DISSERTATION PROPOSAL ANNOUNCEMENT Ed.D. Program Damali Tolson : “NAVIGATING FIRST-GENERATION IDENTITY: ASSEST FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS UTILIZE TO CHALLENGE AND OVERCOME THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM”

Due to the disparities in graduation outcomes between first-generation and continuing-generation students, higher-education institutions are focused on increasing postsecondary access, retention, and completion rates for first-generation college students. While support services for first-generation students have increased, the deficit perspective of the research on first-generation students and resulting support and interventions centers continuing-generation student success and reinforces the otherness of first-generation status. This study seeks to disrupt the centering of continuing-generation students by using asset-based frameworks to examine how first-generation students who have experienced success interact with their first-generation identity and utilize their first-generation status and existing assets to negotiate and effectively challenge the unwritten expectations of higher education. Focused on students in a Northeast public institution for whom neither parent has earned a bachelor’s degree, this qualitative study will explore how first-generation college students engage with their first-generation identity prior to and during their collegiate experience; describe their relationship to campus life and experiences; and the skills they report using to navigate the expectations of college life successfully.

To access the Zoom link required to attend this proposal, please contact academic.services@gse.rutgers.edu.