Table Of Content

FIRST-GENERATION STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION In First-Generation Student Experiences in Higher Education: Counterstories, we meet eight students who attended university through an access program, and hear their stories of deciding to enter university, navigating and negotiating the institution, and bringing their university experiences with them into adult life. These students’ “counterstories” challenge the stereotypes commonly applied to marginalized students in higher education. The students—Kofi, Tristana, Laura, Sam, Jasmine, Amy, Ewart, and Jafari—represent a range of identities, prior experiences, and aspirations. Piecing together their stories from application statements, weekly group meet- ings, diary entries, group conversations, interviews, and media reports, we see them balancing their educational aspirations with financial constraints and obligations to their immigrant families and communities. Following them into their life after university, we see some of them go on to career success while others struggle, and come to understand how their university experi- ence can be a “legacy” they pass on to their children. The students’ counterstories offer insights into a range of salient themes and highlight their strategies, challenges, successes, and trajectories, as well as their nuanced relationships with their networks, communities, families, and significant others. This book offers a valuable resource for educators, administrators, scholars, students, and community agencies interested in extending understandings of first-generation university students. Carl E. James is a Professor of Education, Youth & Equity Studies, and holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York Uni- versity, Toronto, Canada. Leanne E. Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada, and Editor in Chief of the Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education. “This is a must-read for educators, administrators, social scientists, pol- icymakers, students, community members, or anyone interested in the aspirations and challenges first-generation students face in navigating both higher education and society in general. James and Taylor offer the reader a sensitive and respectful analysis through a deep dive into the complex lives and ‘counterstories’ provided by a group of nontradi- tional students attending one Canadian university through an access or ‘bridging’ program. What this volume clearly illustrates is not only the importance of these programs but also the various strengths required of students from marginalized backgrounds as they endeavor to make better lives for themselves and their families through higher education.” Martin D. Ruck, Professor of Urban Education and Director, CUNY Pipeline Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA “Centering the experiences of first-generation students who confront multiple barriers to postsecondary education, this rich, evocative book challenges widely held views about the ‘ideal’ college or university student. James and Taylor brilliantly locate the lives of first-generation students in the complex dynamics of family, community, citizenship, and the demands of the everyday. Through the realities of eight protagonists, they make the compelling case that first-generation students and their families hold deep aspirations for education and its promise of a better life. Above all, this book is about the power of counterstories and what they reveal about agency and determination.” Erica S. Lawson, Associate Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada “Here we meet Kofi, Tristana, Laura, Sam, Jasmine, Amy, Ewart, and Jafari—first-generation Canadians in a program enabling them to attend university. In chapters about each student, the authors make sense of their lives and education in this counter tour de force. Across each page is a yearning to be human against normalized poverty, racism, crimi- nalization, queerphobia, domestic violence, and sexual abuse that back- drops shifting lives and hopes. Passions and dreams are found, lost, and reconfigured. Raising profound questions about structure, belonging, citizenship, and selective immigration policy, this book also tells a mov- ing story about the power of caring adults.” Julia Hall, Professor, Educational Leadership & Policy, D’Youville University, Buffalo, NY, USA FIRST-GENERATION STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION Counterstories Carl E. James and Leanne E. Taylor Cover image: SDI Productions / Getty Images First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Carl E. James and Leanne E. Taylor The right of Carl E. James and Leanne E. Taylor to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: James, Carl E., author. | Taylor, Leanne E., 1974- author. Title: First-generation student experiences in higher education : counterstories / Carl E. James and Leanne E. Taylor. Description: New York : Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022017558 (print) | LCCN 2022017559 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367547165 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367547158 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003090281 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: First-generation college students--United States. | First-generation college students--United States--Interviews. | First-generation college students--United States--Biography. | People with social disabilities--Education (Higher)--United States. | Education, Higher--Social aspects--United States. | Student aspirations--United States. Classification: LCC LC4069.6 .J36 2023 (print) | LCC LC4069.6 (ebook) | DDC 378.1/9820973--dc23/eng/20220707 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022017558 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022017559 ISBN: 978-0-367-54716-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-54715-8 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-09028-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003090281 Typeset in Bembo by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. For Bryxton Bakari. CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgments xx 1 Marginalized Youth in Postsecondary Institutional Contexts 1 2 Kofi: “Education Will Get You to the Station”: The Possibilities of Merit in University Education 16 3 Tristana: “Education Is a Way to Fight Oppression”: Giving Back to the Community 31 4 Laura: “I Am Determined to Make Other Choices for My Life”: Education as a Path to Upward Social Mobility 47 5 Sam: “If I’m Portuguese, I Can’t Be Gay”: Negotiating Identity in a University Space 63 6 Jasmine: “I Am Determined to Break Away from My Antiquated Tradition”: Education as Survival 79 7 Amy: “I Don’t Need to Be Held Down by the Shackles of My Misery”: Balancing Stigma, Pride, and Expectations 94 viii Contents 8 Ewart: “I Really Wasn’t Ready”: Expectations and Dilemmas in Navigating University 109 9 Jafari: “I Felt Alone and Out of Place”: The Experiences and Ambition of a “Non-Canadian” 126 Conclusion: Reimagining Postsecondary Education 142 References 148 Index 161 PREFACE Understanding the Lives, Experiences, and Ambitions of First-Generation University Students After she [Ewart’s mother] came here; she struggled with me by herself … . She really didn’t do anything with her life, so a lot of her youth was invested in me, so it’s like an investment that she made in myself, so I kind of want to make something of my life and make her feel as if she didn’t waste her time … . I have to go to university to do this. —Ewart, second-generation Canadian of Jamaican parents University is a source of pride for me and creates a positive impact to my neighborhood, family, friends … . Being in university gives my family status and pride within our community. Going to university also fights issues of racism, sexism etc. that suppresses my family and people like me. Thus, university empowers me. —Tristana, second-generation Canadian of Latin American parents In 2001, we formed a project team that worked with community agency staff to recruit young people from marginalized communities and offer them the opportunity to attend York University, where we worked, and Seneca College, the community college with which York is affiliated. The project—called Bridging the Solitudes—was developed in response to research showing that marginalized youth—specifically, low-income, first-generation Canadians (individuals born elsewhere), recent immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous and racialized (especially Black) youth—were consist- ently less likely than mainstream youth to pursue university and college;