Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8766-9044

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies

Committee Chair

Erin McHenry-Sorber

Committee Member

Nathan Sorber

Committee Member

Rodney Hughes

Committee Member

A. Graham Peace

Abstract

A considerable body of research demonstrates that first-generation college students face greater obstacles to college retention, persistence and completion compared to their non-first-generation counterparts. However, the extant literature rarely explores rurality as a salient factor to understand these challenges. Even less visible in the literature are the experiences and voices of West Virginians. West Virginia is a predominantly rural state and ranks 49th in the nation in terms of educational attainment, with only 19.6% of residents over the age of 25 having earned at least a bachelor’s degree. While rural areas may experience multifaceted struggles, the educational attainment of rural residents is arguably one of the most pressing issues due to the connection to between educational attainment, employment opportunities, health outcomes and socioeconomic status. Through narrative analysis, the purpose of this study is to understand and highlight the experiences of college students who identify as low-income, first-generation, rural West Virginian at their land-grant institution. These experiences are considered through the lenses of social and cultural capital and spatial justice. Qualitative data analysis demonstrates five themes are salient in describing the experiences of LIFGRWV students: rurality, self-perception, academics, parents, and COVID-19. Two themes are salient in describing how the students’ postsecondary experiences aligned with their expectations and the institutional land-grant narrative: rurality and the land-grant concept. Four themes are salient in students’ perceptions of support affecting their success, retention and persistence: pre-college resources, in-college resources/ use of campus services, financial supports, and key players or influencers. References of perceived barriers were much less frequent but salient themes included rurality, first-generation status, mental and physical health, stigma toward WV students, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are considered critically through the frameworks of cultural and social capital (classed experiences) and spatial justice (spaced experiences). This study contributes to a gap in the body of literature by highlighting a subgroup that is unrepresented in extant literature, and by adding to the spatial justice conversation by examining the intersection of social reproduction and spatial inequality in a rural context.

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