"It's a Strength That I Draw From": First-Generation Background as a Cultural Resource in Graduate School

• In Event: Barriers and Burdens of Graduate Students in Higher Education

Abstract

The literature on first-generation students in graduate school is limited and largely focuses on the challenges and barriers they may experience during their studies. We extend this literature by presenting an assets-based understanding of first-generation graduate student experiences and illuminating alternative forms of capital that they leverage when drawing on their backgrounds. Using qualitative interviews with 16 first-generation students in law school, findings reveal how first-generation graduate students draw on their backgrounds as a source of strength. Resources include motivation to succeed, support through community building, independent resourcefulness, and appreciation for the value of difference. Findings have important implications for how first-generation students use their lived experiences as alternative sources of capital that aid in graduate school success.

Authors

• Jesse McCain, University of Virginia
  Presenting Author

• Josipa Roksa, University of Virginia
  Presenting Author