A Qualitative Examination of a New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program: Providing Access and Opportunity to First-Generation College Students

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A Qualitative Examination of a New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program: Providing Access and Opportunity to First-Generation College Students

Alvarez, Adrianna - Thesis

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title: A Qualitative Examination of a New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program: Providing Access and Opportunity to First-Generation College Students

creator: Alvarez, Adrianna

subject: Academic theses.

description: I identified the systemic and non-formal support services that supported the college completion of first-generation Black and Latinx students, who participated in the Higher Education Opportunity Program also known as HEOP, at a four-year private university in New York. I evaluated the meaning of rituals within the HEOP program culture, their importance to Black and Latinx students and whether and how the support services function as rituals that allow first-generation, “inadmissible” students to successfully integrate into the larger campus culture. I also examined how the support service, the program’s rituals and culture mitigate the impact of stereotype threat, while giving students a counternarrative about their intellectual capacity.I reviewed research on stereotype threat, counternarrtives, funds of knowledge and ritual theory in order to develop a theoretical understanding of why the HEOP program is successful in supporting the achievement and retention of low-income, first -generation Black and Latinx college students.Relying on a focus group of program graduates, I identify the support services and rituals that had the greatest impact on them. This research has a very special meaning for me because in 2009 I was admitted to a university as a HEOP student. In the future, I plan to raise awareness about the benefits of the HEOP program for Black and Latinx students, and work in a program that assists low-income, first-generation students throughout the college admission, retention and integration process.

publisher: Simmons College (Boston, Mass.)

contributor:

date: 2017

type: Text

format: 1 PDF (42 Pages)

identifier: td_gcs_2017_aa

source:

language: English

relation:

coverage:

rights: Material from the Simmons University Archives collections are made available for study purposes only. For more information, or to request rights to reproduce or reuse any material, contact the University Archives at archives@simmons.edu.

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