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- Title
RETAINING FIRST GENERATION UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY STUDENTS: A STRUGGLE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.
- Authors
Green, Satasha L.; Wright, Constance F.
- Abstract
Many colleges and universities struggle to retain and graduate their first generation underrepresented minority students. Students' persisting to completion of their educational goals is a key measurement of student success and institutional success. While attending college is an accomplishment, persisting to degree completion is seen as much more important as this can impact individuals' career attainment e.g., lower pay, less security, fewer opportunities (Swail, Redd and Perna, 2003). Retention has become a challenge for many institutions of higher education. Nearly, 50% of all students enrolling in colleges and universities do not earn a certificate or degree. This becomes even more problematic for first generation underrepresented minority students (Swail, Redd and Perna, 2003). According to Gladieux and Swail (1998), access and completion rates for low-income students, Black, Hispanic, and Native American students have always lagged behind their White and Asian peers. For example, students of color "earn degrees at a ratio between 1:2 and 1:3 compared to White and Asian students" (Swail, Redd and Perna, 2003; pg. 6). Student persistence is fundamental to retention and college student success. However, first generation students can have more threats to their motivation during their college experiences (Petty, 2014) this provides a need for colleges and universities to create long term interventions that keep students motivated throughout the college experience. First generation students may have lower rates of academic engagement than other students (Soria and Stebleton, 2012). Lower academic engagement rates impact students' sense of belonging on college and university campuses and negatively impacts students' retention at the institution.
- Publication
Journal of Education Research, 2017, Vol 11, Issue 3, p323
- ISSN
1935-052X
- Publication type
Academic Journal