Supportive campuses and first-generations-student learning outcomes

Pages84-95
Date20 May 2019
Published date20 May 2019
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-09-2018-0042
AuthorBrian Wright
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Library & information services,Lending,Document delivery,Collection building & management,Stock revision,Consortia
Supportive campuses and rst-generations-
student learning outcomes
Brian Wright
George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between supportive campus measures and student learn ing outcomes for rst-
generation students and non-rst generation students to determine if variances are present. A lack of social capital of rst generation when
compare to non-rst-generation students is theorized to be a contributing factor driving differences be tween the two groups.
Design/methodology/approach Research survey design using penalized regression methods to quantify differences between group s. The
analysis used 10 years of student engagement data.
Findings Final analysis showed that rst-generation student outcomes had little to no signicant connection with the administrative focu sed
aspects of the campus environment as compared to non-rst-generation that represented highly signicant relationsh ips. This results supports the
theory that rst-generation students may simply be unaware of how to leverage these resources do to social capital disadvantages.
Practical Implications The result suggests that universities should reconsider rst-generation programs to ensure that they hav e the capability to
address rst-generation studentslack of social capital. The primary method by which social capital is generated is through networking or peer
groups expansion. Consequently, rst-generation students might benet greatly from student mentors that are not rst-generation studen ts to help
aid in the transition to college as compared to participating in programs that group and isolate rst-generation students together.
Originality/value Very few studies have attempted to use social capital as a theoretical framework to explain differences in how rst- generation
and non-rst-generation student learning outcomes relate to campus engagement variables. Moreover, no studies have used both penalized
regression and bootstrap validation in addressing this issue, making the study original in design and analysis.
Keywords Social capital, Engagement, First-generation, NSSE, Penalized regression, Supportive campus environment
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The number of high school graduates enrollingin college in the
USA has increased steadily over the past 25 years. In 1990,
college student enrollment numbers totaled approximately 12
million; by 2013 that number had increased46 per cent to 17.5
million. This increase in enrollment is expected to continue
over the course of the next decade, with projections surpassing
20 million active college students (National Center for
Educational Statistics[NCES], 2017).
This expansion of enrollment has great potential to produce
positive effects for individuals and the economy at large, but is
not absent certainchallenges. Larger enrollments arecreating a
more diversestudent population resultingin greater proportions
of students from previously lesser represented demographics
(Strayhorn, 2006; NCES, 2018). Increasingly, one of the most
common demographics includes enrollees who are the rst in
their families to earn a college degree, or what is referred to as
rst-generation students.
A formal denition of rst-generation students, as outlined
in the Higher Education Act, refers to individuals whose
parents or primary care giverdid not complete a baccalaureate
degree (Higher Education Act, Amendment of 1998). This
subset of students is estimated to represent nearly a third of all
college enrollees, or approximately 4.5 million students
(Strayhorn, 2006; NCES, 2018). First-generation students
often differ from the average undergraduate in a number of
ways and can face greater challengesto degree completion than
their non-rst-generationpeers do (Choy, 2001;Ishitani, 2006;
Nunez and Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998;Pikeand Kuh, 2005;Soria
and Stebleton,2012;Stephens, et al.,2012).
This includes lower levels of social and academic integration of
rst-generation college students when compared to their peers
(Nunez and Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998;Soria and Stebleton, 2012).
Academic integration can be described as the frequency with
which students met with an advisor, participated in study
groups or spoke with faculty. Similarly, social integration is a
combination of several measures designed to track social
engagement, including participation in school clubs, involvement
in student assistance programs, or meeting with faculty socially,
outside of the classroom (Nunez and Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998).
Studentslevel of integration or engagement has been found to be
related to academic achievement in higher education and, as
such, is linked to a wide variety of positive student outcomes
(Kuh, 2009). Engagement activities found to have strong
connections to increasing positive student outcomes include, for
example, student-faculty interactions, hours studying, peer
interactions and participation in extracurricular activities
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-6247.htm
Information Discovery and Delivery
47/2 (2019) 8495
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2398-6247]
[DOI 10.1108/IDD-09-2018-0042]
Received 1 September 2018
Revised 22 December 2018
Accepted 28 December 2018
84

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