This week, we have continued our literature review to find additional sources to supplement our interview findings. Though many of these are scholarly, some are more opinion-based.
The first piece is “First-Generation Student Status Is Not Enough: How Acknowledging Students with Working-Class Identities Can Help Us Better Serve Students” by Shonda L. Goward. This piece investigates the difference between a first generation student identity and a first generation/low income student identity. Goward claims that this distinction is incredibly significant, as growing up in a low income background creates a form of socialization that sticks with individuals long-term. She calls on institutions and those within them to make this distinction and support FGLI students.
Another article I’ve found is “The Internal Psychology of First-Generation College Students” by Jeff Davis. This article focuses on the struggles of imposter syndrome without using the exact terms. This is incredibly significant for themes throughout most, if not all, of our interviews, and this is a significant mental health struggle for many FGLI college students.
In addition to this, we have been considering changing our project medium. Initially, we planned on doing an ArcGIS Story Map. However, we are now considering a google site, as a story map has a significant emphases on images and figures. Unfortunately, there may not be enough research on FGLI students to supply this number of images and figures.
Our next steps are outlining interview themes and connecting those with our literature review to create a general outline. This will aid us in the construction of our website.