Dissertation Proposal Announcement Ed.D. Program: Sheronia Rogers “Spiritual Capital: Powering the divine will to persist”

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Higher education strives to support first-generation college students; however, this support is often conceptualized from a deficit perspective and through traditional post-secondary support strategies. First-generation college students have cultural capital that usually goes unnoticed as a viable asset of support for first-generation students. Faith and spirituality are two elements of cultural capital that have gone particularly unexplored. Universities largely do not capitalize on faith as a component of student support beyond providing spaces of worship or extracurricular clubs – thereby missing out on a potential tool to make college more culturally sustaining. 

This dissertation will explore first-generation students’ spiritual identity and its connection and value to their post-secondary journey and college persistence. While a great deal of research explores religion broadly, research is limited about how spirituality or spiritual capital supports the college trajectory of the most vulnerable college students. This absence of data lends to this study’s proposition that spirituality serves as an alternate form of capital for some first-generation students. 

The operating definitions of religion, religious identity, spirituality, faith, capital, and spiritual capital are the core concepts that will underpin my exploration of the Faith Development Theory and Community Cultural Wealth theoretical frameworks. These frameworks will guide understanding of how spirituality and spiritual capital influence college persistence. The participant sample will be first-generation students at higher education institutions who identify faith as important to their educational journey. The data will be collected through 10-15 individual interviews and a focus group to engage participants in a diverse and enriching dialogue with their peers and explore collective experiences. 

This study will seek to explore how and to what extent spiritual capital represents a motivating mindset that encourages first-generation students to persist in achieving their goals. Spirituality and religion are not suitably recognized and validated for their influence and effect on first-generation students’ academic success and college persistence. Without the proper acknowledgment, the ability to tap into the fund of spiritual capital for first-generation students remains unacknowledged. 

To attend this event virtually and for more information, please contact academic.services@gse.rutgers.edu.