First-Generation College Students and COVID-19: How Higher Education Can Improve Its Support (and Better Understand Us)
This is a guest blog post written by Ana Guadalupe Vielma, one of Dr. Stephanie Cawthon’s mentees. She is a second-year doctoral student in the Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences program in the Department of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, where she investigates psychological assessments and interventions that support the mental health of underrepresented students in higher education.
Growing up as a middle child in a family of eight in one of the poorest metro areas in the United States, I realized from an early age that we were bound by financial challenges.
Poverty, drug violence, and crime are significant issues along the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas, the area I am proud to call home. My parents had to drop out of college in order to work full time to help support their parents and our family. Together, they founded Laugh and Giggles, a children’s entertainment business, and my father operated the local bus station until he suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, a devastating blow emotionally and financially for a family without health insurance.
Nevertheless, my parents’ commitment to education remained unparalleled; they did everything in their power to ensure my five siblings and I had the opportunities necessary to create a brighter future for ourselves as first-generation students.
First-Generation Students: More Challenges Than Ever
First-generation students are considered individuals whose parents have not attained a four-year college degree. Researchers have found these underrepresented students encounter a series of challenges related to social inequities that significantly affect their educational outcomes and can cause them to be considered “at-risk” to not graduate.
However, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, first-generation students across the country have faced even more barriers that could potentially hinder their academic success. From the transition to online learning to a rise in unemployment, many first-generation college students like myself have been forced to navigate these obstacles and stressful experiences on their own.
Research suggests that compared to their continuing-generation counterparts, first-generation students were more likely to experience financial hardships and almost twice as likely to be concerned about funding for their education in the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other findings indicate first-generation students experienced multiple challenges related to online learning due to unexpected caregiving responsibilities, a lack of technology, and educational resources such as the availability of study spaces. There are also ongoing issues associated with mental health, food and housing insecurity, and a lack of belonging and community.
The time is now for educators and other professionals to provide better aid and assistance to first-generation students.
5 Ways Higher Education Can Support First-Generation Students
It is crucial that colleges and universities be prepared to provide first-generation students with the academic support and additional resources and services to overcome the negative impacts of the pandemic. Here are five ways they can support first-generation students:
Expand mental health services. Eliminate the barriers that are preventing students from seeking out counseling and mental health services by providing them with accessible resources.
Promote programs that offer additional financial support. Communicate and encourage students to apply for emergency scholarships and grants that are available through federal, state, and local university-issued programs such as the CARES Act. It is common for first-generation college students to also be low-income and therefore eligible to receive assistance.
Create local food sources. Reduce the number of students who suffer from food insecurity by implementing food pantries and services on campus that can provide students with access to free meals and food on a regular basis.
Design flexible online learning. Provide options such as recorded lectures and asynchronous classes, to allow faculty members to meet the needs of first-generation students who take on additional responsibilities that prevent them from attending classes during scheduled times.
Build community. Explore using new methods such as the use of “breakout rooms” on Zoom to enhance the online experiences of students and connect them with peers.
Despite the additional challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created, we continue to persevere.
As a first-generation student who has struggled with many of these barriers, I am fortunate to have both faculty and staff members support me throughout my own academic journey. I share these findings, experiences, and recommendations in the hope that other educators will do the same for their students in these trying times.
Keep up with the conversation and learn more at The Center for First-Generation Student Success.
Post image: Keira Burton via Pexels
