Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk

Low-Income, First-Generation Students' Perceptions of College Administrative Support

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2292166
AutoresElizabeth M Lee (0000-0003-4115-616X, Saint Joseph's University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen94
Número1
Páginas221-240
Fecha de publicación2024-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soin.12582
OpenAlexW4388616714
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas31

Selective colleges have become more attentive to, and publicly supportive of, low-income and first-generation (LIFG) students over the last 20 years. However, despite claims of support, LIFG students report lower senses of campus belonging, satisfaction, and other important outcomes than do more affluent peers, suggesting a disjuncture between expressed and perceived support. This article draws on data gathered from 33 interviewees across 18 campuses, each of whom is from a low-income and/or first-generation background and involved in campus advocacy supporting LIFG students, to examine three questions: To what extent did interviewees perceive a disjuncture between campus stated support and meaningful support for LIFG students? What meaning did they draw from this disjuncture? Finally, what informed their perceptions? The findings show that interviewees indeed perceived a substantial disjuncture between expression and experience of support, which they interpreted as evidence that administrative support was disingenuous. This perception was driven by negative messages from administrators' words and actions

Low income · Meaning (existential) · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Higher Education Research Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology