In March I mentioned Professor Ken Smith of Indiana University - South Bend, who blogs about instructional technologies. We exchanged messages about mutual interests, and he said
Our campus has long served many first-generation college students coming from families without a tradition of giving to the university or even attending events on campus. We’re trying to create a new culture that makes the university a richer part of the region’s life....
Ken was curious whether there are examples of institutions that had learned how to engage this audience effectively. And his comment about "first-generation college students" made me wonder about those graduates' relationships with their alma mater - and not just in terms of giving. How will their overall pattern of engagement look? Will they be more likely to
- come to a reunion?
- pay membership dues?
- submit a class note?
- read the magazine?
An admittedly quick scan for research on this topic yields nothing related to first-generation alumni relationships. However, using NCES statistics, the authors of a paper called The National Academy Foundation’s Career Academies [pdf] indicate that nationally,
in 1995, only 47 percent of high school graduates whose parents had no college education enrolled in college the fall after high school completion. In 1999, the figure was about 54 percent....First-generation students nationally are also not very likely to enroll in four-year postsecondary institutions; only 30 percent of first-generation college students did so in 1995.
Clearly the numbers are small. And yet, if this cohort's behavior is measurably different from that of alumni with college-going family backgrounds, alumni directors at schools with many first-generation college enrollees will want to take note. This is an area with great potential for useful research.
