Income disparities and the affordability of a college education challenge our advising process and how advisers can respond through thoughtful exchange with students and problem-solving. Upwards of 11-13 % of Carleton students self-identify as “first generation.” Recent studies of first-gen students find that they face not only challenges of financial resource scarcity but also of information scarcity caused by a lack of mentoring at home and at school. These students are more likely than others with better preparation to not seek out the help of their professors or to use their academic advisers for maximum benefit.

A few short pieces offer a useful primer on the key challenges:

  1. Ashley A. Smith, “Who’s in First (Generation)?,” Inside Higher Ed  November 10, 2015.
  2. Laura Pappano, “First-Generation Students Unite,” New York Times April 8, 2015.
  3. Linda Banks-Santilli, “Guilt Is One of the Biggest Struggles First-Generation College Students Face,” Washington Post June 3, 2015.
  4. Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, “Silver Spoons,” Inside Higher Ed (February 28, 2018)

Among the challenges that first-gen students who graduate from selective schools have is communicating with their families and communities back home. There is a “fish-out-of-water” feeling that these students endure, not only when they are on campus but when they find themselves in elite workplaces and even when they return home. A useful article on that focuses on this dimension is Laura Pappano’s “Ivy League Degree: Now What?” in The Hechinger Report (March 30, 2018).