College Student Self-Efficacy Research Studies offers three uniquely designed sections that provide a unique mixture of research studies conducted on African American, Mexican American, and first-generation college students. This book explores a variety of factors affecting a diverse group of college students including institutional commitment, college adjustment, and social and academic self-efficacy barriers.
FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS "…a concise, manageable, lucid summary of the best scholarship, practices, and future-oriented thinking about how to effectively recruit, educate, develop, retain, and ultimately graduate first-generation students." —from the foreword by JOHN N. GARDNER First-generation students are frequently marginalized on their campuses, treated with benign disregard, and placed at a competitive disadvantage because of their invisibility. While they include 51% of all undergraduates, or approximately 9.3 million students, they are less likely than their peers to earn degrees. Among students enrolled in two-year institutions, they are significantly less likely to persist into a second year. First-Generation College Students offers academic leaders and student affairs professionals a guide for understanding the special challenges and common barriers these students face and provides the necessary strategies for helping them transition through and graduate from their chosen institutions. Based in solid research, the authors describe best practices and include suggestions and techniques that can help leaders design and implement effective curricula, out-of-class learning experiences, and student support services, as well as develop strategic plans that address issues sure to arise in the future. The authors offer an analysis of first-generation student expectations for college life and academics and examine the powerful role cultural capital plays in shaping their experiences and socialization. Providing a template for other campuses, the book highlights programmatic initiatives at colleges around the county that effectively serve first-generation students and create a powerful learning environment for their success. First-Generation College Students provides a much-needed portrait of the cognitive, developmental, and social factors that affect the college-going experiences and retention rates of this growing population of college students.
Students of all backgrounds have a transition period when entering college. However, first-time, first-generation college students encounter more problems and have more difficulties becoming acclimated to college resulting in decreased first-year retention rates for first-generation students. These problems and difficulties are related to course work, socialization, and roommate issues. Research has shown that self-efficacy and collective efficacy are important in student achievement. This research study explored if there was a difference in student perception of self-efficacy among male and female first-year, first-generation college students and male and female first-year, non-first-generation college students. A quantitative, causal-comparative study was conducted utilizing the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI). A sample size of 151 was utilized; the survey participants included all of the incoming first-year, full-time freshmen (ages 18 and older) at a rural, Midwestern college. The survey was distributed during the first two weeks of the fall 2016 term. Analysis of the survey data was completed using a two-way ANOVA. Overall, the results indicated that first-year, first-generation students had a lower mean CSEI score than that of non-first-generation students, although the difference was not statistically significant. The development of first-generation student self-efficacy by the educational process is at the heart of the teacher-servant Christian tenet. Just as Jesus came to earth to instruct people in the ways of the Father, teachers must also serve and instruct students in the ways of higher education by applying those principles dear to the hearts of all Christians as taught by Jesus Christ. Among the most important tenets taught by Christ was to love God with all your heart (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37), to love one’s neighbors (Mark 12:31; Mathew 22:39), and to treat others as you would like to be treated (Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12). The mission of a teacher, therefore, is to teach the first-generation student as an individual, and not just as an economic entity that fuels the bottom line of a university. At the heart of the teacher-servant attitude is understanding how each student learns and, in particular, identifying stumbling blocks that exist in first-generation students’ lives that are producing impediments to their learning process.
FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS "...a concise, manageable, lucid summary of the best scholarship, practices, and future-oriented thinking about how to effectively recruit, educate, develop, retain, and ultimately graduate first-generation students." from the foreword by JOHN N. GARDNER First-generation students are frequently marginalized on their campuses, treated with benign disregard, and placed at a competitive disadvantage because of their invisibility. While they include 51% of all undergraduates, or approximately 9.3 million students, they are less likely than their peers to earn degrees. Among students enrolled in two-year institutions, they are significantly less likely to persist into a second year. First-Generation College Students offers academic leaders and student affairs professionals a guide for understanding the special challenges and common barriers these students face and provides the necessary strategies for helping them transition through and graduate from their chosen institutions. Based in solid research, the authors describe best practices and include suggestions and techniques that can help leaders design and implement effective curricula, out-of-class learning experiences, and student support services, as well as develop strategic plans that address issues sure to arise in the future. The authors offer an analysis of first-generation student expectations for college life and academics and examine the powerful role cultural capital plays in shaping their experiences and socialization. Providing a template for other campuses, the book highlights programmatic initiatives at colleges around the county that effectively serve first-generation students and create a powerful learning environment for their success. First-Generation College Students provides a much-needed portrait of the cognitive, developmental, and social factors that affect the college-going experiences and retention rates of this growing population of college students.
In modern higher education, retention has become an ever-increasing problem for institutions of higher education. Among those fresh faces arriving on campus are first generation and non-first generation students. Each will arrive with their own ambitions, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. For non-first generation students, there is a perception of having been there before. They have parents or siblings that have attended post-secondary institutions before them, they speak the language, and they know the hoops to jump through. On the other hand, there are first generation students who, other than university employees and administrators, when they arrive may not have a single person that they can speak to concerning their fears and expectations for the first year. This study examined the self-reported levels of self-efficacy and motivation among first year students at a liberal arts college. Second, the survey asked about the students' level of college preparedness, including advanced credit, hours of study per week and course registration. Finally, the survey also collected data on first year challenges typically associated with all first year students including weight gain, sleeplessness, consumption of alcohol and inquired about academic dishonesty. The overarching question that this study aimed to examine was there a difference between self-reported levels of self-efficacy and motivation among first generation and non-first generation students. Secondly, did first year challenges play a factor at all in how they viewed their first year and to compare the two groups for those differences. The results of the quantitative analysis were compiled and there were a number of assumptions that ended up not really having much merit in fact and some others that held true to long held beliefs. The study showed that first generation students do have less self-efficacy than do non-first generation students, however their levels of motivation are not all that different from their classmates. The results also showed some differences concerning how the students handled their first year experiences regarding weight gain and their academic dishonesty. Once the results of the study were known, a number of conclusions and findings were discussed, including recommendations for practice and recommendations for future research.
