Crossing classes: a test of the social class bicultural identity integration model on academic performance for first-generation college students

While more first-generation college (FGC) students are enrolling in college than ever before, these students still have poorer performance and higher rates of dropout than continuing-generation college (CGC) students. While many theories have predicted the academic performance of FGC students, few have taken into account the cultural transition to the university context. Similar to ethnic biculturals, FGC students must adjust to the middle-class culture of the university, and face challenges negotiating different cultural identities. I propose that FGC students who perceive their working- and middle-class identities as harmonious and compatible should have improved performance, compared to those that perceive their identities as incompatible. In three preliminary studies, I demonstrate that first-generation college students identify as social class bicultural, that integrated social class identities are positively related to well-being, health, and performance, that the effects of integrated identities on health and well-being are mediated by reduced acculturative stress. The current studies explore whether these effects persist across time and whether exposure to middle-class norms before college predict social class bicultural identity integration for FGC students. Results demonstrate that the effects of social class bicultural identity integration on depression and academic performance persist across time and that exposure to college graduates before college

predicts social class bicultural identity integration.