Although earning a 4-year college degree is the most reliable way to end up with a higher socioeconomic status, college students without parents who attended 4-year colleges get lower grades and are more likely to drop out than students who have at least one parent with a 4 year degree. 
-  First -generation students are those that do not have parents with a 4-year college degree 
-  Continuing generation students are those that have at least one parent with a 4 year degree

A paradox exists in social mobility in the United States 

-  Background 
-  Purpose
-  Methods
-  Measures
-  Outcome Variables
-  Analyses
-  Results

Experiences and Outcomes of First-Generation Students in Community Colleges

-  Background & Purpose
-  Research Questions
-  Methods
-  Findings
-  Conclusion

Understanding Students’ Parental Education Beyond First-Generation Status

One of the two main backgrounds that disadvantaged students in STEM courses tend to have, potentially leading to an achievement gap compared to the majority students:

- first-generation students (FG): a student who is the first in their family to attend college or receive higher education, since neither of their parents had a 4-year college degree
- in contrast with continuing-generation students (CG), FG students are of a sizable minority in college but tend to quit college compared to CG students
- the URM and FG backgrounds for disadvantaged students tend to overlap, as students can be of both identities, which is what the research study addresses

Closing Gaps with a Utility-Value Intervention- First-Generation Students

- A study on the effects of parental involvement on educational aspirations of first-generation (FG) vs. non-first-generations students (NFG).
   - Studied if there is a difference between educational aspirations and the actual level of education FG students obtained.
   - Studied the level of education among FG students using gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
- The researchers obtained longitudinal data from two samples of 1,879 students from the National Educational Educational Longitudinal Study 1988 - 2000.

The Gap between Educational Aspirations and Attainment for First-Generation College Students and the Role of Parental Involvement

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between students with parents with high educational attainment and students with parents with low educational attainment. 

San Jose State University

- Race
- Gender
- Income
- Language
- Disability
- Parent Education Level
- Nationality
- Technology
- Traditional
- Cultural differences
- The Impact of Coronavirus

Types of Achievement Gaps in Education

Achievement Gap Definition (2013, Dec. 19). The Glossary of Education Reform. https://www.edglossary.org/achievement-gap/

Achievement Gap Definition

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between white and minority students.

Race Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between high- and low-income students.

Income Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between non-disabled and disabled students.

Disability Achievement Gap

Parent Education Level Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between domestic and international students. 

Nationality Achievement Gap

-  1) Which variables should we use in our analysis? Why?
-  2) What types of achievement gap can we study? Why?
-  3) How should we define each type of achievement gap based on the available data and how it's defined in the literature?
-  4) Why does it matter to study the effect of the pandemic on that achievement gap? and what do you hypothesize of the effect of the pandemic on that achievement gap? Why? Please find and cite supporting literature.

Time to Innovate: Discussion and Ideas for the Achievement Gap Research Question

This paper compares students who are considered traditional against nontraditional students in terms of academic success. The summary and results note that nontraditional students tend to struggle with their GPA and completion of college, especially if they represent more aspects that are considered against the norm of the college student population.  

Traditional vs Nontraditional Students

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between male and female students.

Gender Gap in Education

Difference of students' performances from different culture.

Cultural differences achievement gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between native English-speaking students and ESL/ELL students.

Language Gap in Education

- Discuss  the differences in educational achievement levels between African Americans, Afro-Caribbean, and African students within the USA
- Cultural differences and parental involvement factors as the potential reasons

Cultural, Ethnic Differences, Parental Involvem Differences, and Educational Achievement of African Heritage Students: Towards Employing a Culturally Sensitive Curriculum in K-12 Classrooms,
a Literature Review

- Academics
- Achievement Gap
- Nutritional Health

The Impact of Coronavirus

- Social identity threat is a process that occurs when a person’s view of themselves is at threat due to being a member of a group that is marginalized in the context they find themselves in. The context is key as a group may be marginalized in one context but not in another.
- Demographic composition is especially important for marginalized groups as a low number of members of their group can signal social identity threat.
- Schools are a place where social identity threat is likely to emerge, especially if there is a preconceived notion of race and achievement. 
- Social identity threat has been shown to affect students’ performance as seen through stereotype threat (a subset of social identity threat).

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