There have been numerous studies conducted in the higher education literature to determine whether parental education is related to the academic plans and success of their children. Within this literature, particular emphasis is often given to children who are “first-generation college students.” However, researchers and policy makers have not reached agreement on what constitutes a first-generation college student and whether the definition affects the findings from their studies.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study
In this study, we examined whether the way in which first-generation college status was defined affected its association with the likelihood of a student going to college. We used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:02), which is a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 10th-grade students in 2002 who were followed up in 2004, 2006, and 2012.
Research Design
We used binary and multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine how first-generation college status, as well as other personal, family, and school characteristics, were associated with whether a student took a college entrance exam, applied to college, and enrolled in college. For this study, we constructed eight different definitions of a first-generation college student. The definitions varied with regard to the level of education needed for a parent to be considered “college educated” and the number of parents meeting the education criteria.
Conclusions/Recommendations
Our results showed that the connection between first-generation college status and these three outcomes varied depending on how first-generation college status was defined. In general, we found larger deficits for first-generation college students when neither parent was college educated and when college educated was defined as earning a bachelor's degree or higher. First-generation college students faced the largest deficits for enrolling in college, and smaller (but often significant) deficits for taking a college entrance exam and applying to college. The results imply that researchers should be very specific about how they are defining first-generation college status and should determine whether their findings are sensitive to how the variable was defined.
ArmstrongE., & HamiltonL. (2013). Paying for the party: How college maintains inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3.
AstinA. (1964). Personal and environmental factors associated with college dropouts among high aptitude students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 55, 219—227.
4.
BeckerG. (1975). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
5.
BergerJ. (2000). Optimizing capital, social reproduction, and undergraduate persistence. In BraxtonJ. M. (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 195—224). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
BillsonJ., & TerryM. (1982). In search of the silken purse: Factors in attrition among first-generation students. College and University, 58, 57—75.
8.
BitzanJ. (2009). Do sheepskin effects help explain racial earnings differences?Economics of Education Review, 28, 759—766.
9.
BourdieuP. (1977). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In KarabelJ., & HalseyA. (Eds.), Power and ideology in education (pp. 487—511). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
10.
BourdieuP. (1986). The forms of capital. In RichardsonJ. (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241—258). New York, NY: Greenwood.
11.
BurkeJ. (2005). Reinventing accountability: From bureaucratic rules to performance results. In BurkeJ. (Ed.), Achieving accountability in higher education (pp. 216—245). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
12.
CardD. (1993). Using geographic variation in college proximity to estimate the return to schooling (NBER Working Paper No. 4483). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
ChenX., & CarrollC. (2005). First-generation students in postsecondary education: A look at their college transcripts. Postsecondary education descriptive analysis report (NCES 2005-171). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
15.
ChoyS. (2001). Students whose parents did not go to college: Postsecondary access, persistence, and attainment. The Condition of Education2001, 18—43.
16.
ColemanJ. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95—S120.
17.
CollierP., & MorganD. (2008). “Is that paper really due today?”: Differences in first-generation and traditional college students' understandings of faculty expectations. Higher Education, 55, 425—446.
DoughertyP., GernandR., PollockC., & WileyA. (2007, June). First-generation students in the 2006 SAT cohort. Paper presented at the annual forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Kansas City, MO.
20.
DubowE., BoxerP., & HuesmannL. (2009). Long-term effects of parents' education on children's educational and occupational success: Mediation by family interactions, child aggression, and teenage aspirations. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 55, 224—249.
21.
DumaisS., & WardA. (2010). Cultural capital and first-generation college success. Poetics, 38, 245—265.
HosslerD., BraxtonJ., & CoopersmithG. (1989). Understanding student college choice. In SmartJ. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 5, pp. 231–288). New York, NY: Agathon Press.
24.
HosslerD., & GallagherK. (1987). Studying student college choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policymakers. College and University, 62, 207—221.
25.
HosslerD., SchmitJ., & VesperN. (1999). Going to college: How social, economic, and educational factors influence the decisions students make. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
26.
InkelasK., DaverZ., VogtK., & LeonardJ. (2007). Living–learning programs and first-generation college students' academic and social transition to college. Research in Higher Education, 48, 403—434.
27.
IshitaniT. (2003). A longitudinal approach to assessing attrition behavior among first-generation students: Time-varying effects of pre-college characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 44, 433—449.
28.
IshitaniT. (2006). Studying attrition and degree completion behavior among first-generation college students in the United States. Journal of Higher Education, 77, 861—885.
29.
LinN. (2002). Social capital: A theory of social structure and action (Vol. 19): Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
30.
LohfinkM., & PaulsenM. (2005). Comparing the determinants of persistence for first-generation and continuing-generation students. Journal of College Student Development, 46, 409—428.
31.
McDonoughP. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. Albany: State University of New York Press.
32.
McMahonW. (2009). Higher learning, greater good: The private and social benefits of higher education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
33.
MincerJ. (1958). Investment in human capital and personal income distribution. Journal of Political Economy, 66, 281—302.
34.
NicholsL., & IslasÁ. (2016). Pushing and pulling emerging adults through college: College generational status and the influence of parents and others in the first year. Journal of Adolescent Research, 31, 59—95.
35.
NunezA., & Cuccaro-AlaminS. (1998). First-generation students: Undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education (NCES 98-082). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Government Printing Office.
36.
O'ConnorN., HammackF., & ScottM. (2010). Social capital, financial knowledge, and Hispanic student college choices. Research in Higher Education, 51, 195—219.
37.
Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1998). First-generation students: Undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education. Statistical Analysis Report, U.S. Department of Education, NCES 98-082.
38.
PadgettR., JohnsonM., & PascarellaE. (2012). First-generation undergraduate students and the impacts of the first year of college: Additional evidence. Journal of College Student Development, 53, 243—266.
39.
PascarellaE., PiersonC., WolniakG., & TerenziniP. (2004). First generation college students: Additional evidence on college experience and outcomes. Journal of Higher Education, 75, 249—284.
40.
PascarellaE., & TerenziniP. (2005). How college affects students (Vol. 2). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
41.
PaulsenM. (1990). College choice: Understanding student enrollment behavior (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, No. 6). Washington, DC: School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University.
42.
PaulsenM., & St. JohnE. (2002). Social class and college costs: Examining the financial nexus between college choice and persistence. Journal of Higher Education, 73, 189—236.
43.
PernaL. (2006). Studying college access and choice: A proposed conceptual model. In SmartJ. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 21, pp. 99–157). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
44.
PernaL., & TitusM. (2005). The relationship between parental involvement as social capital and college enrollment: An examination of racial/ethnic group differences. Journal of Higher Education, 76, 485—518.
45.
PikeG., & KuhG. (2005). First-and second-generation college students: A comparison of their engagement and intellectual development. Journal of Higher Education, 76, 276—300.
46.
ProsperoM., & Vohra-GuptaS. (2007). First generation college students: Motivation, integration, and academic achievement. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 31, 963—975.
47.
SaenzV. (2007). First in my family: A profile of first-generation college students at four-year institutions since 1971. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute.
48.
SandefurG., MeierA., & CampbellM. (2006). Family resources, social capital, and college attendance. Social Science Research, 35, 525—553.
49.
SchultzT. (1961). Investment in human capital. American Economic Review, 51, 1—17.
50.
Scott-ClaytonJ. (2015). The role of financial aid in promoting college access and success: Research evidence and proposals for reform. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 45, 7—22.
51.
ToutkoushianR., & HillmanN. (2012). The impact of state appropriations and grants on access to higher education and outmigration. Review of Higher Education, 36, 51—90.
52.
ToutkoushianR., HosslerD., DesJardinsS., McCallB., & CancheM. (2015). The effect of participating in Indiana's Twenty-first Century Scholars program on college enrollments. Review of Higher Education, 39, 59—95.
VargasB., & ConlonJ. (2011). Are we ready for the approaching demographic tsunami?College and University, 86, 63—65.
55.
WardL., SiegelM., & DavenportZ. (2012). First-generation college students: Understanding and improving the experience from recruitment to commencement. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
56.
WellsR. (2008). The effects of social and cultural capital on student persistence: Are community colleges more meritocratic?Community College Review, 36, 25—46.
57.
WellsR., SeifertT., PadgettR., ParkS., & UmbachP. (2011). Why do more women than men want to earn a four-year degree? Exploring the effects of gender, social origin, and social capital on educational expectations. Journal of Higher Education, 82, 1—32.
