Mandy Duong:

First-Generation College Students’ Perceptions of Informal Program Support: Effects on PhD Plans and Career Self-Efficacy

First-generation college students are an underrepresented group in higher education, facing many challenges in persisting through their undergraduate degree and in accessing more advanced studies, such as the doctoral degree. Rather than focusing on their deficits, the strengths-based model (Bowman, 2011) examines the influence of various multilevel strengths on positive student outcomes. This study, a secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal panel survey of applicants to summer research programs, examines the influence of informal program support on career self-efficacy and PhD plans for first-generation and second-generation college students. Informal program support may provide social and cultural capital for first-generation college students in the form of opportunities to learn more about graduate school, which may lead to increased self-efficacy and certainty in PhD plans. Firstly, differences in the perceptions of informal program support (e.g., mentor, staff, peer) and the outcomes among first-generation and second-generation college students who participated in the BTAA-SROP or other research programs were explored. Secondly, the relationship between informal program support and the outcomes were analyzed. Thirdly, the analyses combined parental education status with the predictors to examine their effects on PhD plans. While correlational analyses showed that informal program support was unrelated to the outcomes, analyses of variance indicated that when parental education status was taken into account, perceptions of peer support and staff support had an effect on PhD plans. Study findings suggest greater focus on staff and peer support in educational research. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are also discussed.

Anthony Johnson:

Relations between Faculty Support and Successful Student Development

This study examines the influence of both actual faculty-student interaction and perceived faculty support on student developmental outcomes (e.g., educational goals, career-related goals, academic performance, and self-efficacy) using secondary analysis. The sample (n = 446) was drawn from a longitudinal sample at a Midwestern university and the data was analyzed using independent samples t-tests, Pearson correlations, and one-way analyses of variances (ANOVAs). The findings suggest that there is generally a relationship between both actual faculty-student interaction and perceived faculty support on student development, as suggested in the literature. In addition, results suggest that socio-demographic diversity (e.g., race/ethnicity and gender) do influence the students’ level of faculty support and thus their college development.  

Winston Scott: 

African American Students’ Ph.D. intentions:  Difference in Racial Socialization and Global Self-Efficacy by Socioeconomic Status and Program Participation

Between 2013 and 2014 the number of students pursuing a bachelor’s degree increased from 1.4 million to 1.9 million, and enrollment in graduate studies has also been growing immensely. A recent report indicates that 78,744 students have been awarded a doctoral degree, however, only about 11.8 % have been awarded to African Americans (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2017). Summer research programs such as the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s SROP provide Underrepresented Minority Students (UMS) with an opportunity to engage in research and prepare for graduate studies.  The effectiveness of such programs can be examined through a strength-based framework (e.g., Bowman, 2011). This study examines how racial socialization and global self-efficacy operate as strengths for African American students who vary in their socioeconomic status and SROP program participation and its relationship to their Ph.D. intentions. The data for this study were drawn from a larger longitudinal panel study and includes 118 African American students’. T-tests revealed that students who did not participate in a research program report higher levels of racial socialization compared to program participants. Correlational analyses suggest that there is no relationship between the key variables of interests when considering students’ SES background, but a positive trend which is emerging amongst racial socialization and global self-efficacy. However, a positive relationship between racial socialization and global self-efficacy was found for those who did participate in SROP. The practical implications of the findings are discussed including suggestions for future BTAA-SROP programming.