Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Stephens, Nicole M.
• Townsend, Sarah S. M.
• Carey, Rebecca M.
• Hamedani, MarYam G.
• Brannon, Tiffany N.
• Murphy, Mary C.
• Brown-Schmidt, Sarah

Titel

The Benefits of Difference-Education Interventions in Lower-Resourced Institutions

Ist Teil von

• Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2024-02, Vol.153 (2), p.399-417

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Difference-education is an intervention that addresses psychological barriers that can undermine the academic performance of first-generation college students (i.e., those who have parents without 4-year degrees). Difference-education interventions improve first-generation students' performance by empowering them to navigate higher education environments more effectively. They also improve students' comfort with social group difference. However, these benefits have only been documented in higher-resourced institutions. The present research asks two questions about whether these benefits also extend to lower-resourced institutions-that is, schools with fewer resources to invest in students than the universities where prior difference-education interventions were delivered. First, is difference-education effective in improving first-generation students' academic performance in lower-resourced institutions, and does it do so by increasing empowerment? Second, does difference-education improve comfort with social group difference in lower-resourced institutions, and is it unique in its ability to do so? With students from four lower-resourced institutions, we examined these questions by comparing the results of a difference-education intervention to a control condition and social-belonging intervention. We found that while some benefits of difference-education interventions extend to lower-resourced institutions, others do not. First, like prior interventions, difference-education improves first-generation students' academic performance and comfort with social group difference. Unlike prior interventions, these effects did not persist beyond the first term and students' academic performance benefits were not explained by empowerment. We also found partial evidence that the benefits for comfort with social group difference were unique compared to a social-belonging intervention. Public Significance Statement The majority of first-generation college students attend lower-resourced institutions (i.e., less selective schools with fewer financial resources). Yet, prior difference-education interventions have been conducted only at higher-resourced institutions (i.e., more selective schools with greater financial resources). This study asks whether the academic benefits of difference-education extend to four institutions that have fewer resources than sites where prior difference-education interventions have been delivered. We find that some of the benefits extend, and some do not. Specifically, in contrast to prior difference-education interventions, which demonstrated academic performance benefits for first-generation students throughout college, we find that difference-education in lower-resourced institutions improves first-generation students' grades only through the fall term. Moreover, in contrast to prior difference-education interventions, which showed that students' grades improved through a sense of empowerment, we find that difference-education in lower-resourced institutions did not increase empowerment. While these results suggest that the benefits of difference-education are somewhat dampened in lower-resourced contexts due to the different structural and psychological barriers students contend with, the intervention can still offer some benefits to first-generation students.