Investigations Of The Impostor Phenomenon Among Female First-Generation College Students And A Research University

This study investigated whether first-generation female students experience the Impostor Phenomenon, and the extent these students suffer from the phenomenon. A convenience sample was used to draw from a targeted group of 205 first-generation college students. The method of data collection was a self-reporting survey, the Survey of First-Generation College Students, which consisted of a demographic survey and the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS). Descriptive statistics found 90% of students in this study experienced impostor feelings. Of those experiencing IP, 31.7% experienced moderate feelings, 45% experienced frequent feelings, and 13.3% of participants reported intense feelings. Fear and hesitation of potential performance and doing poorly when completing tasks were most prevalent amongst these IP sufferers. Independent sample t-test found no significant relationship between feelings of IP based on the student\u27s cultural or ethnic minority status, parents with less than a high school education, or receipt a Federal Pell Grant. Bivariate (Pearson) correlations found no differences between IP feelings and time in college, nor between IP feelings and grade point average. Although no differences were found between the varying demographic characteristics, the negative effects of IP on students are well documented. Therefore, the need to understand IP is valuable when identifying those at risk of leaving, and strategic planning necessary to retain and graduate these students

Impostor Phenomenon, College-Going Knowledge, and Staff Expectations: Ramifications on First Time in College Students Enrollment

A lack of technically trained, skilled, and educated workforce has become a critical issue in Texas. Furthermore, an educated workforce improves communities and individuals with economic, health, and personal benefits. Community colleges not only provide open-access admissions and low-cost tuition but are specifically aligned with educating the technical and industrial skilled workforce. Although a post-high school education has never been more accessible or necessary for obtaining high-earning jobs, post-high school college enrollment is declining, and conventional reform strategies do not appear to be effecting change. Graduating high school students aspire to attend postsecondary training by applying and being accepted but are not following through to register and attend. Friction points occur between aspiring or applying to college and registering or attending school, leading to a phenomenon known as summer melt. Two identified possible friction points are impostor phenomenon (IP) and college-going knowledge. IP is a belief that one’s successes are not based on one’s abilities and aptitudes but instead on luck or other external forces, and therefore, the individual believes that he or she is a fake, living in fear of being discovered as an imposter. College-going knowledge is the knowledge regarding admissions, financial aid, housing, and other college jargon that makes up the students’ social capital easily transitioning to the higher education environment. IP is well documented in higher education and specifically in first-generation college students. Acting as institutional agents, student services staff may mediate high levels of IP feelings and low levels of college-going knowledge. The findings from this study indicated that many first-time in college students experience moderate to high levels of IP, with the majority frequently having occurrences of IP. There was no significant difference between first-generation college students and continuing-generation college students. Additionally, the college-going knowledge of the vi majority of students was high. New staff had higher expectations of students’ levels of college-going knowledge, while experienced staff held low expectations. Findings from this body of work can be used to influence curriculum development in higher education graduate programs and staff or faculty training on IP and how to assist students in redefining their academic identity

A Transcendental Phenomenological Inquiry of First-Generation Community College Students’ Experiences

In the United States, 36% of community college enrollments are comprised of first-generation students (FGCS); however, little is known about FGCS as a cohort. Various initiatives have been formulated to encourage success among students with constraints related to social capital, bandwidth recovery, and the education system. The purpose of this phenomenological study aimed to understand the experiences of FGCS in community colleges in the Northeast region of the United States. FGCS are defined as students whose parents did not graduate from college with at least a bachelor’s degree. This study addressed student experiences—including social interactions—that impacted academic achievement positively or negatively. Tinto’s interactionalist theory of college student departure guided this study because student retention and success in college are affected by formal and informal interactions. Data were collected from 15 participants using one-on-one interviews, a writing prompt, and a focus group discussion. Data analysis was conducted using Moustakas’ guidelines for organizing and analyzing transcendental phenomenology. The four main themes identified were a) shared experiences, b) defining success, c) protective factors, and d) social factors

The Underprepared and Underrepresented: Perceptions and Experiences of Self-Efficacy on College Persistence Among Low-Income African American First-Generation College Students

Approximately one-third of college students enrolled in colleges across the United States are first-generation students or those whose parents have not attained a post secondary degree. First-generation students are more likely to be students who are racially/ethnically diverse, low-income, and nearly four times more likely to leave college without a degree. College persistence refers to the students\u27 desire and involved behaviors to maintain enrollment until degree attainment. A phenomenological approach was used to conduct face-to-face, in-depth semi-structured interviews to describe the essence of the lived experiences of low-income African American first-generation college students who persisted in four-year undergraduate programs. Results indicated a priority to support African American first generation college students with sources of self-efficacy

Teaching The First: A Phenomenological Study Of Southeastern Community College Instructors Communicating With First-Generation College Students

This phenomenological research study explored eight Southeastern community college instructors communicating with first-generation college students, specifically the lived experiences of community college instructors as they taught developmental education. The participated included a lawyer, health care executive, and engineer, psychologist, bookkeeper, health sciences professional, and education specialist and computer information systems professional. Pre-interviews, interviews and an electronic survey were utilized to obtain the data on the phenomenon. This phenomenological data analysis process offered a structured analysis process that is reflective and grounded in vibrant descriptions. During the interview, all forms were used to document responses of interviewees. The interviews were interpreted in real context, transcribed, and emergent themes were identified. Next, categories were created using these emergent themes, and subcategories were also created. Once emergent themes were identified, textual descriptions were outlined, using instructor experiences of communicating with students. The themes that came from the text of the interviews revealed the instructors’ experiences communicating with developmental education students. The observation protocol was retained as part of the study for future and comparative research use. Two critical themes emerged from the transcribed interviews. (1) College instructors’ lived experiences communicating with first-generation college students at brick and mortar community colleges can be found in the context of instructions, as predicated by their various perceptions on subjects such as workload, class size, student engagement, fostering motivation in the classroom and mental health/student support services. (2) Community college instructors perceive their role in communicating with first-generation students as an intricate part in communication success and challenges with first generation college students. Instructors shared their experiences using strategies to support student success and to overcome challenges in communicating with first-generation college students, regarding expectations of instructor availability, ongoing communication of student expectations, access to technology, literacy and academic dishonesty can be found by observing their vastly different instructor strategies. Their approaches to helping students negotiate higher education reflect the tenets of transformative leadership. Transformative leadership theory presents the idea that we can lead in current roles, in pursuit of the greater good- going beyond our personal needs for social benefit

A Qualitative Phenomenological Study of First-Generation Caucasian Student Perceptions

This dissertation about first-generation Caucasian students’ (FGCS’) experiences is an original independent research project that will contribute to educators’ knowledge regarding issues faced by FGCS when preparing for, deciding to attend, or persisting in college. This intent of this phenomenological research is to create awareness within the education community about the specialized needs of FGCS. Although FGCS appear to form the majority of those attending college, they do not experience privileged based on their race. FGCS often face significant issues in college because their parents have not attended college. Grit provided a significant contribution to the FGCS success in college. For purposes of this research, semistructured interviews were used, and five male and five female participants were recruited to respond to three research questions. Although the participants did not believe race significantly impacted their decisions and experiences toward college, through their responses it was indicated that the level of family sup-port determined whether they attended college as traditional FGCS or nontraditional FGCS. This study suggests that family involvement in education creates the momentum necessary for FGCS to attend college and complete it as traditional students, despite the unforeseeable challenges during the process

Family Group Conferences as a Shared Decision-Making Strategy in Adults Mental Health Work

© 2021 Ramon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).Family Group conferences (FGC) provide a system by which a client and their family reach jointly key intervention decisions, from a number of options proposed by professionals. The system originated in child protection social work. Conceptually FGC is based on the assumption that the family is potentially a supportive social system for an individual with a variety of difficulties, including mental ill health. Reaching a family network agreement can lead to long term positive outcomes in self-confidence and social relationships. This strategy of shared decision making (SDM) can re-unite the family around the client's needs and wishes. It fits well the strengths based and the recovery-oriented approaches to mental ill health. Methodologically, this article provides a narrative review of existing empirical research about FGC in the context of adult mental health. In addition, two community case studies consisting of videos of a mother experiencing mental ill health and a daughter are analysed in terms of their subjective experience of the FGCs they were involved in, and looks at both the process and the outcomes of FGCs. The key findings demonstrate a high level of satisfaction from participating in the FGC meeting, while the evidence pertaining to the outcomes is inconclusive. Only very few systematic review studies, or comparative studies of different approaches to family decision making, exist, and there are no studies which offer cost effectiveness analysis. Discussion: The observed gap between the satisfaction from the process of FGC by the participants vs. the inconclusive outcomes relates to the implementation phase, in which the decisions made by the family are tested. Evaluating FGC processes and outcomes is complex. A systematic and comprehensive research of the implementation process is missing at this stage. In conclusion, FGC is a promising strategy of SDM in adult mental health. The research evidence indicates the need for further exploration of its implementation process, evaluative methodology and methods.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Being everything to everyone: the lived experiences of first-generation college students and how colleges can better support them

Over the course of the past few decades, first-generation college students have been analyzed from many angles. With research ranging from quantitative reviews of lower graduation and retention rates, as well as higher attrition rates (Engle & Tinto, 2008; Inman & Mayes, 1999; Terenzini et al., 1996; Tinto, 1975), to qualitative case studies focusing on the psychological aspects of preparation, parental support, and identity formation (Lara, 1992; London, 1989; Rendón, 1992; Rodriguez, 1975 1982; Skinner & Richardson, 1988; Weis, 1985), this population has been well documented across a spectrum of research methodologies. More recently, scholarly attention has shifted toward a more individualized approach, focusing on smaller cohorts within the larger first-generation college student population (Collier & Morgan, 2008; Covarrubias et al., 2019; McCoy, 2014; Phinney & Haas, 2003). The goal of this three-article dissertation is to highlight and prioritize first-generation college students’ voices and narratives by emphasizing their lived experiences, as well as reviewing the support services currently available to them. This goal is addressed using three distinct, yet interconnected articles all utilizing different research methodologies. The first article, a phenomenological case study, addressed the experiences of six female first-generation college student caregivers (Orbe, 2004; Pyne & Means, 2013; Covarrubias et al., 2019) at a large, prestigious, research-driven institution in the Northeast. The second study, a singular, narrative case study, utilized the construct of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1994; Pyne & Means, 2013) to examine the experiences of a female, first-generation college student caregiver of color as she navigated the higher education system. The last article, a comparative case study, examined the available first-gen support programming at three institutions in the same metropolitan area. This final study also included administrator perspectives about what is required to implement and execute first-generation college student support initiatives. The major implications of this dissertation project include the following: a strong recommendation for increased intersectionality in all first-gen support programming; a discovery of the causational relationship of being a first-gen caregiver and the added difficulty that multi-layered identity creates; a demonstration of the need to motivate and utilize collected student data in order to inform first-gen program creation; and a recognition of the stressors placed on certain campus stakeholders and the need for enhanced cross-campus collaboration to improve first-generation college student support. Future research and specific recommendations for the field of higher education are discussed

Measuring the effectiveness of “the major decision”: a career counseling group for undecided and re-deciding first year, first-generation college students

Researchers have reported that the graduation and retention rate of students whose parents do not hold college degrees (first-generation college students or FGCS) are lower than that of their peers whose parents do hold college degrees. FGCS are 1.3 times more likely to leave college after their first year compared to their non-FGCS peers (Ishitani 2003; 2006). In their efforts to investigate ways to retain FGCS, researchers have given little attention to FGCS reported career intentions for college attendance (Bradbury & Mather, 2009; Byrd & MacDonald, 2005; Coffman, 2011; Martinez et al., 2009), even though a link has been established between career motives for college and increased GPA, adjustment to college, and increased college commitment for FGCS (Dennis et al., 2005). Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 1994) may offer a plausible explanation for one reason why FGCS are not continuing their enrollment in college. This study is a modification of the previous proposed career counseling group for undecided and re-deciding first year, first-generation college students. The current study was designed to utilize semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences and expectations of FGCS who were undecided or rethinking their college major through the lens of SCCT. Data gathered during this study were analyzed using the guidelines of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR). The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and expectations of these students while choosing to come to college, choosing a career, and the decision to become undecided or to re-think their college major. It was found that student experience a range of personal and vicarious experiences, social persuasion, expectations, physical/emotional states, messages, and thoughts around the decision making process. The tenets of Social Cognitive Career theory were represented in the results of this study; however, some of the findings did not reflect tenets of SCCT. Results from this study add to the data concerning the types of experiences that influence FGCS decision making and goal achievement