|
|
CAIR'97
Best Paper Winner
"Predicting Academic
Success of College Students:
Does First-Generation Status Matter?"
Rachel L. Burkhardt, M.A. and Heather E. Brown, Ph.D.
Institutional Planning and Research Office
Pasadena City College
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported in 1998 that 43% of all first-time students were identified as first-generation. The proportion of first-generation students at two-year public colleges was even higher (50.5%). Working at an ethnically diverse urban two-year college, we took the opportunity to explore the impact of first-generation status on various enrollment and outcome measures among our students.
In a review of past research, we found that many studies compared first-generation students to other students on demographic variables (e.g., income), pre-collegiate characteristics (e.g., high school GPA), or outcome measures (e.g., first-term GPA). However, the outcome studies generally did not control for confounding variables (e.g., income or ethnicity). Therefore, questions remained regarding whether first-generation status predicts student success independently of such confounding factors. This study focused on three main research questions:
1. Are there differences between first-generation students and others on demographic, enrollment, and outcome variables?2. What are the relationships among income, ethnicity, and first-generation status?
3. Does first-generation status add unique variance in the prediction of student outcomes, above and beyond confounding factors?
From respondents to the annual student surveys conducted in Fall 1996 and Fall 1997, we drew 306 students for this study, 44% of whom were first-generation according to the strict definition (i.e., the highest level of education of either parent was a high school diploma or less).
We conducted a series of t-tests and Chi-square analyses to determine whether first-generation students differed from other students on demographic, enrollment, and outcome variables. Results indicated that first-generation students were more likely to report lower incomes, to be Hispanic, to live with more immediate members of their family, and to take basic skills courses during their first semester, and less likely to speak English as their primary language. There were no significant differences on age, high school GPA, employment status, educational goal, whether students enrolled full or part-time, first-term GPA, Fall-to-Spring persistence, probation, units earned, or withdrawal from all courses during the first term.
Next, we examined the relationships among income, ethnicity, and first-generation status. Results revealed significant relationships between first-generation status and income, first-generation status and ethnicity, and income and ethnicity.
Finally, we used a hierarchical multiple regression procedure to examine the unique contribution of first-generation status. Regression results indicated that first-generation status did not significantly contribute to the prediction of either first-term GPA or enrollment in basic skills courses when controlling for other variables.
The results of this study indicate that parental education level per se is not strongly related to student success. Rather, factors typically associated with first-generation status, some of which we considered here (e.g., income and ethnicity) and some of which deserve further study (e.g., college knowledge, academic and social integration, ability to seek and obtain support), may play a more vital role, professionally, and personally.