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Culture / Ethnicity / Race

(PS5-B35) Perceptions of Social Class Identity Integration and Family Social Capital Among University Students

Friday, November 17, 2023
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7
First-generation (FGC) and continuing-generation (CGC) students are found to be different regarding family capital and social class. Because they have an extended family capital and are generally middle or higher social class, CGC students adjust to college better than FGC (Herrmann & Varnum, 2018a; Herrmann et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2018). Literature supports that social class can be considered as culture and is important to an individual's self-concept. American universities tend to encompass middle- and upper-class norms. Accordingly, self-concept within educational environments is defined by the level of acculturation to the middle-class culture. Specifically, the Social Class Bicultural Identity Integration (SES-BII) framework explains the experiences of FGC students through possible predictive variables that assist or hinder them in their integration into the cultural context of higher education. Similar to ethnic bicultural individuals, FGC students go through a shift of cultural contexts, which allows them to be identified as bicultural. When bicultural individuals feel that their identities are harmonious and compatible with the higher education culture, their acculturative stress is reduced. This reduction may yield an increased probability of success in higher education.

Objective: To investigate the influence of family social capital on the FGC and CGC student population’s social class identity integration. It is hypothesized that students with lower levels of family capital will have lower levels of social class identity integration. Vice versa, students with higher levels of family capital will have higher levels of social class identity. PARTICIPANTS: Data will be gathered from the undergraduate students at Sam Houston State University (SHSU). The first-generation student ratio in the overall undergraduate student population is 1.3:1. SHSU has a diverse student body. There are 11,575 students (63% female) aged between 17 to 50+, 54% within the age range of 18-29. The ethnic identities include 47% White, 27% Hispanic, 16% Black or African American, and 10% other.

Method: Within a cross-sectional correlational design, the self-report measures of the Social Class Bicultural Identity Scale and the Family Social Capital Questionnaire will be administered via a secure online platform. Further, the participants will complete a demographic questionnaire including their socioeconomic background. Timeline for data collection: At the end of August 2023, the instructors of the large courses offered in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will promote the study by providing extra credit. EXPECTED RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS: It is expected that our hypotheses will be confirmed, and the implications can serve to bring further resources to a diverse population of students acculturating to higher education. Over, the results may highlight the possible heterogeneity in the CGC student population which can increase the specificity of the interventions.