Lost in Translation

The Gap Between Family and First-Generation Students

Lost in Translation: The Gap Between Family and First-Generation Students

Seeking Validation

I am a proud first-generation college student myself and I am happy to be the example for my younger siblings and excited to be able to guide them and the rest of my family through their college careers when the time comes. It was not easy, nor did I fully succeed in explaining my college needs and barriers to the family throughout my undergraduate program. In fact, even being a graduate student now, I still cannot get my family to truly understand the time commitments and stressors that come with college. Often when I had to work on homework on the weekends and miss family events, my family saw it as an exaggeration that I had to spend an “abnormal” amount of time on school work compared to what they knew from grade school. In addition, because I was the first in my family to attend higher education, I was trying to not only complete my assignments, but ensure they were at above average grade levels to satisfy my scholarship requirements and retain them. All the while, I was also personally seeking the validation of my Latine family; like many Latine families, they offer less support for pursuing higher education (Smith & Lucena, 2016). Overall, the journey was extremely difficult to navigate my undergraduate program by myself and I still struggle to translate my journey as a graduate student to my family today.

First-Gen Problems Behind Closed Doors

There is so much pride and accomplishment that comes with being a first-generation college student. However, what is often overlooked or hidden behind this golden title is the gap between the family and the student. Not only are you navigating the ropes of college on your own, but you are navigating the gap between the family behind you who does not understand your experience first-hand. As any college alum may know, there is so much required as a traditional college: excessive homework time commitments, being involved on campus, extra tutoring and advising, the college social life, and the list goes on. All of this is invisible for first-gen students' parents and families. Whose job is it to translate and explain all of this to the families behind these college students? Currently, it is those students who are learning the ropes of college themselves at the same time as trying to explain and even translate these unfamiliar requirements to their loved ones.

When we read about supporting first-generation college students, the literature focuses primarily on the struggle of navigating getting into college and their academic challenges (e.g. Broda et al., 2018; Pascarella et al., 2004). However, their additional struggles behind closed doors within their own homes are not addressed as much (Bradbury & Mather, 2009). These students often attempt to translate their college experiences to their families yet may fail or burn out while doing so. Some students’ families may not even approve of them attending college because they don’t understand it. It may seem like explaining the different aspects of college is another language to our families who didn’t have the opportunity to attend themselves. In addition, first-generation college students have the pressure of leading as an example for their families and society. They are set at higher expectations to support those following them within their families. They may also view their accomplishments as small, yet view their mistakes as large. Lastly, students may need additional financial assistance than traditional students and depend more on their scholarships and financial aid to enable them to get through college.

"It wasn’t completely his fault that he didn’t believe in education."

Again, there are numerous struggles a first-generation student faces, academically and familial. Smith and Lucena (2016) touch on some of these familial struggles, “First-generation students reported greater feelings of financial pressure and curriculum overload, as to be expected, but also lower family support [...], satisfaction with instructors and satisfaction with the overall college experience” (p.4). We heard students reflecting on their parents' support or lack of support in our interviews with first-generation students at Boise State. Of the fourteen students we interviewed, nine of them identified as first-generation students. Student Damian explained the difficulty of his own father not approving of him attending college at first, “My dad didn’t really understand it at the beginning. He didn’t approve of me coming to college. It was hurtful for me because you know, he’s my dad.” While understandable that it can be very difficult for parents to truly approve of their children attending college if they do not understand what it all entails and will produce in the end, this disconnection creates tension for the students. Damian added, “I don’t blame him. It was how he grew up. It wasn’t completely his fault that he didn’t believe in education."

In addition to emotional support, these students also struggle with financial pressures. First-generation students are more likely to be carrying a larger percentage of the financial burden to pursue a college degree than their peers (Blankenship, 2010; Smith & Lucena, 2016). Many of the first-generation students at Boise State expressed that they did not want to burden their parents with the responsibility of paying for their college tuition. Many of them ensured that the school they chose was affordable and within close distance from their families to truly gain their family’s support. In fact, seven of the students interviewed specifically mentioned Boise State was their college of choice because of the in-state tuition and scholarships that made obtaining a higher education degree possible. Student Damian, explained how he worked hard to get many scholarships because of his family’s financial situation. “I was focusing on getting scholarships because my parents don’t make a lot of money.” Obviously without the scholarship’ assistance, it probably would have made it much more complicated to get his parents’ onboard with the idea of pursuing a college degree. In addition, student Carlos described his parents' approval of him pursuing higher education because of the financial assistance offered to him as well. It is clear that first-generation students will seek financial assistance more than traditional students will due to their student status.

"They're the ones who care the most, but know the least."

As expected from those who have yet to experience higher education, we know the families of first-generation students do not have a full grasp of what it is students are doing throughout their years in college. Consequently, these students must bear the responsibility and strain of translating the particulars of their degrees and the business of going to college to their families -- even as they are trying to understand what it all means at the same time. Student Amari explained how his parents cannot relate to what he is currently studying and what his college career entails. He even discussed how his attempt to study at times can be disturbed by his family bugging him because they don’t understand the time and mental focus that college courses and assignments require. He said:

I can’t study if I have family members coming in at times. They know I have school, but they don’t know the depth or stress that comes along with it. My parents, they’re the ones who care the most, but know the least. I find it so fascinating they don’t know what I’m doing at school. They just know, ‘Oh, he’s going to become a doctor.'

In addition, student Valentina described her difficulties in trying to explain to her family her studies and what she does on campus. “I show them around campus, but it is difficult, like I did do a research project two years ago. I was part of a research lab and it was really difficult to try to describe.”

Valentina even mentioned how beyond explaining her life as a college student, describing what she is majoring in and career hopes often gets lost in translation when discussing it with her parents. “Even describing my own major to them is a little difficult [...] They understand that it's engineering. Other than that, they're just kind of iffy on the mechanical part because if you say the mechanical part, they think ‘Oh, you're gonna fix cars’.” Then heartbreakingly, we heard from student Isaac who summed up the lack of support in several areas he’s experienced being a first-generation college student, and although he could ask his parents for help, their lack of understanding of his situation meant they really couldn’t help:

Since I’m the first one to be doing these things, I have no one to go to for any type of academic help, financial help, emotional help. I have no one that is in the same boat as me. So going into college, it was mostly ‘Whose going to point me in the direction that I need to go? Who can I go to for these issues that are troubling me?’ Anything associated with college life, I’d ask my parents but they’d only be able to help me to the fullest extent of their knowledge.

While Isaac knows his family cannot help him navigate these college questions, they can help him with what they do know. This statement keys into an important finding from Vaccaro et al. (2019) who demonstrate that families of first-generation students can offer advice that is transferable. Many of them have overcome barriers and unfamiliar places. Their family stories have value and students can draw upon them for strength. Messages to the contrary from universities can undermine the importance of that emotional support (Vaccaro et al., 2019).

All Eyes On You

Lastly, we heard numerous times from our first-generation students the overwhelming pressure they have to be star students because of their first-generation status. Although the pressure does not come from the institution or society itself, but from their parents, younger siblings, and any other individuals that follow their steps. Being the first to accomplish something means you have to lead by example. You have to perform the best to be the best image of a college student for your family and others to see and want to pursue the same. This can be overwhelming for first-generation students who are already dealing with a handful of other problems on their plate. Student Damian explained his difficulty in handling this pressure, “I feel like I have a lot of pressure because a lot of people count on me on like getting really far in life.” In addition, student Carlos added to this intense pressure felt by first-generation students, “You know as a first gen student, you literally feel like you hit a wall at some point. Sometimes you just get overwhelmed.”

Because of the intense pressure on your shoulders, first-generation students may feel like all eyes are on you all the time. There’s little to no room for mistakes because you are the gold standard for the family. Student Damian touched on an unfortunate yet real result of this intense added pressure to be perfect. “I feel like I have a lot of pressure because a lot of people count on me on like getting really far in life.” First-generation students often perceive their academic successes as small, yet their losses as huge compared to what they really are. According to Dasgupta (2011), individuals, like first-generation students, who “find themselves to be the only member of a social group (a solo) or one of a few in an environment comprising peers who belong to a different group (a token)”, experience a reduction in their work satisfaction because there is so much pressure on them to perform. As we heard, this is true for first-generation students at Boise State.

Recommendations

Our recommendations to assist first-generation students better are centered on supporting their families to support the students. With the focus on supporting the families, we remove that extra burden on the student to do all the hard work of navigating college while literally translating their college experience back home. While Boise State does have some family supports in place such as the Bronco Families resources and the Parent & Family Association, our suggestions focus on how we can build upon those resources to be more inclusive for all students and make them more accessible to a broader spectrum of families.

The suggestions below emerge from our research. We argue that they would significantly improve the students’ experience and support their ability to move from first-generation college students to first-generation Boise State alumni:

Recruit diverse Parent & Family Association members to more accurately represent the diversity of family and student backgrounds
Create a student-run family support club to collaborate with the Parent & Family Association resulting in the creation of real impactful and strong student supported programs and services
Conducting first-generation parent orientation in different languages and environments by going to the hometowns themselves and incorporating different culture foods, activities, etc.that families can comfortably take part in
Write first-generation parent emails in different languages (particularly Spanish) and distribute them through multiple modes (e.g. podcasts, student testimonials, voicemails)
First-Generation parental education on majors & benefits of a college degree in multiple languages
First-Generation parental counseling on how to support and applaud your student for all their successes

We can hardly wait to see Boise State adopt these practices.

Recommended citation:

Olmedo, J. & Stieha, V. (2021, May 15). Lost in translation: The gap between family and first generation students. https://sites.google.com/boisestate.edu/jazlynolmedo-research2020/lost-in-translation

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