127–156). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saenz, V. B., Hurtado, S., Barrera, D., Wolf, D., & Yeung, F. (2007). First in my family: A profile of first-generation college students at four-year institutions since 1971. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, M., & Serna, I. (2004). Making college happen: The college experiences of first-generation Latino students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3(2), 146–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, W. H., Haller, A. O., & Portes, A. (1969, February). The educational and early occupational attainment process. American Sociological Review, 34, 82–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, W. H., Haller, A. O., & Ohlendorf, G. W. (1970, December). The educational and early occupational attainment process: Replications and revisions. American Sociological Review, 35, 1014–1027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorokin, P. A. (1959). Social and cultural mobility. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spalter-Roth, R., Van Vooren, N., & Senter, M. S. (2015, May). First generation sociology majors overcome deficits. Research brief from the American Sociological Association’s Bachelor’s and Beyond series. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiegler, T., & Bednarek, A. (2013). First-generation students: what we ask, what we know and what it means: An international review of the state of research. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23(4), 318–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanton-Salazar, R. (1997). A social capital framework for understanding the socialization of racial minority children and youths. Harvard Educational Review, 67(1), 1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Johnson, C. S., & Covarrubias, R. (2012). Unseen disadvantage: How American universities’ focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., & Destin, M. (2014). Closing the social-class achievement gap: A difference-education intervention improves first-generation students’ academic performance and all students’ college transition. Psychological Science, 25(4), 943–953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, M. L., Armstrong, E. A., & Arum, R. (2008). Sieve, incubator, temple, hub: Empirical and theoretical advances in the sociology of higher education. Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 127–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuber, J. M. (2011a). Inside the college gates: How class and culture matter in higher education. Lanham: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuber, J. M. (2011b). Integrated, marginal, and resilient: Race, class, and the diverse experiences of White first-generation college students. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 24(1), 117–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terenzini, P. T., Rendón, L. I., Upcraft, M. L., Millar, S. B., Allison, K. W., Gregg, P. L., & Jalomo, R. (1994). The transition to college: Diverse students, diverse stories. Research in Higher Education, 35(1), 57–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terenzini, P. T., Springer, L., Yaeger, P. M., Pascarella, E. T., & Nora, A. (1996). First-generation college students: Characteristics, experiences, and cognitive development. Research in Higher Education, 37(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, W. G. (1992). An anthropological analysis of student participation in college. The Journal of Higher Education, 63(6), 603–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torche, F. (2011). Is a college degree still the great equalizer? Intergenerational mobility across levels of schooling in the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 117(3), 763–807.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toutkoushian, R. K., Stollberg, R. S., & Slaton, K. A. (2015, November). Talking ‘bout my generation: Defining “first generation students” in higher education research. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Meeting, Denver, CO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tugend, A. (2015, Spring). The struggle to be first: First-gen students may be torn between college and home. California Magazine. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warburton, E. C., Bugarin, R., & Núñez, A.M. (2001). Bridging the gap: Academic preparation and postsecondary success of first-generation students (NCES statistical analysis report 2001-153). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warikoo, N. K., & Deckman, S. L. (2014). Beyond the numbers: Institutional influences on experiences with diversity on elite college campuses. Sociological Forum, 29(4), 959–981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (2015). Rationalization of education and training. In R. Arum, I. R. Beattie, & K. Ford (Eds.), The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the sociology of education (3rd ed., pp. 14–16). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildhagen, T. (2015). “Not your typical student”: The social construction of the “first-generation” college student. Qualitative Sociology, 38(3), 285–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, A. C. (2014). Race, age, and identity transformations in the transition from high school to college for Black and first-generation White men. Sociology of Education, 87(3), 171–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, E. O., Costello, C., Hachen, D., & Sprague, J. (1982). The American class structure. American Sociological Review, 47(6), 709–726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of California, Merced, CA, USA

    Irenee R. Beattie

Authors
  1. Irenee R. Beattie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irenee R. Beattie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Barbara Schneider

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Beattie, I.R. (2018). Sociological Perspectives on First-Generation College Students. In: Schneider, B. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Education in the 21st Century. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76694-2_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76694-2_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76692-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76694-2

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation