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Chapter 15 - Understanding the Personal Support Networks of First-generation College Students from Immigrant Backgrounds

from Part III - Institutional Arrangements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Andrea Lopez Salazar ,
Hoori Santikian Kalamkarian  and
Melissa L. Herman
Edited by
Blake R. Silver  and
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Blake R. Silver
Affiliation:
George Mason University
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Affiliation:
George Mason University
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Summary

Building relationships and utilizing support networks on and off campus as a first-generation college student (FGCS) from an immigrant family is critical to achieving postsecondary success. This chapter explores the personal support networks and help-seeking preferences of immigrant-origin FGCSs as part of a three-year longitudinal mixed-methods study with FGCSs at four public Hispanic-serving institutions in California. We employ social network analysis methods using survey and interview data to explore the types of relationships twelve Latinx immigrant-origin FGCSs have that provide them support in college. To guide our analysis, we use Yosso’s (2005) model of community cultural wealth. Findings reveal the significance and specific types of support provided by parents, siblings, extended family, friends and peers, co-workers, and college advisors. These findings promote an expansive view of familial support, with many connections providing encouragement, motivation, and tangible support and serving as brokers to college-based resources. Recognizing these relationships can facilitate the modification of student services and programming to help FGCSs enroll and persist in college.

Keywords

first-generation college studentsLatinx studentsimmigrant-origincultural capitalcommunity cultural wealthsupport networksnetwork analysissocial tiescommunity collegeHispanic-serving institution
Type
Chapter
Information
Supporting College Students of Immigrant Origin
New Insights from Research, Policy, and Practice
 , pp. 310 - 331
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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