Poster #84 - Family Qualities, Academic Engagement, and Grades in Latina/o First-Generation University Students

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Ongoing research suggests first-generation college students are less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree from postsecondary institutions when compared to their non-first-generation peers (Deangelo et al., 2011). Furthermore, Latina/o college students make up around 50% of this population (Bell & Bautsch, 2011). For many first-generation Latina/o college students, family life is often an important aspect in how it affects their college engagement and performance. Family factors such as SES (Roche et al., 2017), guilt about leaving the family’s home (Covarrubias & Fryberg, 2014), and acculturation (Aguayo, Herman, Ojeda, & Flores, 2011) have all been found to relate to Latino/a student’s performance in college. Thus, this study investigated how individual and family qualities of Latina/o first-generation university students affected their academic engagement and grades (see Figure 1). Self-report survey data were collected from 1137 Latina/o first-generation university students (mean age = 19.4, 64.1% women, 35.0% men, 66.5% intact families, 75.6% living with a parent) in lower-division and upper-division, general education courses at a Hispanic serving, comprehensive university in Los Angeles.Three multigroup path analyses were conducted with relatively good fit comparing the following groups (see Table 1): men to women, participants in intact families to non-intact families, and participants living with parent(s) versus living away from home. Academic engagement was positively and significantly related to GPA across groups. Financial stress was negatively and significantly related to GPA across groups, and indirectly related through academic engagement for women. Generation status was positively related to GPA for students in intact families, but it was not significantly related to GPA or academic engagement in any other groups. University students’ classification was significantly and negatively related to GPA for all groups except men; however, classification was significantly and positively related to academic engagement for women, intact families, and students living with and away from parents. Family cohesion was indirectly related to GPA through a significant and positive relationship with academic engagement across groups. Family flexibility was positively related to academic engagement for men and women, intact families, and participants who lived at home.The findings suggest academically engaged students are more likely to put forth effort needed to make better grades (e.g., completing homework; studying). Family/Personal financial stress can make it difficult to focus on academics (e.g., working more, stress level). However, cohesive families can provide a supportive base to face academic challenges, which can keep students engaged academically. More flexible families may accommodate to meet the needs of students, but this may be less important for those who live away from home or in non-intact families. Upper-classmen might have more difficult classes which accounts for lower GPA, but upper-classmen might be more academically engaged. Students who were not engaged may have been more likely to drop out. Practitioners and educators can help struggling students capitalize on and recognize family strengths (e.g., cohesion, flexibility). Also, counselors, EOP, and financial aid can help students alleviate financial stressors. Specific implications and strategies will be presented.

Authors

• Andrew Gary Takimoto, University of California, Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author

• Griselda Martinez, Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jason Dyer, UC Santa Cruz
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rui Jiang, UC Davis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Scott Plunkett, CSU, Northridge
  Non-Presenting Author