Crossing boundaries: rethinking the ways that first-in-family students navigate ‘barriers’ to higher education

Abstract

This article explores how one cohort of first-in-family students narrated their movement into and through university, proposed as a form of boundary crossing. These metaphors emerged from the stories that students told about their persistence, with references ranging from institutional or organisational boundaries through to those imposed by self and others. Applying the sensitizing lens of boundary crossing, an analysis is provided of how learners navigated their transition into university and the types of persistence behaviours adopted. The focus is on those who traversed these boundaries, considering the nature of incursions and the ways these were negotiated within students’ everyday lives. This cohort all self-identified as being the first in their family to attend university but also acknowledged a variety of additional social, cultural and economic factors that impacted upon their educational journey.

Keywords:

• Boundary crossing
• first in family students
• higher education participation
• transition
• educational equity
• field

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Within Australia, where this study occurred there are six identified equity groups as follows: Students from low socio-economic backgrounds; students with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, Non English Speaking background students, rural and remote students and women studying in non-traditional areas.

2. No interviews were completed at one participating university – only surveys were completed.

3. Surveys covered similar themes with the same questions used.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under a Discovery Project Grant (DP170100705). I would like to acknowledge the feedback provided by the anonymous reviewers and also Professor Jan Wright and Dr Janine Delahunty.