Better Positioned to Teach the Rules than to Change Them: University Actors in Two Low-Income, First-Generation Student Support Programs

Low-income, first-generation (LIFG) students complete college at disproportionately low rates. This qualitative study examines this gap from the perspective of university actors who directly support LIFG students in two student support programs at one public university. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations, this study investigates how these actors conceptualize the problems that LIFG students face, the solutions that will yield success, and their work in relation to the wider goals of the university. The researcher finds that program staff and mid-level administrators have a deep understanding of the barriers that LIFG students face in mastering the rules of the academic field and the high costs when they fail. While both programs identify six common barriers to success, three structural and three individual, the programs work to mitigate only individual barriers. This one-sided solution reflects the staff and administrators’ own position within the academic social field; they do not have enough social, economic, or symbolic capital to enact structural changes within the university and feel largely powerless to change the inequitable rules of the game. This paper concludes with recommendations for future research and institutional efforts to support the success of LIFG students.