Students who are the first in their family to start a course in higher education more often choose their course of study for economic reasons than generation students. This is the conclusion of a study by the Free University of Brussels. In addition, they would like to become a role model in their community through their studies.
Previous studies have already shown that first-generation students, or pioneer students, more often opt for courses such as business economics than for arts or humanities. Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Gil Keppens researched what drives them to do so and therefore surveyed 2,338 first-year students at university.
As with other first-year students, ‘self-development’ appears to be an important motivator for pioneer students, but they still distinguish themselves in two areas. On the one hand, pioneer students consciously choose an education that they believe can lead to economically interesting or profitable professions.
Furthermore, they are highly motivated to reinvest in their community, preferably as a role model. “This can be largely explained by the fact that many pioneer students are also students with a migration background,” said Dr. Keppens. This group more often opts for an economically interesting study, regardless of the education level of the parents.
It is striking that these two motives go hand in hand for them. Those who follow a traditionally profitable study can become a role model. Fellow students whose parents did follow higher education have less ambition to do so, the study shows. If there is one, they usually just want to become a role model through financially less rewarding courses, such as the arts.
“The motivation to become a role model among pioneer students rests on an explicit awareness of the stereotypes and difficulties people ‘like them’ face in accessing and succeeding in higher education,” notes Dr. Keppens. “Although this awareness can act as a motivating factor, qualitative research shows that it also leads to feelings of tension, ambivalence, alienation and ultimately frustration.”
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
