Social Capital and First-Generation College Students: Examining the Relationship Between Mentoring and College Enrollment

Abstract

There is an increasingly large disparity in college graduation rates among low-income and first-generation college students. Research suggests that the main reason for this discrepancy is the lack of access to information and knowledge about the college process. First-generation students have fewer people in their social network who went to college and thus cannot help them navigate the difficult and multi-step process of finding, applying, and enrolling in college. Mentoring, however, has been proven to be a successful intervention for helping these populations navigate the post-secondary process. This paper evaluates a school-based hybrid mentoring program to attempt to measure the relationship between mentors and how students in New York City navigated the post-secondary process and enrolled in college. Findings show that program lessons, number of months matched, and meeting out of program are important program elements in increasing a student’s likelihood of graduating high school and enrolling on-time in college.

Campus Activity Management Mode and Its Performance Evaluation Based on Activity-Based Costing

“…However, when these colorful student activities are organized on campus, they all have relatively similar forms and contents [14]. For example, they all need to do extensive publicity on campus, accept the initiative of students of each class to sign up, organize assessment, evaluate results, announce results and so on.…”

Ten simple rules for successfully supporting first-generation/low-income (FLI) students in STEM

“…Mentorship is extremely important for FLI students as they likely have fewer individuals in their networks who have attended college [ 42 ], leaving limited options when they require guidance. It is well established that for underrepresented students in STEM, mentors provide a crucial intervention in demystifying the academic and social complexities of higher education [ 42 – 47 ]. Peer mentorship [ 46 ] as well as having multiple mentors can contribute to a strong support system for FLI students navigating STEM.…”

Familial roles and support of doctoral students

“…Informational support is advice, guidance, and resources. Navigating postsecondary education may be more challenging for first-generation students than for students who can access informational support from relatives who have completed college degrees (Glass, 2023). Finally, instrumental support is the ability to secure material goods or services, such as financial assistance and costs associated with graduate education (e.g., tuition, textbooks) as well as costs of living while in graduate school (e.g., housing, meals).…”

“…Few empirical studies of graduate students in STEM cite the importance of family influence and support (Ong et al, 2011(Ong et al, , 2020. First-generation students and their families hold forms of social capital (e.g., information, resources, and support) that students can draw on to secure certain benefits and move through different fields or settings (Bourdieu, 1986;Glass, 2023). Due to long histories of being systematically excluded and discriminated against, historically marginalized students and their families often lack equitable access to institutional capital in higher education (Glass, 2023).…”