Interesting! I taught a lot of first generation college students over 40 years; many of them didn't get a lot of support from their families (who were lucky to support themselves, financially and otherwise), but I don't recall hearing about a lot of actual resistance. In some cases, they were in college to prepare to take over the family farm or business. Of course, this is not data.
On Oct 23, 2011, at 7:32 PM, Paul C Bernhardt wrote: > I really appreciate this being said by Jim. > > We have a large number of first generation college students at our > university. My awareness of their unique situations has increased in the 4 > years I've been here. I'd honestly never before thought much of it due to > ignorance and my personal upbringing (both my family and that of nearly all > of my friends). When I first heard that one common unique problem of first > generation college students is resistance from their family about getting a > college education I was caught completely off guard, it stunned me. I was > raised by parents who both had advanced degrees (two J.D.s and an M.S.). > Getting a bachelors degree was the minimal expected standard for me. To hear > of youngsters whose parents didn't encourage and support their child going to > college surprised me. I came to understand that there are feeling of threat > that the child will become of a different culture and no longer love and > respect their family is a major aspect of the parent's concerns (the child is > becoming a member of an outgroup). > > This thing called education is not just transformative of an individual. It > gets passed on and spread widely yielding the real power of it. > > The individual level analysis to find cost-effectiveness is, IMO, failing to > account for the mass effects of having an educated society. > > As the old saying goes, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=13612 or send a blank email to leave-13612-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
