“When They Don’t Come”: A Narrative Inquiry into First-Generation Students’ Experiences with Student Support Programming

Abstract

There is a growing need for first-generation student-focused services in higher education, yet evidence about how such services should be structured and made most effective remains limited (Whitley et al., 2018). Motivated by this gap, this qualitative narrative study examined how first-generation college students perceive and navigate the barriers and supports that surround collegiate student success programming. Guided by Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (Situation, Self, Support, Strategies) and a narrative inquiry approach, ten students from a mid-sized regional university (sophomore to senior standing) participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their level of engagement with support programming. Transcripts underwent open and focused coding, followed by restorying mapped to the Moving In, Moving Through, and Moving Out stages. Four cross-case themes emerged. Awareness & Accessibility revealed that program discovery was largely incidental and shaped by program location; Relational Encouragement & Peer Influence showed that trusted endorsements reframed support as strategic rather than remedial; Structural & Personal Barriers included child care, work/class conflicts, commuting, and disability-related access issues, which created micro-exclusions that compounded disadvantage; and Confidence & Identity Formation illustrated how tangible wins (e.g. improved grades, solved processes) fostered belonging and moved students from help-seeking to help-giving. Findings suggest institutions should embed guided referrals in entry level courses, deploy pop-up satellite support sites in high traffic spaces, prioritize quick payoff workshops, and refine marketing for clarity. While limited to a single-site inquiry, trustworthiness was enhanced through analytic memoing and reflexive journaling. The study contributes evidence about where awareness breaks down, why the “right messenger” matters, and how small, visible wins sustain ongoing engagement for first-generation students.