Soy el Primero: The Multiple Meanings of "First-Generation" to Latina/o Students Attending Predominantly White Institutions

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Latinxs in Higher Education: A Contentious or Positive Climate

Abstract

This study explores, from the Latino/a student perspective, what it means to be a “first-generation” college student attending a predominantly White institution (PWI). Unexpectedly, we found that how these students define “first-generation” far exceeded traditional definitions using levels of parental education. Using a sample of 13 self-defined “first-generation” Latino/a students, campus representatives, and a Latino/a student organization focus group, we found that students’ applied the term “first-generation” to experiences in which they were the first in their family to attend a U.S. college, their first exposure to White culture, and their sense of feeling like an immigrant on a U.S. campus regardless of country of birth. Findings challenges scholars and others to broaden their conceptualization of the term “first-generation.”

Authors

• Tracy Graybill, University of Missouri - Kansas City

• Michelle A. Maher, University of Missouri - Kansas City