Double First-Gen: Barriers to and Pathways Through Higher Education for Students From Myanmar Refugee Backgrounds

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Leveraging Social and Cultural Capital and Community Funds of Knowledge (Table 20)

Abstract

We interview 1.5-generation Myanmar refugee-background US high school graduates to understand the barriers and supports they encounter in accessing higher education (HE). Using a critical grounded theory approach, we analyze family, community, and institutional factors, moving beyond theories of “resilience” by interviewing those who struggled and thrived in HE. We conclude that K-12 schools offer varying levels of support; that parents provide financial and emotional, but not academic support; that oldest siblings face more barriers; that racially and socio-economically diverse communities or concentrations of Myanmar refugees are advantageous; and that higher education institutions could offer financial support and mentoring to this population. We coin the term “double first-gen” to describe this population as first-generation immigrants and college students.

Authors

• Rosalie Metro, University of Missouri

• Mamay Si, University of Missouri

• Joseph Aaron Decker, University of Missouri