STUDENT VOICE AND ACADEMIC CHOICE: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN FIRST-GENERATION, LIBERAL ARTS STUDENTS' CHOICE TO PURSUE GRADUATE STUDY

Abstract

This qualitative study explored motivational factors informing the choice to pursue graduate study among 14 first-generation Liberal Arts, college graduates from Striver, a large, urban, public university. As a graduate degree has increasingly become the common gateway for upward social mobility in U.S. society, identifying the source of this population's post-baccalaureate motivations and value assessments of an advanced degree will contribute to a broader understanding of college student aspirations and potential barriers to academic and professional success for students from first-generation backgrounds. Analysis of student narratives through the respective lenses of Eccles' et al., (1983) Expectancy-Value and Bandura's (1986) Self-Efficacy Theories yielded four major themes. The first identified the role of critical socializers in co-creating expectations for high achievement (even within lower attainment environments). The second demonstrated the prevalence of incongruous appraisals of ability (as defined by GPA and self-reported past performances) in assessments of efficacy for graduate study. The latter themes identified perceived values and costs associated with the choice process and raised further questions about access to timely and reliable information to inform these value assessments. These four emergent themes were relatively consistent with Battle and Wigfield's (2003) finding on the role of intrinsic, attainment and utility value in graduate choice, but offered a slightly nuanced understanding of what is termed here as "social impact values" and subsequent costs to post-baccalaureate choice. With institutions of higher education serving key roles in student progression from the undergraduate to graduate level, this research sought to inform future institutional approaches toward engaging and supporting first-generation college students seeking advanced degrees. Research on the choice process of graduate degree-seekers has been primarily quantitative in nature, so the present study adds a missing qualitative voice to this growing body of work.