Fitting In While Being First: Belonging, Help-Seeking, and Social Identity Threat Among First-Generation College Students

• In Event: Motivation, Belonging, and Help-Seeking in Academic Contexts

Abstract

First-generation college students (FGS) tend to underperform academically compared to continuing-generation college students (CGS) at four-year universities. There is limited quantitative evidence regarding explanations for this achievement gap, especially regarding belonging, self-regulated learning, and perceived social identity threat. The objective of this study was to examine relations between these variables among FGS. In this study, 206 FGS (73.8% female, 30.6% white) completed surveys. Results indicated that FGS sense of belonging was positively related to adaptive help-seeking and negatively related to both help-seeking avoidance and perceived social-class identity threat. Help-seeking avoidance was negatively associated with achievement (e.g., semester GPA), but no other variables were significantly related to academic performance. Implications for future research and practice will be discussed.

Authors

• Andrew Holmes Perry, The Ohio State University

• Shirley L. Yu, The Ohio State University

• Elise C. Allen, University of Northern Colorado

• Eric M. Anderman, The Ohio State University

• Minjung Kim, The Ohio State University