Campus Service Workers Supporting First-Generation Students: Informal Mentorship and Culturally Relevant Support as Key to Student Retention and Success

The book showcases the significant impact of campus service workers on the retention and success of first-generation college students, emphasizing the need for institutional investment in these workers. It provides insights into the challenges faced by first-generation and minority students and offers strategies for supporting their well-being and success.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 242 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This remarkable collection of testimonials, critical essays, and firsthand accounts showcases the indispensable role of campus service workers in fostering the retention and success of first-generation college students. By employing a Freirean framework to anchor individual narratives, the text identifies the various ways in which campus workers establish connections with students, offer informal mentorship, and provide culturally relevant support throughout students' transition to college and beyond. Through a comprehensive synthesis of interviews, case studies, and research studies, the text emphasizes the distinct challenges faced by first-generation and minority students, including cultural alienation, imposter syndrome, language barriers, and financial insecurity. Ultimately, the text challenges prevailing notions of social hierarchies that divide workers and college students, advocating for institutional investments in these workers and their vital contribution to student well-being and academic achievement.

This book holds immense value for researchers, academics, and educators with a keen interest in the field of higher education and student affairs practice, as well as higher education administration more broadly. Those with a specific focus on multicultural education and the study of race and ethnicity within the United States higher educational contexts will find this book particularly enriching.

Weight: 490g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032050874