Transformative Practices to Support First-Generation College Students as Academic Learners: Findings From a Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Literature on first-generation college students contains a range of practices that can support first-generation college students as academic learners. To synthesize these practices for higher education practitioners, we conducted a systematic literature review of 53 articles. We identified three types of transformative practices from the literature: (a) promoting an institutional interdependent learning culture, (b) providing explicit support for academic learning, and (c) creating learning experiences that center communal goals. Across these three practices, we demonstrate the importance of educational practitioners drawing on students’ lived experiences as a valuable source of knowledge for their collegiate learning experience.

KEYWORDS:

• First-generation college students
• academic learners
• lived experiences
• interdependent learning

Notes

1. Percentages add up to over 100 given we placed some articles in more than one category.