Stern School of Business, New York University.
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2020 Nov;119(5):1112-1131. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000234. Epub 2020 Feb 27.
United States higher education prioritizes independence as the cultural ideal. As a result, first-generation students (neither parent has a four-year degree) often confront an initial cultural mismatch early on in college settings: they endorse relatively interdependent cultural norms that diverge from the independent cultural ideal. This initial cultural mismatch can lead first-generation students to perform less well academically compared with continuing-generation students (one or more parents have a four-year degree) early in college. Yet, what happens as first-generation students experience the university culture throughout their time in college? Using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches, we find that initial cultural mismatch is associated with psychological and academic costs that persist until graduation. First, at college entry, we find social class differences in cultural norms: first-generation students endorse more interdependent cultural norms than their continuing-generation peers. Second, endorsing interdependence at college entry predicts reduced subjective sense of fit in college four years later. Third, lower subjective sense of fit predicts lower grade point average and subjective social status upon graduation. Together, these results suggest that initial cultural mismatch contributes to worse experiences and academic outcomes among first-generation students, and that these disparities persist even until graduation. Further, we find that social class differences in cultural norms remain stable throughout college: first-generation students continue to endorse more interdependence than do continuing-generation students. We suggest providing access is not sufficient to reduce social class inequity; colleges need to create more inclusive environments to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds can reap similar rewards. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
美国高等教育将独立性作为文化理想。因此，第一代学生（父母均未获得四年制学位）在大学环境中经常面临最初的文化不匹配：他们认同相对相互依存的文化规范，与独立的文化理想不同。这种最初的文化不匹配可能导致第一代学生在大学早期的学业表现不如继续接受教育的学生（父母中至少有一人获得了四年制学位）。然而，第一代学生在整个大学期间经历大学文化时会发生什么？通过横断面和纵向研究方法，我们发现最初的文化不匹配与持续到毕业的心理和学术成本有关。首先，在大学入学时，我们发现文化规范存在社会阶层差异：第一代学生比继续接受教育的同龄人更认同相互依存的文化规范。其次，在大学入学时认同相互依存关系预示着四年后在大学中的归属感降低。第三，归属感较低预示着毕业时的平均绩点和主观社会地位较低。总之，这些结果表明，最初的文化不匹配会导致第一代学生的体验和学业成绩更差，而且这种差距甚至持续到毕业。此外，我们发现文化规范中的社会阶层差异在整个大学期间保持稳定：第一代学生继续比继续接受教育的学生更认同相互依存关系。我们建议提供机会并不足以减少社会阶层的不平等；大学需要创造更具包容性的环境，以确保来自不同背景的学生能够获得类似的回报。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。
