{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124443"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124443","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Finding community, calling home: Social factors in the academic identity development in two first-generation, low-income college students at an elite university","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2024-09-16 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2024-09-16 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Esela, Jackson"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Davila, Liv T","Ruedas-Gracia, Nidia","Flores, Osly"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05","date_published":"2024-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:00Z","subjects":["First-generation","Educational Psychology","Higher Ed","Students Of Color","Low-income","Social Identity"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2024 Jackson Esela"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124443","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Davila, Liv T","Ruedas-Gracia, Nidia","Flores, Osly"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Esela, Jackson"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2024-05","2024-05-01"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["First-generation","Educational Psychology","Higher Ed","Students Of Color","Low-income","Social Identity"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2024 Jackson Esela"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124443"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2024-09-16 without embargo terms","The student, Jackson Esela, accepted the attached license on 2024-04-30 at 14:48.","The student, Jackson Esela, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2024-04-30 at 15:05.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2024-05-01 at 16:47.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20721 on 2024-09-16 at 00:37:40","First-generation college students, or those whose parents have not attained a postsecondary degree, are the focus of much education and policy research because they have been shown to be academically disadvantaged compared to other students. They are less likely to attain postsecondary degrees compared to their non-first-generation peers (Nuñez & Cuccaro- Alamin, 1998; Ishitani, 2003), and are more likely to be low-income and come from marginalized racial backgrounds (Bui, 2002; Redford & Hoyer, 2017). Much of the previous literature employs deficits-focused theoretical models that explore the resources first-generation students lack rather than the wide variety of assets they have (Engle, 2007). This thesis applies strengths-based approaches to understanding the experiences of two first-generation, low-income students of color at an elite university as they describe their family, peer, and institutional social support systems and make sense of their academic identities. This study used semi-structured interviews that were conducted over the course of the student’s four years of undergraduate studies at an elite institution to explore the following questions: how do first-generation, low- income students of color at an elite university describe their academic identities through college; how do they perceive of their family, peer, and institutional relationships; how do those relationships inform the development of their academic identities? The findings suggest that student relationships with family, peers, and university staff were important sources of support through college and shaped their academic identities. Students also described their racial and socioeconomic identities as influential to their engagement with college peers and faculty. I discuss implications and opportunities for further inquiry relating to better serving first- generation students from various cultural backgrounds by using existing strengths within their social networks."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Finding community, calling home: Social factors in the academic identity development in two first-generation, low-income college students at an elite university"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Davila, Liv T","Ruedas-Gracia, Nidia","Flores, Osly"],"dc:creator":["Esela, Jackson"],"dc:date":["2024-05","2024-05-01"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2024-09-16 without embargo terms","The student, Jackson Esela, accepted the attached license on 2024-04-30 at 14:48.","The student, Jackson Esela, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2024-04-30 at 15:05.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2024-05-01 at 16:47.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #20721 on 2024-09-16 at 00:37:40","First-generation college students, or those whose parents have not attained a postsecondary degree, are the focus of much education and policy research because they have been shown to be academically disadvantaged compared to other students. They are less likely to attain postsecondary degrees compared to their non-first-generation peers (Nuñez & Cuccaro- Alamin, 1998; Ishitani, 2003), and are more likely to be low-income and come from marginalized racial backgrounds (Bui, 2002; Redford & Hoyer, 2017). Much of the previous literature employs deficits-focused theoretical models that explore the resources first-generation students lack rather than the wide variety of assets they have (Engle, 2007). This thesis applies strengths-based approaches to understanding the experiences of two first-generation, low-income students of color at an elite university as they describe their family, peer, and institutional social support systems and make sense of their academic identities. This study used semi-structured interviews that were conducted over the course of the student’s four years of undergraduate studies at an elite institution to explore the following questions: how do first-generation, low- income students of color at an elite university describe their academic identities through college; how do they perceive of their family, peer, and institutional relationships; how do those relationships inform the development of their academic identities? The findings suggest that student relationships with family, peers, and university staff were important sources of support through college and shaped their academic identities. Students also described their racial and socioeconomic identities as influential to their engagement with college peers and faculty. I discuss implications and opportunities for further inquiry relating to better serving first- generation students from various cultural backgrounds by using existing strengths within their social networks."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124443"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2024 Jackson Esela"],"dc:subject":["First-generation","Educational Psychology","Higher Ed","Students Of Color","Low-income","Social Identity"],"dc:title":["Finding community, calling home: Social factors in the academic identity development in two first-generation, low-income college students at an elite university"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:00Z"}