Education Commons^™

The Lived Experiences Of First-Generation College Students Of Color Integrating Into The Institutional Culture Of A Predominantly White Institution, Talisha L. Adams, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development Faculty Publications

As many colleges and universities continue to increase their enrollment and diversification of their student body, the number of first-generation college students of color will continue to rise. Colleges have been charged with the challenge of not only enrolling this student population but also ensuring that they are connected to the university and persist to graduation. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of first-generation college students of color at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). This study utilized individual in-depth interviews and a focus group to examine how first-generation students of color experienced college …

Reclaiming Our Voice: Strengths First-Generation African American Males Use To Succeed In College, Kelly A. Irby

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to add to the small body of literature exploring the successes of African American males in college. In this particular study, I sought to explore the strengths that first-generation African American males perceived as important to their success at a primarily White institution in the Midwest. Personal interviews were utilized to learn which self-identified strengths were important to success in college for each participant. The result was a candid portrait of the difficulties African American males face and an in-depth understanding of the strengths they utilized to overcome difficulties and succeed.

This study explored …