Masters Thesis

Academic Success for First Generation College Students

Purpose: First generation college students encounter adversity throughout their path through college. It is of value then to study the factors that affect first generation college students' academic success. Research Questions: does academic resilience correlate with first generation college students' school involvement? Further are there differences between groups of students? Methods: The Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30), student involvement questions, and demographics were used to explore these questions. Results:Findings from the study of first generation college students (N=193) suggested that students of color have less perseverance and help seeking behaviors when faced with adversity when compared to their white counterparts. In addition, school involvement significantly correlate with resilience. Further, female and trans students have less perseverance when faced with adversity, and trans students, additionally, have less help seeking behaviors when faced with adversity. Finally, the results suggest that students of color have less negative affect when faced with adversity when compared to their white counterparts. Discussion: Based on the results, it is important for colleges to outreach and better these groups of first-generation college students and increase student involvement. Search terms: first generation college students, students of color, resilience, and student involvement.

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