First Generation Students

First-generation students are the first in their families attend a post-secondary institution. They are more likely to face many challenges in university life and how they experience their higher education. “Within the institution, first-generation students may have lower levels of academic and social integration” (Billson and Terry, 1982), and have, as Terenzini and associates (1996) point out, “less positive out-of-class experiences than traditional students”. In fact, many research studies have found that first-generation students lack engagement in academic and social capacities, as for example, they don’t show their engagement in the learning and social experiences such as joining events, participating in classes, using support services,
They think all of higher learning is about more responsibility for them, and ignore other more important aspects of the campus life. As they would not ask for explanations why they are involved in important aspects of the campus life, “however, there is some evidence” (Jones & Hill, 2003) “indicating that in the USA involvement at the university level is a manifestation of dispositions and attitudes (i.e. culture) acquired prior to university”. Furthermore, these students miss classes or don’t complete all of the class homework or assignments. “these lapses are variously viewed as a result of simple lack of intrest, poor attitude, or first generation ignorance of how to do academic work. I think this behavior is more complex; many of these students work too hard in their lives outside of school and are too bright for the explanations to suffice” (Theron P. Snell, 2008). These are reasons that students have low academic expectations as those whose parents never experience higher
These things have clear indications that they have less understanding of university expectations. Also, they don’t often ask a faculty member for help or struggling in classes. However, there is support for the first generation students, so they can be satisfied, yet it is noted that “if colleges and universities are to improve students’ retention and graduation rates, they should consider taking action to support the five educational practices in order to improve academic achievement and levels of satisfaction” (Mussie T. Tessema, 2014; Kathryn J. Ready, 2014; Sumuel Tsegai, 2014). First, “level of academic challenge”, measures how energy is for students in preparing for class, studying, reading, writing, etc (Kuh, 2003). Second, “active and collaborative learning”, measures how well students participate in class, interact with others, and learning outside of the class. Thirdly, “Student-faculty interaction”, measures how well students communicate with faculty about academic, career plans, courses, and assignments. These may solve students’ problems. Fourth, “enriching the undergraduate experience”, to explore opportunities, events, or activities that may gain their experience. Last, “supportive campus environment” provides services for students, so they can access services, advising, or counselling for support. These