Structural Factors.

According to Stephens, Brannon, Markus, & Nelson (2015), “structural factors are the environmental and material resources that can guide a student’s behavior” (p. 6). Students with strong social and cultural capital are connected to a network of individuals that provide insight into to the college experience. Students who are non-first generation are more likely to have parental encouragement and access to resources and assistance throughout the college process (Terenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996). According to Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, and Terenzini (2004), those from college-educated families have better access to information and an understanding of the college system. Their parents provide them with cultural capital, the attitudes and knowledge that makes the educational system a comfortable, familiar place in which they can succeed easily (Bourdieu, 1986). The confidence non-first generation college students inherit through familial and community knowledge allows students to manage unfamiliar territory because they are aware of the expectations associated with the college experience.

Comparatively, students from disadvantaged populations lack the human, cultural, economic, and social capital necessary for navigating through the unchartered postsecondary domain. Limited financial resources often prevent FGCSs from visiting college or university campuses or applying to a wide range of colleges at different levels of selectivity, which would increase both their likelihood of applying to college and gaining admission (Stephens, Brannon, Markus, & Nelson, 2015). Moreover, FGCSs typically have to maintain employment and work long hours in order to support themselves throughout their collegiate years. FGCSs are more likely than their non-first-generation counterparts (33 percent versus 24 percent) to work full-time while enrolled in college (Nunez & Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998). For students who are balancing full-time work and full-time enrollment, accessing academic support programs, workshops, office hours, and other opportunities designed to enhance the collegiate experience can be difficult. The inability to attend support programs due to work obligations places FGCSs at a higher academic risk than their middle-class peers (Billson & Terry, 1982).

As addressed by Bradbury and Mather (2009), issues pertaining to access to knowledge of higher education, belongingness, and academic adjustment as well as disconnect from family deter students from persevering in college.).

1. knowledge of higher education

For FGCSs, access to capital through familial or community knowledge is limited and, therefore, does not accurately prepare students for their transition into college on top of their traditional responsibilities. As a result, FGCSs typically attend less competitive, lower-ranked colleges and universities, such as community colleges, in order to cope with their various responsibilities (Stephens et al, 2015).

2. connect/disconnect with family

physical space of home, not living on campus and beholden to household norms and rules

Many FGCSs live at home while attending a postsecondary institution in order to save money. They often feel a strain of commitments to their cultural and household obligations while also balancing academics, and often, employment (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, 2001). This especially affects women who hold the primary responsibility for domestic work, such as childcare, elder care, cooking, laundry, and chores, within their families. Women are struggling to find the balance between household responsibilities and their education and/or careers in the 21st century, particularly women from disadvantaged populations (Bird, 1999

3. belongingness

Community colleges play a very important role in getting many first-generation college students started in a college career. The U.S. Department of Education (2012) reported that 40% of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions were enrolled in community colleges. This is mainly due to the fact that FGCSs work part- or full-time while attending school. FGCSs find that community colleges, which are close to home and work, offer the options they need to attend college. However, Karp, Hughes, and O’Gara (2011) found that even though part-time enrollment is a necessity for many students, it is also correlated with not completing a degree due to the low level of immersion and engagement part-time students receive. Choy (2000) found that independent students, while being more likely to work full-time and have dependents, also identified more strongly with their identity as a student than their part-time peers. For these students especially, the identity as a student could be appealing in order to help them feel more engaged with the school, faculty, and staff, and avail themselves more of the support services and aid available to help them persist through graduation.