The assets of immigrant parentage for first-generation college students: A qualitative study of their lived experiences.

This dissertation builds on literature centering first-generation college students (FGCS) with immigrant parentage in order to develop an understanding of how many of their unique and intersectional experiences may function as assets that could promote retention and degree completion. The sample is comprised of 30 FGCS who are also first- or second-generation immigrants attending a large public research university. A post-intentional phenomenological framework, coupled with an intersectional lens, guided the analysis. My findings elevate the voices and higher education experiences of FGCS with immigrant parentage by detailing how their experiences coming from an immigrant family (a) motivated them to obtain a college degree as an effort to repay their family for the sacrifices made in immigrating to the U.S., (b) influenced them to not include their parents in their decision-making about college, (c) spurred an independent nature that they described as an important aspect of maturity, (d) developed a hierarchy of needs that required addressing before (or simultaneously with) pursuing academic achievements, (e) modeled help-seeking behaviors that included using a variety of social networks and question-asking of those discerned to be experts, (f) provided a discourse of hard work as FGCS narrated their path toward success in college, and (g) established a basis to use resiliency as a means of being hopeful for their futures and the futures of their families. These findings inform recommendations for higher education administrators and practitioners.

Author

• Montiel, Sara

• Asset-based
• FGCS
• First-Generation
• Higher education
• Immigrant children
• Immigrant parentage

Identifier

hdl:1920/13777

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/13777