The Launch of the First Generation Network
By Sandra Cardinal
What does it mean to be “first-gen”? We asked that question of students, alumni, staff and faculty when the office of the Vice Provost Academic sponsored First Generation Day on October 23rd, 2019. Here’s one response:
“From a refugee to a university student. I am so proud of my achievements, I want to inspire others, especially my nephews, nieces, and my children.” – Haroon Michael Bernard, LA&PS 2nd year.
First generation students (FGSs) are defined here as students who are among the first in their families to attend university. We also recognize that many students are first-generation Canadian, and whether or not their parents attended university in their home countries, it is common for them to have similar challenges as FGSs.
It’s not easy being first-gen. Despite their sense of pride, the first-gen breaks family norms, becoming “one-of-them, not one-of-us”. While second and third generation students join the family club and standing on strong shoulders, the first-gen goes it alone, navigating foreign territory where unwritten rules guide interactions causing the first-gen to feel marginalized, and become subject to imposter syndrome.
Only about 30% of qualified FGS high school graduates enroll in university, compared with 70% of non-FGSs. Generally, FGSs have fewer financial resources and yet, most of the barriers are attitudinal rather than financial.
Research has debunked the notion that FGSs as a group are under-prepared academically, struggle academically and more often drop-out than non-FGSs. Even so, there remain some unexamined biases amongst faculty and staff, especially those who are not first-gen themselves. The research does show that FGSs are far less likely to build social capital while attending university – which is as critical as academic attainment in determining their future prosperity and well-being. The majority of FGSs work part-time to support themselves, are more likely to live off-campus and far less likely to have a built-in support network. They experience pressures of finances, changing family relationships and lack of friendships, and thus they tend not to attend socially-enriching events. Faculty may be unaware that some of their expectations disadvantage FGSs and exacerbate feelings of not belonging. There is good reason for the university to pay attention to FGSs because they exaggerate issues faced by other groups of students as well, especially in a large commuter campus such as York.
The launch of the York University First Generation Network has created a place for first-gen students and alumni to connect within and beyond campus. It also invites faculty and staff to share insights about working in with the over 12,000 York FGSs. Understanding the challenges can lead to changes in how they structure their classes or assist. For example, FGSs may need explicit help to join a study group and plenty of lead-time to accomplish groupwork. Promising research demonstrates that high-impact practices that engineer on-campus connections, when applied universally, disproportionally benefit those from under-represented groups like FGSs. Hence, we can be confident that our efforts at universal or inclusive design for learning are paying off.
First Generation Day 2019 featured an Academic Forum called Supporting First Generation Students on their University Journey that brought together faculty and staff in conversation with some of York’s prominent researchers and practitioners in education: Carl James, Gillian Parekh, Rob Brown, Robert Kenedy, Saskia Van Viegen, Jennifer Myers, and Maureen Barnes. These researchers pointed out that our efforts to support first-gen students can help all students, despite their generational status.
The day capped off with the launch of the York University First Generation Network, sponsored by Alumni Engagement, to connect current students with first generation alumni mentors. President Lenton, first generation herself, opened the evening, followed by speaker Michael Barrack (Osgoode 1980), now a top Toronto litigator, who talked about the value of resilience amidst changing family relationships. Alexandra Lutchman (Political Science 2014) whose entrepreneurial talents have helped her launch two successful tech businesses, talked about the need to be selective in your connections and to get involved not just on campus but also all over the community.
Following the speakers there were speed mentoring sessions featuring over twenty young alumni, finishing off with a moving performance by York student and spoken word artist Charles Manzo.
The event ended with a reception with exhibitor tables hosted by 15 different student service providers on campus. Table exhibitors expressed how much they valued the opportunity to showcase their services.
Students contributed to a graffiti wall that asked for their takeaways from evening:
“I look forward to someday inspiring others as fellow first gens inspired me today.”
“I know now that I am valued and supported, and I will find my way.”
“Being the first one to start is hard but the road to success is there”.
The network is open to anyone in the York University community who is interested in first generation issues, or who identifies as among the first in their family to attend university. To join, follow this link: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13762189/
