Abstract
This scenario explores the intersections of Asian Identity Development, Social Class Identity, and issues surrounding First Generation Student Identity. Readers are presented with a scenario that pulls in both familial concerns and expectations with college identity development to further emphasize that students do not come to college as a blank canvas and many invisible factors impact a student’s college experience.
Keywords: Asian Identity, First Generation, Social Class Identity
Introduction
This scenario occurs at a small liberal arts college located in the southern part of the country. Lewis College has an enrollment of 2,500 students, with the majority (2,328) being undergraduates. Founded in the early 1900s, Lewis College is considered a leader in diversity and social justice issues. They are proud they were the first institution in the state to have majors in Women Studies, LGBT Studies, African American Studies, and Asian American Studies. The college is also pleased with their demographic makeup in students, faculty, and staff. Over half of the students at the institution are first-generation college students (FGCS), are academically high achieving with many students on academic scholarship, and most coming from affluent families. The institution has a residential requirement all four years and also requires that students attend a minimum of 21 cultural events in order to graduate.
Readers should consider the impact and importance of identity development and family on first-generation students when coming up with a response or solution. Additionally, the experience of first-generation American (FGA) students is examined. As such, readers should consider the potential implications for Ann as a first generation Asian American, first-generation college student, the only daughter in her family, and her socio-economic status.
Primary Characters
Andre (he, him, his) a staff member at Lewis College, advises Student Organizations as the Multicultural Liaison Officer
Ann (she, her, hers): Vice President of Justice Champions
Julie (she, her, hers) and Miguel (he, him, his): two students participating in the retreat
Diane (she, her, hers): classmate and informal mentor to Ann
Dr. Rose (she, her, hers): Vice President of Student Affairs, recently hired to the position
Tom (he, him, his): Administrative Assistant to Vice President for Student Affairs
Context
Andre is the Multicultural Liaison Officer in Ann’s academic college, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at Lewis College. Andre’s position is a shared appointment between the division of Academic Affairs and the division of Student Affairs.
In addition to providing academic and personal support to students in his college, Andre advises a cultural student organization for which Ann was recently elected the Vice President. The organization is called Justice Champions. Andre has served in his role for almost six years, but this is only his second year advising the Justice Champions organization. The previous advisor served as the advisor to Justice Champions for over twenty years before retiring, and during his tenure the organization was selected as the Best Campus Organization five times. It is one of the most respected, active, and largest student organizations at Lewis College. The organization is known for their great work in community service and outreach to underserved schools and under-resourced communities near campus. As an advisor, Andre does a good job building teams and getting to know the leadership for organizations he advises, including Justice Champions.
In the fall semester, Andre and other advisors coordinate a “Cultures on Campus” retreat for the executive boards of all cultural student organizations on campus. At the retreat, the students engage in a “Who I Am” activity. The “Who I Am” activity asks that everyone share what they would like to about their identity. The advisors hoped that by including this activity in the retreat it would create space for student leaders to get to know one another and create areas for possible collaboration across campus. Andre envisions this retreat as a first step for establishing and maintaining community among the cultural student organizations on campus. As a result, Ann shares that she is a FGA and FGCS. Ann also talks about her identity as an Asian-American woman, an oldest child, and a student who has to work two jobs in order to afford to attend Lewis College. While Ann would love to be more engaged as a student (i.e. join a sorority, participate in a study aboard program, etc.), between her academic and work responsibilities, Ann has not had time nor money to engage in many activities at the university other than the Justice Champions.
During one of the other activities at the retreat, students are asked to make connections with one another to identify ways they might work together as individuals or as leaders of organizations. Two different students (Julie and Miguel) approached Ann and share that they would love to have her tutor them in their advanced math courses. Ann is a political science major and math is not one of her strengths. Another student asked Ann to teach him Japanese (Ann is Chinese). Ann is unsure how to respond to Julie and Miguel or the other student, so she brushes off the exchanges but begins to withdraw from fully participating in the remainder of the retreat.
Ann experiences a few other microaggressions that semester – people assuming she does not speak English, people repeatedly asking her “Where are you from,” etc. She develops a relationship with Andre and processes particularly challenging issues she experiences with him on occasion. He is supportive and provides a variety of resources, but he also realizes that Ann is looking for someone with whom she can relate in deeper ways around specific aspects of her identity and her experiences on campus.
As a result, Andre has connected her with Diane, a junior, as an informal mentor. Diane is Filipino and a third generation American with one older sister who also attended Lewis College Diane has had similar experiences to Ann, and Diane is able to relate to a lot of what Ann shares. They develop a friendship and are sometimes even able to laugh at the ignorance that they experience at Lewis College. Ann comes to trust and look up to Diane and appreciates her friendship.
While Ann is doing well academically – achieving a 3.56 fall semester and expecting to achieve around the same this spring – she is not currently on a scholarship. Ann goes to Andre panicked because she is not sure if she will be able to return to school next year. Ann has realized too late that she did not complete the FAFSA as early as she should have, and she suspects that one of the jobs she has relied on will be ending soon.
When Ann expresses concern about finances to Diane, Diane says, “I’m not sure what to tell you – I’m here on a scholarship, and my mom is a faculty member here, so I get free tuition. Maybe ask your parents for more money.” Ann tries to explain her family circumstances saying that because she is a daughter and not a son, her parents are not financially supporting her education, but Diane responds, “Wow. That’s pretty backwards. That wouldn’t happen in my family. Have you tried talking with your parents about their views and how outdated they are?” Ann tries to explain her parents’ backgrounds and experiences, to which Diane responds, “Maybe just get another job so you have enough money for college.”
Later that day, Ann has a meeting scheduled with Dr. Rose, the Vice President of Student Affairs about some funding for an upcoming Justice Champions event. Dr. Rose was recently hired into her role, having spent much of her career at public institutions. She realizes she has much to learn about student organizations at private institutions and much to learn in general about Lewis College.
While Ann is waiting for Dr. Rose, Dr. Rose’s assistant, Tom, asks Ann how things are going. She says that things with Justice Champions are going great, but she has some personal things she’s working through. When Tom asks for more details, Ann shares that she has some financial situations she’s trying to navigate, and she doesn’t have a lot of support from her family in figuring out solutions. Before Tom can respond, Dr. Rose comes out and invites Ann into her office, so they can talk about the funding for the upcoming event.
When Ann shares the conversation she and Diane had with Andre, Ann adds that her parents told her that it is fine if she needs to take a year or two off from school. Her parent’s rationale is because finances are stretched in trying to provide for the family along with paying for Ann’s tuition, if Ann worked full-time it would help the family out. Her parents remind her helping out the family is an expectation for oldest children. They share that this is especially true since as the oldest child, Ann has three younger brothers who are all hoping to go to college within the next five years. Her parents feel it is much more important for her brothers to get college degrees – each of her brothers is interested in a major in the STEM field – than for Ann to finish her political science program.
Shortly after Ann leaves his office, Andre gets a call from Dr. Rose. This call is the first time Dr. Rose has called Andre directly rather than communicating through his supervisor. She says, “Tom told me that Ann is having some financial problems. What are we doing to help her out, Andre?”
Questions for Discussion
- What additional questions should Andre ask to get more information about Ann’s situation?
- What information might Andre provide to Ann? What resources are available on campus that might be helpful to Ann?
- Should Andre follow up with Diane? Why or why not? If yes, what might that conversation entail? If not, why not?
- How should Ann confront the numerous microaggressions she faces? What strategies and support can she use?
- How can relationships be leveraged to support high achieving but financially struggling students? Specifically, what steps or partnerships can be formed due to the conversation between Andre and Dr. Rose?
Resources
Andrews, R. J., Imberman, S. A., & Lovenheim, M. F. (2020). Recruiting and supporting low-income, high-achieving students at flagship universities. Economics of Education Review, 74, 1923 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.101923
First Generation Foundation. (2013) Supporting First Generation College Students. Retrieved from http://www/firstgenerationfoundation.org
Fong, J. (2017). Where do we fit [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1-E2DIpB2s
Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H, & Sandhu, D. (1997). Asian American Identity Development: A Culture Specific Model for South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. 25. 34-50.
Jehangir, R., Williams, R. D., & Pete, J. (2011). Multicultural learning communities: Vehicles for developing self-authorship in first-generation college students. Journal of the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, 23(1), 53-74.
Kim, E. (2009). Navigating college life: The role of student networks in first year adaptation college adaptation experience of minority immigrant students. Journal of the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, 21(2), 9-34.
Kim, J., (2012). Asian American racial identity development theory. In C. L. Wijeyesinghe & B. Jackson (Eds). New perspectives on racial identity development (2nd ed). (pp.138-160). New York Press.
Longwell-Grice, R., & Longwell-Grice, H. (2021). At the intersection: Understanding and supporting first-generation students. Stylus.
NASPA (2020). Center for First-Generation Student Success. Retrieved from https://firstgen.naspa.org/ PNPI (2013). First-Generation Student. Retrieved from http://pnpi.org/first-generation-students/
Redford, J., Hoyer, K. M. (2017, September). First-generation and continuing-generation college students: A comparison of high school and postsecondary experiences. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf
Soria, K.M. & Stebleton, M.J. (2012). First-generation students’ academic engagement and retention. Teaching in Higher Education, 17(6), 673-685. doi: 10.1080/13562517.2012.666735
Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M.G., & Destin, M. (2014). Closing the Social-Class Achievement Gap: A Difference-Education Intervention Improves First-Generation Students’ Academic Performance and All Students’ College Transition. Psychological Science, 25(4), 943-953. doi: 10.1177/0956797613518349
Talusan, L., & Franke, R. (2019). (Un)filling requirements: Satisfactory progress and its impact on first generation, low income, Asian American students. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 5 (1),15-28
Toutkoushian, R. K., Stollberg, R. S., & Slaton, K. A. (2015). Talking ‘bout my generation: Defining ‘first-generation students’ in higher education research. Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Turner, A. (2015). Generation Z: technology & social interest. The Journal of Individual Psychology , 71(2), 103-113. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
Ward, L., Siegel, M. J. & Davenport, Z. (2012). First-generation college students: Understanding and improving the experience from recruitment to commencement. Jossey-Bass.
Warnock, D. M., & Hurst, A. L. (2016). “The poor kids’ table”: Organizing around an invisible and stigmatized identity in flux. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 261-276.
Whitley, S.E., Benson, G., & Wesaw, A. (2018). First-generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis of Programs and Services at Four-year Institutions. Washington, DC: Center for First-generation Student Success, NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and Entangled Solutions. Retrieved at https://firstgen.naspa.org/2018-landscape-analysis
Wijeyesinghe, C.L. and Jackson III, B.W. (Eds.). (2001). New perspectives on racial identity development: A theoretical and practical anthology. New York: New York University Press.
Author Bios
Xianwen Xi (she, her, hers) is the Assistant Director of Residential Life at Pace University Pleasantville. Since starting at Pace in 2018 as a Residence Director, she has worked with supervising student staff, responding on call, and supporting the residential community. In her Assistant Director role, she primarily manages the residential life curriculum, the First Year Interest Group and Living Learning Communities, and supervising graduate student staff.
Tony Cawthon (he, him, his) is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Higher Education and Student affairs at Clemson University. He teaches student development theory, higher education administration and current issues in student affairs and higher education.
Christian Barrientos (he, him, él) serves as the Assistant Director of Emerging Scholars at Clemson University. In that position, he helps high school and college students with student success, academic enrichment, developing leadership skills, and increasing college preparedness.