Abstract

Background: Numerous studies acknowledged the potential struggles that first generation (FG) and low-income students (LI) face as they attempt to navigate the college degree pipeline. One struggle these students may face is an aversion to engaging authority figures. Unlike their peers, both FG and LI students can come from families with little to no college literacy, and this lack of support, coupled with not seeking out assistance from authority figures on campus, could lead to potential problems. This lack of engagement with authority figures may be related to childhood socialization such as Cultivation of Intellectual Independence (CII). Individuals with high CII have been taught to think and act independently. The purpose of this study is to explore whether either FG or LI's CII assist them in engaging authority figures. Method: This study took data from Wave 1 and 2 of the 2005 National Longitudinal Study of Freshman. NLS sample of 3,924 students was used to measure FG and LI students during their first year of college. In order to accomplish this goal, an OLS regression analysis was run to regress each of the five wave 2 (spring of their first year) engagement questions on the variables: FG, LI, CII scale, Race, Sex, U.S. Born, HS teachers interest, Living on campus, working for pay, and trouble with family. Results: While CII was a significant factor in the engagement of authority figures, as predicted, FG and LI status did not match our predictions. LI students in this analysis were more likely to engage authority figures, instead of less likely, as was predicted, and FG status was not a significant predictor. Conclusion: This study aims to further our understanding of both FG and LI students' engagement of authority figures.

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Graduation Date

2018

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Hinojosa, Melanie

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007217

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007166

Language

English

Release Date

August 2018

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Sociology Commons

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