Deficit Thinking in Student Success: Setting First-Generation College Students Up for Failure

Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 1:302:15 p.m.

Ari Arvi, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Elizabeth Ramirez, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Pedro Alvarez, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Darryl Ellis, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Cassandra Gonzalez, MPA, Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Armando Bustos, M.S., Undergraduate Academic Success Center

Jennifer Godoy, M.A., Undergraduate Academic Success Center

The deficit model has historically been used as a framework
to design strategies aimed at first-generation to college student success. At APU, 36 percent of the undergraduate student population identifies as first-generation and it is imperative to explore alternative frameworks. As stated by Byron P. White, as long as being a person of color or of modest economic means, or the child of parents who did not go to college, is deemed to be, first and foremost, an indicator of potential failure, the integrity of our proclaimed expectation of success is undermined (2016). This session includes an overview of the deficit model framework and how APU first-gen programs combat the deficit model through validation pedagogy. We will discuss strategies our campus community can utilize to support first-gen students through high-impact practices that increases their sense of belonging, non-cognitive development, and strengthen self-efficacy for first-generation students.

Location

Classrooms (DUKE), 515
701 E. Foothill Blvd.
Azusa, CA 91702
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