First-Generation Students at Work: Building a Framework to Expand Our Understanding of the First-Generation Experience

• In Event: 63.084 - MTCC Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: 63.084-6 - Building Connections and Pursuing Equity in Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education research is inundated with studies on the challenges first-generation students (FGS) face in postsecondary education. However, despite their rising rates of enrollment in and graduation from college, there is a lack of research about the college-to-work transition of FGS and their success in job acquisition and retention. Building a framework that integrates Bourdieu’s theories of social and cultural capital with Schneider’s organizational attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory, we seek to expand our understanding of FGS’ success in college and work, arguing that the systemic challenges FGS face in college likely persist as they enter the workplace. This topic demands further study as we seek to improve the way in which we educate and prepare FGS for entry into the workplace.

Authors

• Kristina Buenvenida Tirol-Carmody, The University of Kansas

• Lauren Coleman-Tempel, University of Kansas