First-generation students face challenges navigating graduate school. How can institutions better support them?
“That’s a tremendous amount of students,” says Sarah Whitley, assistant vice-president of the Center for First-generation Student Success, an initiative based in Washington DC that provides information about advancing the success of first-generation students and practices for doing so. “But institutions are such complex bureaucratic and jargon-filled entities that we are making it difficult for first-generation students to access the support and resources imperative to their success.
Although she’s grateful for the programme’s support, she thinks universities could do more to support first-generation students. For instance, university administrators could account for discrepancies in the quality of secondary education that students receive: state and private schools can vary greatly in their resources and staff. “We are competing on the same exam board but coming from very different starting points,” she says.
Graduate application fees can also be expensive. Although many institutions offer waivers, fellowships, scholarships and other forms of financial aid, some students might not be aware that they’re available. “It’s the issue of exposure,” he adds. “We also need faculty and staff to be proactive,” says Díaz Vázquez. He says faculty members should not assume that a quiet first-generation student is not engaged or not struggling. Graduate advisers should check in with students and ask what hurdles they’re facing, so they can provide support or recommend other mentors. “I don’t know how to navigate the health-care system, but I can put students in contact with someone who does.
Maphosa left her three-year-old son in Zimbabwe to obtain her graduate degree in South Africa. Although her parents support her decision, she says they struggle to understand her graduate-school obligations. “It was as though I had abandoned my duties. I was anxious, ashamed, and felt like an imposter. It felt like I had to choose between being a mother or a student,” she says.
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