Attending a four-year university is a crucial route to upward economic mobility in the United States; however, first-generation college students—students whose parents have not received a bachelor's degree—often struggle with challenges as they navigate the university system. First-generation college students (FGCS) occupy a unique space due to their economic and cultural positionality. Although the FGCS experience is multifaceted and impossible to narrow down into one streamlined experience, one recurring problem is the knowledge gap faced by these students.
FGCS don’t necessarily know how to navigate financial, educational, and otherwise bureaucratic spaces that allow continuing students to thrive in particular environments (Thayer 2000:4). Thus, FGCS are often left in the margins of higher education.
The primary objective of this project is to use interviews to examine how FGCS construct their relationship to housing. Consequently, this qualitative study is constructionist in nature—meaning that the data collected here demonstrates how participants perceive and construct their position as first-generation college students through a specific topic; in this case, housing (Silverman 2017:284). How do FGCS navigate housing? What solutions do they find instead of having parental support systems? What struggles are unique? Which ones are the same?
Through an analysis of six interviews with first-generation students, a theoretical framework grounded in interview data assists in understanding what FGCS need to succeed and how they have been maintaining and navigating college thus far. Qualitative coding was utilized to track narratives and connect students’ experiences to each other in hopes of gaining a cohesive understanding regarding housing and first-generation identity.
The literature review outlines previous research on, and frameworks used when studying, the first-generation experience and first-generation identity. The methods section outlines how interviews were conducted and analyzed, while the findings section notes specific findings regarding participants’ navigation of housing resources and how they solved those issues. Additionally, the discussion section contrasts the findings of the present project with previous work and grounds this project's findings in a theoretical framework.
Literature Review
Previous research regarding housing inequality and first-generation college students (FGCS) has been plentiful,often focusing on the rising cost of attendance for four-year universities and a variety of preexisting conditions FGCS experience.
Generally, this work exists in two domains: analysis of the cost of college housing (for all undergraduate students) and examinations of the specific struggles of FGCS (Broton 2018; Pascarella 2004; Penrose 2002; Sackett 2015). This project is primarily concerned with the intersection of first-generation identity and housing insecurity. The process of acquiring previous research was gathered through JSTOR & Google Scholar. I gained access to these sites through my affiliation with the University of California, Santa Barbara Library. The UCSB Library Search Engine provided additional journal articles used in this project
First-generation identity itself has been a focus of researchers for the last few decades. In a study conducted in 2004, by Ernest Pascarella et al. examined FGCS and continuing-generation students through their material experiences; for instance, FGCS were found to attend less-prestigious four-year universities and more likely to attend two-year colleges. Pascarella et al.’s research employs Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical understanding of “cultural and social capital” to help explain exactly why FGCS failed to reach the same academic, social, and financial levels that continuing-generation students did. Although housing was not mentioned in the study, Pascarella et al. concluded that FGCS struggled to attain similar levels of success because of nonacademic and academic commitments (working, volunteering, studying, etc.). Similarly, Roksa et al. (2020) found that, although the parents of FGCS are generally supportive of their children attending college, they can rarely help with tangible assistance. Additionally, FGCS were less likely to share specific educational struggles with their parents out of fear that they would not understand due to their inexperience with higher education as a whole. Like Pascarella’s study, Roksa et al.’s project utilizes a Bourdieusian framework—specifically related to cultural reproduction (i.e., what cultural behaviors are encouraged and accepted versus which attributes are not).
In a study conducted by Ann Penrose (2002), the researcher examined FGCS’ self-perceptions. Through a distributed survey, Penrose concluded that FGCS felt less confident in their written and verbal ability to communicate arguments. Additionally, FGCS entered college with lower GPAs and were more likely to withdraw from university. Importantly, and in opposition to FGCS’ own self-perceptions, Penrose’s study additionally found that FGCS were also observed to have similar academic performances to continuing students.
Both Penrose’s and Pascarella’s studies assisted the present study in assessing how preexisting literature navigated the FGCS experience. Housing inequality, as a sociological phenomenon, is extremely broad—and therefore finding relevant studies required focus. In a quantitative study conducted by Virginia Riel and Olivia Ball, the action of searching for housing was analyzed. Conclusively, Riel et al. (2025) found that economically disadvantaged students oftentimes relied on formal pathways—such as requests for tours and official websites—when acquiring housing for the college year. In comparison, continuing students utilized “help-seeking strategies” that provided access to additional, non-conventional housing resources such as informal communication with potential landlords on Facebook.
Although FGCS are not directly mentioned, Katharine M. Broton (2020) conducted a study that measured how many U.S. college students struggle with homelessness or risk of homelessness. In the data, Broton found that 8.8% of American undergraduate students face homelessness, with an additional 19.9% of students attending private institutions reporting the same. Each of these studies contributes to the broader understanding of housing insecurity and first-generation identity. When compiled together, it is easy to understand how these studies acknowledge the importance of both cultural capital and adequate housing resources. Conversely, using a dataset of over 22,000 students, Melissa Olfert et al. (2023) was able to capture the scale of basic needs insecurity faced by college students across the country. Olfert et al. also found that more than half (52.3%) of all college students struggle, or have struggled, with housing insecurity while in college.
Two recurring themes develop throughout these research projects. First, FGCS do not have the same access to resources as continuing-generation students.
Resources, in this context, specifically relate to knowledge regarding higher education as a whole. Roksa et al. (2020) and Pascarella et al. (2004) develop a solid theoretical framework that analyzes what cultural markers help students succeed in college. Roksa et al. (2020) found that parents are often unable to help their children while attending college; furthermore, FGCS are generally less likely to reach out for help. Similarly, Pascarella et al. found that FGCS spent more time at working, studying, and engaging in other activities that may contribute to their difficulties in class, especially when compared to their continuing-generation peers.
Second, as first-generation identity affects students in higher education, self-perceptions about their own ability to succeed develop along that same thought process. Penrose (2002) is able to break down FGCS’ constructed perceptions of their college experience and clarify exactly how FGCS’ perceptions of themselves relate to their overall academic success. This understanding is corroborated by Riel et al.’s (2025) study, which suggests that economically disadvantaged students—often FGCS—do not identify housing resources in the same way that other students do.
With that being said, comparing these researchers' work may assist in understanding the gap of knowledge in this area and the purpose of the present study. While Bourdieusian frameworks identify why some FGCS struggle when navigating higher education, they fall short in real-life applications, especially regarding the housing process (Pascarella et al. 2004:252; Roksa et al. 2020:567). At the same time, the aggregation of quantitative data cannot fully detail the exact conditions and perceptions of housing insecurity among FGCS either. A qualitative approach may therefore assist in highlighting how housing insecurity manifests in both lived experiences and personal identity (Olfert et al. 2023:2526). The present study seeks to fill a gap in existing literature regarding first-generation college students and their constructed identity regarding housing insecurity and housing resources.
Methods
For the present project, I utilized semi-structured interviews to gather data regarding the participants’ experiences with housing. Interview participants were UCSB students who identified themselves as “first-generation college students.” Utilizing a snowball sampling method, I conducted six interviews with undergraduate students.
Interviews were used to examine how FGCS construct a narrative around
first-generation identity–for example, how they examine the differences between
first-generation students and continuing-generation students (Silverman 2017:183). By gathering data through interviews and identifying commonalities, I was able to draw conclusions regarding how the participants perceived their position in comparison to continuing-generation students.
The interviews’ length varied from 20 minutes to 40 minutes in length and were conducted in both public and private settings, including public cafes, a public library, and inside participants’ homes. Informed consent was established prior to the interview through a discussion of both the purpose of the study and how their information will be used in the project. Additionally, a consent form was given to each participant, with time given for misunderstandings or questions. As I conducted more interviews, the primary focus of the study shifted from an academic focus to an epistemological one.
Understanding where and how FGCS develop their self-perceptions in regards to housing provided participants space to consider their positionality in relation to other students.
Questions were asked in three different categories. First, participants were asked about the details of their housing. Labeled “Preliminary Questions,” the goal of these questions was to establish housing situations and struggles across participants.
Questions included general information about their rent and how (and who) bills were paid. Participants were also asked about their relationship with housing insecurity broadly.This is where the participants described the issues they have experienced with housing. During this section, I gave each participant room to discuss their issues and trace them to what they believed were the root causes. Although most discussed financial troubles with housing, participants were also asked about other issues, including mold, sound disturbances, conflicts with roommates, problems with the property itself, and problems with leasing companies–anything that may have impacted their relationship with where they live.
The next section, entitled “Academic Performance”, asked participants to assess their ability to attend school while dealing with housing insecurity. Most questions from this section asked participants to explain how their situation was resolved and who assisted them in resolving it, if anyone did. This portion of the interview process provided important data that served as the foundation for the later theoretical analysis:who is helping first-generation students?
Finally, the last section, “Thematic Questions”, asked participants to reflect on their identity as first-generation students in relation to their housing experience. This allowed participants to connect their experiences to larger ideas. In this section, I made an important decision to leave “open space” for participants to think about their identity and how it affected their navigation of housing.
Reflexivity was a critical aspect in the development of my data collection and analysis. Because I have struggled with housing insecurity and challenges related to being a first-generation college student, I was able to empathize with the participants, which I believe helped create a comfortable environment between participants and myself. However, it was essential to recognize my positionality and the power I held as both researcher and interviewer as integral, as these were integral to the processes of data collection and analysis.
Ethically, the present project deals with a wide spectrum of both insignificant and traumatic experiences in regards to housing. Topics such as domestic violence, familial abuse, and other traumatic experiences were discussed in some capacity in multiple interviews; therefore, it was imperative that participants’ interview data be analyzed with the necessary attention and care. With that in mind, the interviews and subsequent analysis were rooted in a careful understanding of how these experiences affect the research questions.
Findings
Defining the “Knowledge Gap”
The development of the “knowledge gap” is concerned with understanding how housing is navigated by FGCS; essentially, what are the knowledge gaps that need to be filled? Defining the broad concept required outlining its characteristics. The “knowledge gaps” are first-generation students’ response to not having a familial or guiding figure to relay information to, or otherwise rely on for assistance, when dealing with housing.
Sources of Unfamiliarity and Lack of Guidance
There were several reasons participants did not receive guidance as they navigated housing; primarily, students’ parents and/or guardians were unfamiliar with the particular processes related to acquiring and maintaining housing. Marissa, a fourth-year political science major, evaluated her experience as particularly difficult, acknowledging that her experience with school was new for both her and her family: “In my experience, personally, [first-generation students and continuing-generation students have] very different experiences because, I think, if you're first-generation, your parents have never navigated anything like this before. Moving to a different town—especially for school—they don't understand it at all.” Megan, a fourth-year sociology student, recalled her experience searching for housing and navigating online databases, specifically Facebook: “I just kind of had to go on Facebook and just look for anybody . . . I would, like, talk to my mom about it, but it wasn't like a ‘Mom, can you look over this to see if this is legit or not,’ just because like my mom doesn't know anything about that sort of thing… Essentially, like, this was the house that I found.” Megan’s experience searching on Facebook and having a mother who could not look over documents to determine legitimacy illustrates the central idea of the "knowledge gap," which is the FGCS response to not having a familial or guiding figure to rely on for assistance when dealing with housing. This lack of guidance often stems from parents’ or guardians’ unfamiliarity with these processes. As Marissa also noted, first-generation students' parents "don't understand it at all so you kind of have to learn it as you go on."
Pressure for Independence and Resource Avoidance
Broadly, the college experience—including the housing process—is described here as a unique experience; however, “knowledge gaps” did not necessarily refer only to the participants’ parents being unfamiliar with the housing process. Karley, a
fourth-year student who was raised by her grandparents, introduced an additional layer of first-generation identity, noting that “when my grandma passed away, my grandpa dealt with grieving and alcohol as well, and I didn't want to stress him out. And then everybody in my family, they were grieving and doing their own thing.” Although her grandparents could have assisted her, she did not reach out to them because she did not want to further “stress them out.” Some participants mentioned that they felt particularly compelled to navigate college independently. As a result, first-generation students ignored important resources so that they could remain independent. Isabel, a fourth-year student, further exemplifies this sentiment: “As a first-gen, I think it's difficult for me to use the resources available. I think that there is a high need for independence and just proving that you can do it. I kind of ignore the resources sometimes, but I know that they're there, and they're meant to help people like me.” This mentality meant that first-generation students were actively choosing to ignore resources specifically designed to assist them. Megan similarly explained that she had specifically avoided housing assistance when looking for available housing and that she was raised to “deal with it yourself until you need to ask for help.”
Material Outcomes
Like the other participants, Megan’s family could not provide the information she needed in order to accurately curate a living situation that is priced fairly. This resulted in her being overcharged and isolated when confronted with acquiring housing.
Including utilities, Megan pays $1,225 per month for a room she shares with one other person. However, as she suggested, having expensive housing is better than not having housing at all. Although Megan’s experience navigating Facebook Marketplace is hardly one that is unique to first-generation students, not having someone to consult with directly affected her ability to gauge what housing was fairly priced. In this situation, having someone to review information with could potentially result in a materially different (and likely less expensive) college experience. Megan goes on to mention that she “could have probably found something cheaper if I did use the school resources, but I guess it's [self-reliance] just engraved into my head.” Not only were the participants left without the necessary skills and guidance to navigate college, but they also faced an additional pressure to remain independent and self-reliant. The data suggest that, while this push for independence is driven by admirable motives (e.g., not wanting to stress parents or avoiding reliance on already low-income parents), it simultaneously separates them from critical assistance that they are entitled to.
How the “Knowledge Gap” is resolved
Throughout the interview process, I identified one primary and most frequent solution to the “knowledge gap”: FGCS often resolve housing-related gaps communally with their continuing-generation peers. FGCS, who often lack the institutional knowledge to navigate housing, will access their peers’ network to solve issues. Daniella, a fourth-year transfer student, noted an example of this relationship: “It's hard to find information about that online because, like, everyone just like has their own path to how they figure stuff out, but I was just counting on my roommate to figure it out because, you know, she's a second-generation college student, so she probably had more knowledge about how to do things, which she did. She had help from her mom's friend who knew people that had to find their own college housing.” In another interview, Isabel had mentioned that she “actually really depended on my roommate. Her family has only ever lived in leased places, so she would always run everything through her dad first. And like, we were just kind of being like, okay, like whatever you said, your dad says goes.” Reliance on roommates or peers was present in five out of the six conducted interviews. Helen, a second-year sociology student, initially relied on a roommate to understand how much she was supposed to pay each month. Later, after being unfairly charged an extra fifty dollars every month, she consulted with a different roommate to resolve the issue.
Discussion
Significance
The findings from this study largely support and extend onto existing research, particularly concerning cultural capital, familial support, and self-reliance. The present study also contributes by filling a gap in the literature related to the real-life application of these sociological concepts in the specific context of college housing.
The finding that FGCS experience a knowledge gap because they lack a familial or guiding figure to relay information about housing directly supports the frameworks used in previous studies. This aligns with Pascarella et al.'s (2004) use of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of "cultural and social capital" to explain why FGCS struggle to reach the same social, financial, and academic levels as continuing-generation students. Because FGCS's parents often have never navigated moving to a different town for school, they have trouble helping students navigate higher education, often pushing students like Marissa to "learn it as you go on." Furthermore, these findings confirm Roksa et al. (2020) concluded that while parents of FGCS are generally supportive, they can rarely provide tangible assistance.Megan, for example, was unable to ask her mother to review housing legitimacy because her mother "doesn't know anything about that sort of thing."
The knowledge gap results in material consequences, such as students being overcharged for housing because they lack someone to consult with about fair pricing. This connects to Riel et al.'s (2025) finding that economically disadvantaged students often rely on formal pathways for housing, unlike continuing-students who utilize "help-seeking strategies." The present findings explain that the knowledge gap is the root cause preventing FGCS from accessing those nonconventional resources. The findings also confirm the themes identified in the literature concerning the
self-perceptions and struggle for independence among FGCS. This attitude of minimizing dependence is consistent with Roksa et al.'s (2020) discovery that FGCS are less likely to share educational struggles with their parents, while the findings from this study reaffirm that the push for independence is driven by admirable motives such as avoiding stressing out family members.
The most frequent solution discovered was that FGCS solve gaps in housing knowledge communally with their continuing-generation peers. This finding is crucial because it reveals a functional coping mechanism. When FGCS lack the institutional knowledge, they rely heavily on roommates or peers to navigate leasing, pricing, and general housing logistics. Daniella, for instance, counted on her continuing-generation roommate who "had help from her mom's friend," and Isabel depended on her roommate whose dad reviewed everything. These patterns show that, although FGCS lack family resources, they are actively creating their own networks to acquire the social and cultural capital necessary for survival.
Recommendations
The findings of the present project imply that there is a substantial need to help bridge the gap between FGCS and housing inequalities. As noted, FGCS maintain important relationships with their peers in order to fill knowledge gaps where their parents would have assisted them. Therefore, a potential policy-based initiative could be implemented to help provide comprehensive and culturally-sensitive workshops that provide FGCS ample resources and knowledge sources in regards to the housing process. However, it’s important to note that FGCS are less likely to reach out and ask for help regarding any housing, educational, or financial issues. Adding incentive–such as food, extra credit opportunities, or workshop requirements–may assist in helping FGCS apply themselves.
In practice, more emphasis should be placed on the unique struggles of
first-generation identity. As seen in preexisting literature, barriers to higher education manifest in their navigation of the university. It is imperative that FGCS understand that they are just as capable as continuing-generation students. In terms of an actionable strategy, professors, administrators, and even peers should all make an effort to make the four-year university an equitable and accepting environment for first-generation students. This could include additional office hours or special counseling catered towards this group of students.
Limitations and Further Research
The present project was conducted within ten weeks and included only six to seven weeks of interview analysis. Each participant only was interviewed once with no follow-up or tracking. Family income was not discussed as a central factor of family involvement, as were other social and economic factors. More broadly, qualitative research isn’t applicable to everyone; rather, this project was concerned with studying a specific phenomenon faced by a specific set of students.
Further research could potentially explore first-generation identity in a myriad of ways. Many findings and important sections were not expanded upon in the present project. In regards to the knowledge gap, bad outcomes such as Helen’s experience with being overcharged, were identified in this project but not thoroughly explored because of the limited scope. Further studies could explore the alternative effects–both positive and negative–of communal problem solving.
Conclusion
The findings demonstrate that the primary challenge for first-generation college students (FGCS) regarding housing is the “knowledge gap,” which is their response to not having a familial or guiding figure to relay information to, or otherwise rely on for assistance. This gap is rooted in the fact that parents or guardians are generally unfamiliar with the processes related to acquiring and maintaining housing, often making the experience new for both the student and their family. As a result, FGCS must "learn it as you go on."
Additionally, the findings reveal that the knowledge gap is perpetuated by
self-imposed barriers stemming from pressure for independence. Participants noted a "high need for independence and just proving that you can do it," leading them to actively ignore available resources specifically designed to help. This self-reliance separates participants from critical assistance to which they are entitled. This situation leads directly to negative outcomes, including the financial and material burden of being overcharged.To counter this self-imposed isolation, the most frequent solution discovered was that FGCS resolved the knowledge gap communally with their continuing-generation peers. In the absence of institutional knowledge, FGCS accessed peer networks to navigate issues, review leases, or determine fair monthly payments. This highlights that while formal resources are often underutilized, the knowledge gap is successfully closed through reliance on peers.
References
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