Undergraduate Research Hub

The present qualitative study aims to understand how Latino/Hispanic herea er referred to as Latinx, parent involvement is different or similar among first- and second-generation college students in how they experience higher education and how parental education impacts the use of student support services. Hence, supporting Latinx student retention by developing university and parental relationships. Second-generation college students and Latinx parents were unable to be included in the study because of their scarcity or hesitation of participating. Therefore, participants included a convenience sample of six first-generation undergraduate students from a 4-year institution. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain their stories of parental involvement and student involvement. Results suggest that (1) first-generation college students experience a hands-off involvement from parents, however, they enjoyed the freedom this brought, (2) Latinx parents might have a misunderstanding of college student identity, and (3) students expressed a desire to have their parents learn about and understand mental health. Implications of findings include universities creating more resources to support Latinx students’ mental health, as well as earlier school outreach for Latinx parent involvement to better inform them about the college lifestyle.