In the world that we live today, attaining higher education is among the life satisfaction, comfort, freedom, and future success identifying and prominent factors that every individual desire. The lucrative employment standards and qualifications have significantly increased in the last years, underlining the need for students to pursue college degrees. First-generation students in college are among the underrepresented populations in colleges (House et al., 2020). The FGCS (First generation college students) refer to the individuals whose parents have had a chance to join schools and attained their diplomas in high school but never had a chance to obtain their college degrees. The FGCS also face several stressors in college, especially those related to transitioning to the said new context, meaning that many experience mental health problems as they study (Pace et al., 2018). Depression and stress are relatively the occurrences that campus students commonly experience, with 14.6 percent feeling depressed and 4.3 percent being found to have considered suicide (Pace et al., 2018). Stress is seen as fundamental among college learners, making several students think that having assistance is not essential. Such incidences of lack of seeking assistance are unfortunate since it has been associated with adverse academic and health outcomes. Therefore, students should always find ways of adjusting in college to avoid such outcomes. This review will focus on answering the questions: Who are the first-generation college students, what barriers do they face while adjusting to their college community, and how do they seek help for mental health problems?
According to House et al. (2020), the FGCS mainly comprises immigrants’ children, minorities, and those from low socio-economic status backgrounds. They also seem to mostly be individuals who work full time, live off-campus and are older than their student peers who are traditionally non-first generation. They are less informed, are not well supported by their families, and have less money and confidence to enter colleges than non-FGCS. Some researchers refer to them as campus community “invisibles’. FGCS are also not academically ambitious compared to the NFGCS (non-FGCS). The FGCS are among the student populations that are rapidly growing, with about thirty-four percent of the freshmen population in the universities. However, the group has been identified as the individuals at risk and with the highest dropout rates in postsecondary education (House et al., 2020). Studies that explored the degree of connectedness among themselves (sense of belonging) and the degree to which every student feels integrated into the environment of the colleges they join regarding the educational experience and how this connectedness affects their mental health indicated that there was a vast difference between NFGCS and FGCS. FGCS had a sense of belonging lower than their counterparts, accompanied by higher depression and stress levels. It was also found that FGCS showed the need to use services associated with mental health but never used them. However, many college students (FGCS) were proud of being their families’ first to join college. They were determined to help themselves, and their parents, who they argued were struggling a lot to cater to their basic needs (House et al., 2020). These students are suggested to have a strong desire and purpose of adjusting to the college community, and also, their families view them in higher regard.
Pace et al. (2018) argued that mental health services awareness and utilization on college campuses during the transition to campuses is salient, especially for first gen learners. College students seeking mental health services face the problem of insufficient knowledge, and the study suggested that thirty percent of these learners never even understood any available counselling services. The students without the knowledge of the existing services have never known the type of help provided (Pace et al., 2018). Stigma is also among the factors that make it difficult for the FGCS to seek help concerning mental health, and differential impacts are associated with it. The students who are stigmatized by seeking mental health services fear that society will look down upon them or face discrimination because of the opposing views that the community/society has regarding seeking help (Pace et al., 2018). These students transitioning to college from high school face more difficulties that make them require mental health resources on campus. However, some of their peers consider them the mad, bad guys whenever they seek those resources and end up becoming maladaptive and depressed. According to Pace et al. (2018), mental health services awareness is among the main problems on campuses. The survey shows that over one-third of the individuals in the study never knew that their university offered counselling services.
In addition, the 1st generation students have problems that are more typical of NFGCS, including the new environments they find in their colleges and, more specifically, different living situations along with anxieties that students generally experience like career choices and course selection (Jenkins et al., 2013). Adverse emotional reactions and academic stress are related and familiar, although typical stressors among the FGCS might seem severe to a more significant extent. According to Jenkins et al. (2013), NFGCS were also found to struggle more in their scientific reasoning in the second year, critical thinking, and academic success as a whole. All these challenges could influence the success and adaptation of first-generation college students.
Additionally, Sabaner & Arnold (2020) argued that the FGCS and the low-income students are ethnic or racial minority group members. The non-white students who join the PWIs (predominantly white institutions) may face many problems, including discrimination, microaggression, and racism (Sabaner & Arnold, 2020). These problems may lead to mental health concerns that include trauma, anxiety, stress, and substance abuse, making it difficult for these students to adjust to the college community. For Black college students from low-income families, racial minority status and minority lead them to alienation, isolation, low academic performance, and low self-esteem due to “culture shock” (Sabaner & Arnold, 2020). When six undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds were examined through a mental health lens to know what they experienced in their first college semester, it was found that they were facing immense academic stress and academic challenges that semester. Such issues made it difficult for them to adjust to the college environment, with many arguing that they were surprised by the challenges they faced in college.
Furthermore, Williams et al. (2020) examined the global context impact on the black first gen in colleges to know about their identity development in women. After examining their experiences along their minoritized gender, FGS status, and race lines using intersectionality theory, it was found that all six participants were discriminated against, which made them feel that their institutions betrayed them. Williams et al. (2020) argue that historically, black women were never allowed to join postsecondary education. They faced discrimination in one way or another and witnessed their friends being discriminated against (Williams et al., 2020). Nevertheless, despite the negative encounters and experiences, all the black women involved in this research identified support counter-spaces and mechanisms to developing healthy coping strategies in PWIs as they balanced development identity. They could resist institutional betrayal, struggle, and discrimination to meet their objectives, although the resistance was covert and overt. According to Jenkins et al. (2013), timely and appropriate counselling services can be essential, especially when dealing with the stress that the FGCS face. They can improve their performance by reducing attrition among them. These students confront typical frustrations, novelty, and anxieties of college and cultural and social transition stressors.
Gaps in the Review
The review analyzed all the stressors without differentiating and specifying them, especially those unique to FGCS. Also, the review mainly touched on the black FGCS, the minority, and those from low-income families without including their white counterparts who may have challenges adjusting to college in their first semester, particularly those from humble backgrounds because not all of them come from high social classes. Also, the problems they face have not been categorized much on gender to specify the hardships girls and boys face. The researchers would have more findings if they understood the challenges that boys face but girls don’t, and vice versa. All these aspects should be included in future research to give the researchers an excellent range to have broader findings.
In conclusion, this review has answered the questions: Who the first-generation college students are, what barriers do they face while adjusting to their college community, and how do they seek mental health problems help the FGCS number is currently growing and as they join colleges are determined to set new standards for their future generations, and themselves. But they face many challenges on their way, especially college attending financial problems. They are stressed out, depressed, and discriminated against, so they must always work more than their NFGCS counterparts to ensure that they stay afloat because they also have more obligations and responsibilities than others. Through their efforts and the counselling they get, they have proved to be more resilient. They are determined to succeed in environments where they are not much appreciated, and their efforts are underestimated.
References
House, L. A., Neal, C., & Kolb, J. (2020). Supporting the Mental Health Needs of First Generation College Students. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/87568225.2019.1578940
Jenkins, S. R., Belanger, A., Connally, M. L., Boals, A., & Durón, K. M. (2013). First-Generation Undergraduate Students’ Social Support, Depression, and Life Satisfaction. Journal of College Counseling, 16(2), 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2013.00032.x
Pace, K., Silk, K., Nazione, S., Fournier, L., & Collins-Eaglin, J. (2018). Promoting Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior Among First-Year College Students. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1250065
Sabaner, C., & Arnold, K. D. (2020). Mental Health in the Transition to College: Experiences of Six Low-Income, High-Achieving Students. doi: 10.1002/jocc.12174
Williams, Q., Williams, B., & Brown, L. C. (2020). Exploring Black girl magic: Identity development of Black first-gen college women. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education; http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000294%20466%202022,%20Vol.%2015,%20No.%204,%20466%E2%80%93%20479
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