Pursuing the Doctoral Degree: A Symbolic Interpretation of First-Generation African American/Black and Hispanic Students

• In Event: Underrepresented and Underserved Students: A Focus on Institutional Assessment and Responsibility

Abstract

First-generation African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics have been reported as less likely to reach each stage of higher education. Despite what research has revealed, this population ultimately gains the doctoral degree. In pursuit of the degree, their inherited reality of being first-generation and a person of color collide with experiences that construct a new reality, a reality different from what they expected upon entering the doctoral program. The study examined first-generation doctoral students’ experience as a set of behaviors produced in a reciprocal relationship with a system. It also explored how their experiences are shaped by the environment and how the context of the environment supports certain practices upheld by members of the educational community.

Author

• Karina M. Viaud, University of San Diego