“Just Hold On, You Can Do This”: Conceptualizing Familial Support for First-Generation Undergraduate Students of Color

Authors

Stephany Cuevas, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

This study illustrates how parents, siblings, and extended family provide emotional, informative, instrumental, and appraisal supports to first-generation undergraduate students of color. Findings also suggest that families’ support is shaped by families’ understanding of the challenges first-generation college students face, their access to information about college and college life, and their consideration of students’ emerging adult developmental needs. Based on the experiences and perspectives of 12 family members, this study shows that families continue to be engaged in first-generation undergraduate students’ college education in essential ways, countering deficit perceptions of these populations, and providing new understandings of what family engagement means within a higher education context. Ultimately, this study offers the opportunity to invest in family–school–student partnerships for student success within a higher education context.

Comments

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Diversity in Higher Education in 2024 following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000597.

This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.

Recommended Citation

Cuevas, S. (2024). “Just hold on, you can do this”: Conceptualizing familial support for first-generation undergraduate students of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000597

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education