“He Was Able to Rely on Me”: Sibling Support Among Latino First-Generation College Student Families

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 4: Families and Education

Abstract

Despite the documented relevance of protective agents, -nuclear and extended family who support the education trajectory of students- the role of sibling support in impacting college success has received limited attention. When studies do explore the role of siblings, they only capture sibling support at the college-choice process and the support is viewed as one-directional where older college-going siblings provide college support to younger siblings. Instead of assuming that Latino first-generation college students’ families do not have access to “college knowledge,” I expand the scope of familial support to include the active role that siblings play in generating resources for the family. Drawing on data from 22 semi-structured interviews, I show how for Latino first-generation college student families, college generates additional resources that shape familial expectations and obligations, a process, which I term the sibling intragenerational bargain. Furthermore, sibling order and education level shape the type and exchange of capital negotiated in the sibling intragenerational bargain. These findings have implications for theories of familial cultural capital and emerging adulthood.

Author

• Estéfani Marín, University of California, Irvine