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Study Of The Literature On First Generation Students

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Review of the Literature
Literature on first-generation students reflects a population at risk of attrition in post-secondary education. The following provides an overview of differences between first and continuing-generation students including pre-college characteristic, college experiences, and student outcomes. Research regarding psychological contributions to academic achievement is explored, specifically focusing on personality, perseverance, and beliefs; setting the framework for the proposed study.
First-Generation Students: Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes
Definitions of who constitutes a first-generation student vary along a continuum in the literature: ranging from students of which neither parent attended college (Ishitani, 2006), neither parent receiving a post-secondary degree (Hertel, 2002; Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004), to neither parent receiving a bachelor’s degree (Choy, 2001). Statistics indicate between 20-40% of each incoming class consists of first-generation students. Specifically, statistics on the prevalence of first-generation students entering at a four year postsecondary institution where neither parent received a bachelor’s degree are approximately 34% (Choy, 2001). With a large percentage of incoming students classifying as first-generation, the academic success or failure of this population has a significant impact on university retention and graduation rates.
Over the past thirty years, the impact of student

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