First-Gen Champions: Three Ways to Beat Imposter Syndrome

First-generation college students often struggle to transition to college life. Without background knowledge from their parents or families’ experiences, their access to resources or motivation to self-advocate are lower than those of their second-generation peers. The result, as coined by Clance and Imes in 1987, is Imposter Phenomenon, a term that later involved into Imposter Syndrome, which is believing that they are incapable of succeeding and do not belong. However, not all first-generation students transfer or drop out of school. How do they succeed, and how do programs designed by college administrators support them?

1. Faculty Guidance and Relationship-Building

At first, a relationship with professors can seem like too simple of an answer. Reaching out to academic experts can be awkward, uncomfortable, and downright hard. However, as Demetriou et al. point out in their 2017 study, when the faculty make the efforts to reach out and offer their expertise to the students, the results are more meaningful learning opportunities and more invested student researchers. When faculty invest their time, and break down the authoritarian barrier, first-gen students learn the benefits of confiding in the experts without feeling vulnerable

2. Student Integration to Campus Environment

When entering college, it is often clear whether the environment feels right for the individual transitioning. For first-generation students, it is imperative to feel a part of the group, rather than as a visitor who needs permission to continue their work. As Woosley and Shepler surmise in their 2011 study, campuses that use orientation programming and departments designed to help first-generation or low-income working-class students transition to the environment, the initial anxieties of having real campus connections

3. Family involvement

A key issue for first-generation students is having someone understand their transition and their obstacles.Calling home to families that do not understand or dismiss these obstacles can compound the hardships for the students.When institutions integrate families into the transition process and make them aware of what the college experience is, students receive a newfound anchor in their families that will act as a north star in times of personal and academic turmoil.

These tips are for first-generation college students to consider when choosing the right college for them, but more importantly they are for administrators who are looking to learn how best to serve this population of students that would otherwise fall through the cracks.

References

Chrisman, S.M., Pieper, W., Clance, P.R., Holland, C., & Glickauf-Hughes, C. (1995). Validation of the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65(3), 456.

Demetriou, C., Meece, J., Eaker-Rich, D., & Powell, C. (2017). The activities, roles, and relationships of successful first-generation college students. Journal of College Student Development, 58(1), 19-36. doi:10.1353/csd.2017.0001

Woosley, S. & Shepler, D. (2011). Understanding the early integration experiences of first-generation college students. College Student Journal 45(4), 700-714.