Understanding How First-Generation Doctoral Students Experience Graduate Education

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Sixteen
  In Roundtable Session: First-Generation Student Experiences (Table 1)

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of first-generation doctoral students (FGDSs). Understanding how FGDSs experience graduate education is essential for graduate programs to better identify and attend to the unique needs of this population, however little is known about their experience. We employ the concepts of social capital and social cognitive career theory using a sample of 9,426 doctoral students from fifteen research universities in North America. we looked at institutional supports (as measured by support provided by advisor), financial hardship and sources of support, program sense of belonging, potential out-of-school obstacles to degree progress, and the extent to which these characteristics were associated with the academic outcome of scholarly and research formation. Scholarly and practical implications are discussed.

Authors

• Jose Rosalio Palma, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• Michael C. Rodriguez, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author