“We are a family that works with our hands” or uterus: An exploration of first-generation female university students’ academic journey

Abstract

Working-class children are not as likely to obtain higher education, and the preeminent factor is their parents’ level of education. Thirty percent of all Canadian students are first-generation and are defined as students whose parents did not complete a four-year university degree. First-generation students (FGSs) who are female tend to be researched separately but with little focus on the intersections of class and gender, making this topic ripe for research. There is a gap in the literature regarding FGS’s narratives from a class-based perspective that examines the connection between family history and academic decision-making. The barriers first-generation female students (FGFSs) face are unique, intersecting with low socioeconomic status, race and gender. To address these barriers is to alleviate economic inequality and interrupt intergenerational poverty. This qualitative study explored the academic journey of six FGFSs using focus groups and photo-elicitation interviews combined with an autoethnographic voice. This research addresses the following question: How do FGFSs experience their journey to and through higher education? Using critical feminist theory and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, I analyze the challenges, intersecting complexities, and achievements of FGFSs. This study aims to describe FGFS’s academic journeys, generates and recounts their lived experiences and expand understanding and interpretation of this intersectional and heterogeneous population. This knowledge is valuable for childhood educators, teachers, guidance counsellors, professors, parents, and FGS programs to ensure equitable support and opportunities for all children. Unaddressed, girls from working-class homes can be set up for a future of precarious work, limiting personal potential and repeating a generational cycle of low socioeconomic status.