Underrepresented students are often constructed through deficit discourses and blamed for "lowering the bar" in higher education (Burke 2012). If a student struggles, then that may be seen as proof of personal deficienciesproof of her illegitimacy-and not of a system that is built to exclude her. This article explores notions of legitimacy within the university experiences of the daughters of single mothers who are first generation students through a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with and reflective writings from 26 undergraduate students in the United Kingdom. The theoretical and conceptual frameworks upon which this study is built include feminist theory, intersectionality theory, and the concept of social exclusion. The findings have implications for pedagogical practices in higher education. Changes should be made to create more equal learning environments not only for this underrepresented group, but also for other student groups who feel illegitimate in higher education.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.