This week, I found a really interesting research article that inspired a lot of questions and conclusions in this investigation. The article, titled “What Do We Know About the Health of First Generation College Students? A First Look at Compensatory Health Beliefs and Behavior” and written by Kristel M. Gallagher, investigates the relationship between compensatory health beliefs (CHBs) and healthy behavior in first generation college students.
Compensatory health beliefs involve rationalizing an unhealthy behavior by emphasizing our healthy behavior. For example, saying “I’ll eat an extra slice of pizza and go on a run tomorrow morning” constitutes a CHB. The author precludes this conversation by introducing the fact that first generation college students have a significant issue with retention rates, are more likely to make unhealthy decisions due to stressors, norms, and peer pressure, and they are less likely to utilize campus support resources (Gallagher 38). Additionally, Gallagher points out that first-generation students are more likely to have negative perceptions of their health, and they are more likely to drop out due to these perceptions (Gallagher 38). Then, returning the CHBs, Gallagher’s research found that first-generation college students, in general, engaged in CHBs more frequently and engaged in less healthy eating habits.
This led Dani and I to wonder: could the same case be made for first generation students at Bowdoin? Bowdoin is widely considered to have a leading number of health and wellness resources on campus. With this in mind, Dani and I concluded that Bowdoin’s wellness culture is more likely to discourage CHBs. What does this say about Bowdoin’s wellness culture? Is that necessarily a good thing? And how does this relate to experiences shared by our interview respondents, many of whom expressed a sense of impermanence with the health and wellness practices they currently engage with at Bowdoin.
Sarah,
This project is really taking shape, and it has been great seeing the project evolve these past weeks to consider some complex questions about CHBs as it relates to first-generation students. I find that you highlight some important stakes in relation to perceptions of health and accessing health-based resources at colleges like Bowdoin. An important debate that faculty of color have been engaging at the College relates to how the use of these resources illuminate who “belongs” and who feels left out. In other ways, students from wealthier backgrounds might feel an entitlement to these services in ways that first-generation students and students of color might not feel. And if that is the case, a new question emerges: how can institutions do better to educate students about these resources and help them see these resources as being for them. I am very excited about your presentation tomorrow, to see how this has evolved in your time since.