Conference Agenda

In this paper, we present the results of two student projects focusing on the experiences of first-generation learners, i.e. university students whose parents have attained at highest secondary education (FGCS = first-generation college students). We specifically focus on the (re)constructions of student identity in the first stages of study based on the assumption that the transition from high school to the university environment marks entry into a new social and cultural world. And first-generation learners may be equipped with different resources to cope with this important point in their personal development (Crafter, Maunder, & Soulsby, 2019).

International studies report that first-generation college students are at higher risk of experiencing academic stress and negative emotions regarding their studies (Murphy & Hennessy, 2017; Balon et al. 2015) and overall tendency to experience a higher degree of mental health distress (Rubin et al., 2016). They face typical challenges linked with the transition from secondary to tertiary education, which is linked with moving places, changing networks of peers, building relationships with academic staff, and of course, different demands regarding studying, particularly a strong focus on independent work, but further might experience additional challenges linked particularly with a socioeconomic situation or caring duties. All together with the specific situation for FGCS, these challenges might result in a higher degree of problems in the process of adaptations and a more difficult path toward academic success (Misra et al., 2000, in Jenkins, et al. 2013, McIntyre et al. 2018, in Rubin et al. 2019).

Reay (2018) included in her analysis the perspective of social isolation and lack of academic integration, which might contribute to the FGCS experience of studying as if participating at different somehow parallel institutions, as compared to students with compatible identities and backgrounds. Chang et al. (2020) and Phillips et al. (2020) explore possible cultural mismatch between values inherent to academic institutions and values promoted within the family background of FGCS.

But these results also need to be understood as context-specific. In the Czech Republic, where the study is conducted, change from the very narrow elite to mass university education happened at the beginning of 21. a century and lead to a situation where reports provide information that about 66,1 % of students enrolled at the bachelor level are first-generation students (CVVS, 2020). However, with the increased level of education (master, doctorate) proportion of these students is decreasing. So, while widening access to education enabled a more diverse population of students to participate in tertiary education, it is not enough to just enable access and we need research on what are their experiences within these classed institutions. Through the exploration of the individual situation, we can also contribute to the discussion on changes within the academic environment to be able to better accommodate a diverse student body, so that they can flourish in both academic and psychological terms.

Here we turn to the body of research that is focused on the importance of identity(identities) within education. The construction of salient identities related to a learning process can contribute to both relevant processes of well-being and academic achievement (Matschke, 2022, Mavor, Platow, Bizumic, 2017). Thus in this presentation, we will focus on the process of transition to higher education focusing on how students needed to reconstruct themselves and their self-understanding in a new educational environment that brings in a change in educational expectations and requirements, as well as change of place and networks.

After the milestone of the 20th anniversary of the social dimension in the Bologna Process, new commitments were formulated by the European Commission towards “building inclusive and connected higher education systems” (European Commission 2017), as well as to further strive towards a holistic approach (Schmidt Scukanec/Napier 2020, 2). With a holistic approach “universities can address a broad range of societal needs, including those of vulnerable, disadvantaged and underrepresented [students]” (Schmidt Scukanec/Napier 2020, 6). Similarly, the UNESCO has formulated education goals towards inclusion anchored in the SDG4 which reads "ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education for all by 2030 and promote lifelong learning opportunities." The UNESCO also sets holistic goals from early childhood development until lifelong learning (UNESCO 2023).

Despite the strategic commitment of universities to inclusion and the social dimension, inheritance of educational inequalities is still an issue in many countries (OECD 2016). This contribution addresses first-in-family students (fifs), who are an underrepresented group in higher education (HE), and their transition to university­ partly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenge to the entire HE sector as well. Internationally, there is increasing concern regarding the disengagement of marginalised students from the formal education system (OECD 2020).

First-in-family students cannot access experiences or information from their family members to ease their transition to university (Lessky/Unger 2022; Patfield et al. 2022). Their transition is often more cumbersome compared to students from an academic family background and according to previous literature, it is harder for them to build a social network and develop a feeling of belonging at HE institutions (O'Shea 2019). Additionally, some families put them under pressure because they are the first to study and they are often expected to succeed (ibid), while the influence of the social/family background leads other fifs to the final decision to leave university (Nairz-Wirth et al. 2017).

A Bourdieusian perspective ([1972 ]1993, 1984, 1990) is used to analyze the interplay of habitus, social capital and field. In the field of HE, sense of belonging is often referred to as student abilities to build social networks and it is gaining importance as a ‘predictor of positive academic outcomes’ (Lewis and Hodges 2015, 1).

More precisely, the main research question is to explore the relevance of social capital for first-in-family students during their transition to university. Further, we also look at the fifs´ sense of belonging to peers and the role of institutions in building a sense of belonging.

The research questions will be answered with a qualitative design (see methods section).

This topic is not only interesting for researchers in the field of HE/education pathways as fifs represent a traditionally disadvantaged student group who managed upward social mobility. Still, they are often not mentioned in diversity programs and third mission statements (Dipplhofer-Stiem, 2017). This makes the topic also relevant for practitioners and policymakers.

Transitioning to the university environment is a milestone in an individual's life path. This milestone is often a symbol of a new beginning and change from controlled education at secondary school, where the responsibility for education is mainly in the hands of teachers, to a university environment, where the student is an active agent of his/her education (Vengřinová, 2022). A new environment can be confusing for beginning students (Hassel & Ridout, 2018; Kálmán, 2020), but simultaneously it brings the opportunity to explore the unknown, learn new things and become independent (Aristeidou, 2021; Parker et al., 2004). All this happens during the process of integration first described by Spady and Tinto in the 1970s. Tinto (1975) divided the integration of the higher education system into integration into two spheres: academic and social spheres. Both of these spheres are interconnected.
In the last ten years, a large heterogeneous group of students (MSMT, n.d.) has been attending universities in the Czech Republic, symbolising the universal phase of Czech higher education (Prudky et al., 2010). Each student has a specific background: SES, culture capital, individual attributes, and family background;... Tinto (1975) says that integration into studies is influenced by three essential factors: pre-college schooling, individual attributes and family background. In the current research, the authors analyse the third factor and how family background influences the integration process. The result of the research is that first-generation students have more difficult entry into studies in terms of integration into the tertiary educational level than non-first-generation students (Dika & D'Amico, 2016; Ives & Montoya, 2020). First-generation students represent those students who are the first in their families to have a chance to earn a college degree (Petty, 2014), which means that they come to college from families with lower educational backgrounds (Gibbons & Woodvide, 2014). Members of these families are used to helping each other and have closer family ties. They, therefore, tend to increase the frequency of communication and control over the newcomer student. However, this leads to the fact that it is more challenging for the student to break away from the family culture and integrate into a new environment (Arch & Gilman, 2019). At a time when students of Czech colleges were forced to stay at home (due to the covid-19 pandemic) and study online, the possibility of social integration was limited. Social integration is necessary for academic integration, during which the student becomes familiar with the demands of going through the study, study engagement starts, and starts to accept his/her new social role: student. During the first semester of 2020/2021, when online teaching was mandated, beginning first-generation students could not turn to their peers when looking for help with questions related to the academic sphere because they did not know their peers. They also could not turn to their family members, with whom they spent most of their time, as they had no experience with the university environment. Therefore, their teachers became their crucial source of information. Research by Hassel and Ridout (2018) and Le et al. (2010) emphasise the importance of students' contact with college teachers and the role they play for beginning students in learning a new educational environment. This paper aims to answer the following questions: (1) How do beginning first-generation students describe the role of their teachers in the process of academic integration into online studies? (2) What beginning first-generation students perceive to have been (in)effective on the part of teachers towards their academic integration.