Abstract:
Departing early from university can have both short- and long-term financial, emotional and social repercussions for learners. For those who are the first in their families to attend university, the impacts of this early departure can often be particularly significant, reverberating through families and communities (Spiegler & Bednarek, 2014). Unfortunately, whilst university participation across some equity groups has increased, the retention rates of first-in-family students remains low (O’Shea, 2022). The profound social, spatial, and temporal changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in conjunction with devastating global conflicts, energy crises, and the rising cost of living, have also accelerated inequities both within and outside the education sector, further compounding first-in-family students’ persistence at university (Marczuk & Lörz, 2023).
Given that much of our existing understanding about student departure focuses on psychological or attitudinal factors, in this study we adopt a different stance by illuminating first-in-family students’ lived experience of persistence. Drawing on interview data from three complementary studies, we demonstrate how personal ‘mantras’ act to encourage learners in persisting at university. We conceptualise mantras as a “means of creating, conveying, concentrating and realising intentional thought” (Gonda, 1963, p. 255), giving someone mental and/or physical strength. The following mantras were reconstructed by analysing the data according to coding procedures (Saldaña, 2021): (1) “Don’t give up and finish what you’ve started”, (2) “Proving people wrong”, (3) “Promised value of education” and (4) “Don’t make the same mistakes”. Our findings show that these mantras are deeply embedded in the students’ habitus and capitals, which are significantly shaped by familial interaction. However, we argue that recognising the importance of such mantras and how these may diverge from the normalised values and expectations within higher education is key, particularly if universities genuinely wish to improve the retention of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
References:
Gonda, J. (1963). The Indian mantra, Oriens, 16, 244-297.
Marczuk, A., & Lörz, M. (2023). Did the Poor Get Poorer? The Impact of COVID-19 on Social Inequalities Between International and Domestic Students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 1-20.
O’Shea, S. (2022). Negotiating embodied aspirations: Exploring the emotional labour of higher education persistence for female caregivers. In Student Carers in Higher Education (pp. 28-45). Routledge.
Saldaña, J. (2021). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: SAGE.
Spiegler, T., & Bednarek, A. (2013). First-generation students: What we ask, what we know and what it means: an international review of the state of research. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23(4), 318–337.
Given that much of our existing understanding about student departure focuses on psychological or attitudinal factors, in this study we adopt a different stance by illuminating first-in-family students’ lived experience of persistence. Drawing on interview data from three complementary studies, we demonstrate how personal ‘mantras’ act to encourage learners in persisting at university. We conceptualise mantras as a “means of creating, conveying, concentrating and realising intentional thought” (Gonda, 1963, p. 255), giving someone mental and/or physical strength. The following mantras were reconstructed by analysing the data according to coding procedures (Saldaña, 2021): (1) “Don’t give up and finish what you’ve started”, (2) “Proving people wrong”, (3) “Promised value of education” and (4) “Don’t make the same mistakes”. Our findings show that these mantras are deeply embedded in the students’ habitus and capitals, which are significantly shaped by familial interaction. However, we argue that recognising the importance of such mantras and how these may diverge from the normalised values and expectations within higher education is key, particularly if universities genuinely wish to improve the retention of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
References:
Gonda, J. (1963). The Indian mantra, Oriens, 16, 244-297.
Marczuk, A., & Lörz, M. (2023). Did the Poor Get Poorer? The Impact of COVID-19 on Social Inequalities Between International and Domestic Students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 1-20.
O’Shea, S. (2022). Negotiating embodied aspirations: Exploring the emotional labour of higher education persistence for female caregivers. In Student Carers in Higher Education (pp. 28-45). Routledge.
Saldaña, J. (2021). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: SAGE.
Spiegler, T., & Bednarek, A. (2013). First-generation students: What we ask, what we know and what it means: an international review of the state of research. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23(4), 318–337.