Description
- Abstract:
- As the first to attend college in their families, immigrant-origin First Generation College Students (FGCS) face a distinctive weight of responsibility to trailblaze a path of upward mobility and financial success for their families in their new nation of settlement. FGCS’s internalization of this responsibility and its relationship to their emergent sense of self hinges on the strength of their familial bonds. Drawing from data collected by the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP) with FGCS and their families, this study hypothesizes that FGCS with tighter-knit familial ties internalizes their filial responsibility through self-imposed pressure to succeed. Consequently, they develop an interdependent sense of self, aligning their life goals with perceived familial needs and desires. Conversely, FGCS with more distant familial relationships, while still experiencing higher degrees of responsibility for their families, maintain an independent sense of self and pursue goals distinct from their familial expectations that can still provide for their families. This research underscores the crucial role of family dynamics in shaping both the academic and personal trajectories of FGCS, aiming to contribute valuable insights for educators, counselors, and policymakers aiming to support this student population more effectively by providing a new mode of understanding and empathizing with the needs and desires of FGCS.
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Citation
Amina Anekwe,
"'My parents came here to give me a better life': Familial Closeness, Identity Formation, and the Dynamics of Expectation among Immigrant Origin First-Generation College Students of Color"
(2024).
Summer Research Symposium, The Leadership Alliance Digital Library.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:jjg87wtj/
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Summer Research Symposium
Each year, Brown University showcases the research of its undergraduates at the Summer Research Symposium. More than half of the student-researchers are UTRA recipients, while others receive funding from a variety of Brown-administered and national programs and fellowships and go …... -
The Leadership Alliance Digital Library
A collection of research presentations and posters created by students participating in the Leadership Alliance's Summer Research - Early Identification Program....When using this resource, please cite the digital object identifier (DOI) for the specific resource as well as the …