Experiences of African American Female First Generation College StudentsStudents

Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 5-2015 Experiences of African American Female First Generation College Students Ashley Green Western Michigan University, aatrack@yahoo.com Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the African American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Green, Ashley, "Experiences of African American Female First Generation College Students" (2015) Dissertations 519 https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/519 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS by Ashley Green A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Leadership, Research and Technology Western Michigan University May 2015 Doctoral Committee: Donna Talbot, Ph.D., Chair Patricia Reeves, Ph.D William Arnold, Ph.D EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS Ashley Green, Ph.D Western Michigan University, 2015 The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of African American, female, first generation college students attending a large, predominantly White research university and to understand what motivates them The major research question guiding this study was: How African American, female, first generation college students (in good academic standing) describe their college experience? The researcher asked the participants to discuss their challenges, how they responded to challenges, sources of motivation, and factors that contributed to their success in college Through individual, face to face, interviews with 10 African American, female, FGC students attending a large research university, participants described their college transition, and experiences They explained how their collegiate experiences were shaped by pre-college occurrences, self-identity, parental influence and involvement, challenges, and affiliations with campus and community organizations Five themes emerged: College Preparation, Parental Influence and Involvement, Relationships, Challenges, and Important Resources Participants shared stories of high school high achievement, and their strong sense of self and confidence attributed to parental encouragement, self-motivation, and positive high school experiences Additionally, for these students, engagement in campus organizations were significant resources contributing to their success and comfort at the institution A notable finding was that although students were prepared academically from high school with a history of high achievement, they still struggled in college Students had difficulty adjusting to a large campus, large class sizes, less professor interaction, and acknowledged that they needed to adjust their study habits Unlike other studies focusing on African American students, attending a PWI was not mentioned as a significant factor in their experience and was not discussed in the context of their challenges Finally, participants identified strong support networks, intrinsic motivation and self-identity as factors that contributed to their college persistence and success Specifically, economic status and background, family support, self-confidence, and spirituality were their strongest sources of motivation This study contributes to the understanding of how African American, female, FGC students experience a large predominantly White university from their perspective and their strongest sources of motivation Recommendations for future research include looking at a broader population of students who were not as academically successful Students of all academic levels have experiences worth being explored and need a platform to share their stories It is also important to understand their motivation for persisting in college despite lower academic achievement Copyright by Ashley Green 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who have been a part of this Ph.D journey with me Although I will try my best to publicly convey my deepest appreciation and gratitude, these words cannot possibly fully express my true appreciation and sincerity As a first generation college student, there are some educators and administrators who have been instrumental in my education and my career in various ways I thank Coach James Jackson, Carl Weathers, Murray Edwards, Dr Lilliana Mina, Dr Renee Sanders-Lawson, Dr Carl Taylor, and Dr Anne Hornak for their significant role in my education experience Your involvement in my education is what inspired me to work in and study Higher Education I thank Vern Mason, Eric Doerr, Geoff Humphrys, Troy Farley, Dr Martino Harmon, Dr Rob Glew, and Dr Denise Maybank Your mentorship early in my career guided me and helped me get to this point I offer my sincerest appreciation to my dissertation committee; Dr Donna Talbot, Dr Patricia Reeves, and Dr William Arnold Thank you for sharing your intellect and time with me I appreciate your guidance and expertise and I am now thankful that you challenged me and for your constructive feedback To all of the first-generation college students who shared their personal experiences with me, I acknowledge you, and I am extremely grateful for your honestly, and contributions to this study Never let your circumstances dictate your future or potential for success Never let anyone or anything stop you from accomplishing your goals ii Acknowledgments- Continued To my close friends, family, and Ebenezer church family who have encouraged and uplifted me consistently throughout this process, thank you! You have no idea how much of a role you played in helping me stay focused to get through this process Mom and dad, I dedicate this and every other accomplishment to you You have always stressed education and instilled in me to my best You have supported me immensely my entire life and have always been my biggest cheerleaders You have been with me every step of the way without waver and it is because of you that I believed that I could and achieve anything I am a product of my dads’ curiosity, intelligence, and boldness, and my moms’ ambition, leadership and commitment I would not be where I am today without your unconditional love, support, and encouragement, and for that I am truly grateful I also need to thank you (and my in laws) for the immeasurable quality time that you spent with your grandchildren (my children) so that I could focus on this process To my husband, Tony, I appreciate you more than you know I know you are probably just as excited that this is done as I am, if not more! You have been my sound mind throughout this process and always managed to calm me down and keep me sane Thank you for always believing in me and speaking words of comfort and encouragement Thank you for understanding when I couldn’t be available and for taking things off my plate during busy times Thank you for loving me unconditionally through iii Acknowledgments- continued my moods and stress while allowing me to vent, cry, and consistently verbally process I will forever be grateful for you Thank for always being there for me (physically and emotionally) You were there when I began this journey (when you drove me to my admissions interview) and you were there when I finished the journey at my defense I appreciate your presence I appreciate you I thank you I love you To my son Anthony and daughter Aniyah, who were both born during this Ph.D journey, thank you for allowing me to take time away from you to dedicate to this process I hope that you will understand that this sacrifice was ultimately for you and I hope that you will be proud of me I pray that my journey will inspire you to set and achieve goals for yourself, to reach for the stars, and go after whatever you want to accomplish I hope that this motivates you to be the best that you can be while learning as much as you can I thank you for the joy you brought me during this time and I love you “God almighty has brought me The love of family has uplifted me The joy of friendship has encouraged me.” Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way! Ashley Green iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………… ii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………… xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION…………… ……………………………… Overview of the Study Topic…………………………………………………… Background and Issues with First generation College Students ………… … Socio-Economic Challenges…………………………………………………… SES and race and ethnicity ………………………………… ………… SES and student employment ……………………………… ………… SES and academic major selections ……………………………….… Institutional choice ………………………………………………… … Social Integration and Balancing Two Cultures ………… ……………… … Sources of Encouragement and Inspiration …………………………………… Underprepared and Disadvantaged ………………………………………….… Lack of guidance and awareness ……………………………… …… Academic preparation ……………………………………………… 10 African American Students…………………………………………………… 11 African American at PWI …………………………………………… 12 African American females……………………………………….…… 12 Problem and Purpose Statement……………………………………………… 14 Research Questions………………………………………………………….… 15 Rationale and Significance………………………………………………….… 16 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………… … 18 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………… 21 v Table of Contents-Continued CHAPTER Methodology Overview……………………………………………………… 21 Definition of Terms, Delimitations, and Limitations …………… ………… 22 Chapter One Summary………………………………………………………… 24 II LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………… 25 Motivation Theory……………………………………………………… …… 26 Choice theory……………………………….……………………….… 31 Achievement goal theory………………… ………………………… 32 Expectancy theory……………………… ………………………….… 33 Maslow’s hierarchy theory of needs… …………………………… 34 Academic self concept ………………………………….…………… 34 Self determination theory …………………………………………… 35 Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation………………………………… 36 Student Experience …………………………………………………………… 39 First generation students… ………………………………………… 39 African American Students…………………………………………… 41 Predominantly White Institutions………………………………………… … 46 Large institutions……………………………………………………… 47 Classroom experiences…………………………………………… … 48 Tokenism……………………………………………………………… 50 Campus experiences……………………………………….………… 50 Experiences at Predominantly White institutions compared to HBCU’s… … 52 Motivation for African American Students…………………………….… … 53 Female African American Students……………………………………… … 55 Motivation for African American Female Students…………………………… 58 Chapter Two Summary…………………………………………………… … 60 vi ... the lived experiences of African American, female, FGC students The term First Generation College students (FGC) can be defined as students who are the first in their family to attend college FGC... HBCU’s… … 52 Motivation for African American Students? ??………………………….… … 53 Female African American Students? ??…………………………………… … 55 Motivation for African American Female Students? ??………………………… 58 Chapter... xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Overview of the Topic of Study This study is examining the lived experiences of African American, female, first generation college students at a large, public, predominantly