Arriving, Surviving, and Succeeding: First-in-Family Women and Their Experiences of Transitioning Into the First Year of University

Abstract

This article outlines a qualitative narrative inquiry study conducted within Australia that focused on a group of female students commencing university, all of whom were the first in their family to pursue higher education. During 1 year of academic study, 17 women participated in periodic interviews as each moved through the year. By following the students, the study reveals a very different perspective on the student experience, one that is often missing in policy documents and university discourse, which can place these students within a deficit discourse. Instead, by approaching this topic from a strengths perspective, the intent was to highlight how those in this group persist and engage throughout the year. The semi structured interviews built upon each other, and themes were explored related to how the participants managed their university studies in relation to other competing demands in their lives, as well as how the students reflected upon the transition to university life and the repercussions that this decision provoked. The participants’ reflections reveal an initial disjuncture with the university environment, but as the year proceeded, the narratives highlight changes in personal perceptions from that of exclusion to inclusion.

Not scraping the bottom of the barrel: Disadvantage, diversity and deficit as rich points

“…So, not only do students have to apprehend the general demands of a university environment, they must negotiate this environment with, and through the filter of, a new form of language, with all of its demands and expectations. WSU students are particularly sensitive to the fact that they have arrived ‘at university with tangible gaps in knowledge particularly in relation to institutional and academic expectations’ (O’Shea, 2015: 500), and for many of them, this entails gaps in knowledge which are part of their second, third or other language.…”

Conclusion: Developing conceptual understandings of transitions and policy implications

“…Such a relational perspective takes into account the students’ degree of proximity to the education field in which their education habitus was originally formed. The term “vulnerable” students can thus take on a new meaning by understanding the social, institutional, and environmental dimensions alongside individual causes that may also play a role in transition problems (O’Shea, ; Reay, ).…”

The revised ‘Common Time’ program as a strategy for student engagement and retention at university

“…This expanding research field has emerged largely in response to increasing participation in tertiary study in Australia and internationally over the last few decades (Devlin, Kift, Nelson, Smith, & McKay, 2012;Kift, Nelson, & Clarke, 2010;Nelson, 2014;Nelson, Quinn, Marrington, & Clarke, 2012). Within the current Australian context, first year students come from diverse cultural backgrounds with a significant population comprising individuals who are first in their families to enter higher education (Luzeckyj, King, Scutter, & Brinkworth, 2011;Meuleman, Garrett, Wrench, & King, 2015;O'Shea, 2015aO'Shea, , 2015b. Such students often lack prior knowledge of academic processes, or access to academic or personal support from within their own social networks, placing them at higher risk of failure and attrition from university (Luzeckyj et al, 2011;Meuleman et al, 2015;O'Shea, 2015aO'Shea, , 2015bTinto, 2011).…”