Beyond social mobility, college students value giving back to society
Students who are the first in their family to attend college tend to see it as a means to improve their personal lives and as an opportunity for social mobility. That contrasts with the main message students get from policymakers and universities that largely emphasize career growth.
This is the main finding from interviews we conducted with 21 undergraduate students at the University of California, Davis interested in education as a possible career. Eleven of the students were first generation. The rest were what we call continuing education students; that is, people whose parents went to college. They were all either sophomores, juniors or seniors.
Our aim was to understand how first-generation students view the role of higher education in their lives and in society.