This section provides a small, curated selection of literature on the experiences of first-generation college students and transfer students.

Female UCSB student reading sitting on the ucsb library floor

First-Generation College Students

  • Almeida, D., Byrne, A., Smith, R., & Ruiz, S. (2019). How Relevant Is Grit? The Importance of Social Capital in First-Generation College Students’ Academic Success. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 152102511985468.
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  • Covarrubias, R. (2014). Movin’ on up (to College): First-Generation College Students’ Experiences With Family Achievement Guilt. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(3), 420-429.
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  • Covarrubias, R., Romero, A., & Trivelli, M. (2015). Family Achievement Guilt and Mental Well-being of College Students. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(7), 2031-2037.
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  • Dennis, J., Phinney, J., & Chuateco, L. (2005). The Role of Motivation, Parental Support, and Peer Support in the Academic Success of Ethnic Minority First-Generation College Students. Journal of College Student Development, 46(3), 223-236. 
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  • Inkelas, K., Daver, K., Vogt, Z., & Leonard, K. (2007). Living–Learning Programs and First-Generation College Students’ Academic and Social Transition to College. Research in Higher Education, 48(4), 403-434.
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  • Jehangir, R. (2010). Stories as Knowledge: Bringing the Lived Experience of First-Generation College Students Into the Academy. Urban Education, 45(4), 533-553.
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  • Moreno. (2019). The Guilt of Success: Looking at Latino First-Generation College Students’ Experience of Leaving Home. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education
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  • Talusan, L. & Franke, R. (2019). (Un)fulfilling requirements: Satisfactory academic progress and its impact on first-generation, low-income, Asian American students. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 5(1), 15-28
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  • Tate, K. (2015). An Exploration of First-Generation College Students’ Career Development Beliefs and Experiences. Journal of Career Development., 42(4), 294-310.
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Transfer Students

  • Harbin, C. (1997). A Survey of Transfer Students at Four-Year Institutions Serving a California Community College. Community College Review, 25(2), 21-40.
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  • Jain, D., Bernal, S., Lucero, I., Herrera, A., & Solorzano, D. (2016). Toward a Critical Race Perspective of Transfer: An Exploration of a Transfer Receptive Culture. Community College Journal of Research and Practice: New Approaches to Transfer Research: Implications for Policy and Practice, 40(12), 1013-1024.
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  • Rosenberg, M. (2016). Understanding the Adult Transfer Student-Support, Concerns, and Transfer Student Capital. Community College Journal of Research and Practice: New Approaches to Transfer Research: Implications for Policy and Practice, 40(12), 1058-1073.
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  • Smith, D. (2016). Operating in the Middle: The Experiences of African American Female Transfer Students in STEM Degree Programs at HBCUs. Community College Journal of Research and Practice: New Approaches to Transfer Research: Implications for Policy and Practice, 40(12), 1025-1039.
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  • Starobin, S., Smith, D., & Santos Laanan, F. (2016). Deconstructing the Transfer Student Capital: Intersect between Cultural and Social Capital among Female Transfer Students in STEM Fields. Community College Journal of Research and Practice: New Approaches to Transfer Research: Implications for Policy and Practice, 40(12), 1040-1057.
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Transfer Resources for Administrators

  • Fann, A., & Marling, Janet L. (2013). Campus Administrator and Student Perspectives for Improving Transfer Policy and Practice. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 27-38.
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  • Grites, T., & Marling, Janet L. (2013). Successful Transitions From Two‐Year to Four‐Year Institutions. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 61-68.
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  • Herrera, A., Jain, D., & Marling, Janet L. (2013). Building a Transfer‐Receptive Culture at Four‐Year Institutions. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 51-59.
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  • Jackson, D., Starobin, S., Laanan, F., & Marling, Janet L. (2013). The Shared Experiences: Facilitating Successful Transfer of Women and Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Fields. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 69-76.
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  • Jain, D., Bernal Melendez, N., & Herrera, A. (2020). Power to the Transfer : Critical Race Theory and a Transfer Receptive Culture (Perspectives on access, equity, and diversifying pathways in P-20 education). East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
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  • Marling, J. (2013). Navigating the New Normal: Transfer Trends, Issues, and Recommendations. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 77-87.
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  • Poisel, M., & Joseph, S. (2018). Building transfer student pathways for college and career success. Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina.
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Transfer Resources for Institutional Researchers

  • Laanan, F., & Jain, D. (2016). Advancing a New Critical Framework for Transfer Student Research: Implications for Institutional Research. New Directions for Institutional Research, (170), 9.
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  • Urias, M., Falcon, V., Harris, F., & Wood, J. (2016). Narratives of Success: A Retrospective Trajectory Analysis of Men of Color Who Successfully Transferred from the Community College. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2016(170), 23-33.
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