Daniela Berlinski Source 5

How does motivation influence first generation college students in their route to academic success?

Petty, Tanjula. "Motivating First-Generation Students to Academic Success and College Completion." College Student Journal 48.1 (2014): 133-38. MU Libraries. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.

            In the introduction of this article the author comments on the factors that are drawbacks related to success within higher education for first generation students.  The author cites the definition of motivation, noting that motivating students is the key to academic success. Petty states that obstacles related to higher education begin before the student even leaves for college. The author offers a differing view from the side of the families who didn’t attend college by commenting on the fact that these families don’t understand the benefits of graduating college. Low-income families are more focused on work and tend to put their focus on that rather than higher education. The author then states two motivation theories, which will help in overcoming these barriers. She starts with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is a theory that deals with motivation. Designed as a pyramid, this theory asserts that the lower level needs need to be met before moving onto higher levels. The needs are as follows: psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. The most relevant need in relation to higher education is self-actualization. McClelland’s Need for Achievement, the other theory Petty describes, states that one who has an increased level for a need to achieve leads to increased level of self-esteem. He notes that if a need is powerful enough it will positively affect the motivation. Finally the author goes into detail about many levels within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

I think this article is unique because it entails taking a step towards enhancing these first generation students lives in a more psychological approach. I agreed with the author in that motivation is what leads to academic success. This also relates to the increase in level of self-esteem, which in turns helps the student reach his or her potential. I disliked the way the author ended the article, she mostly summarized what she stated in the paper rather than showing some sort of new finding or how it relates to higher education.

Petty references what was written in the most recent article I researched; both articles comment on the influence of identification within the two differing cultures of home and higher education.  However, these articles differ in their approach to defining factors that affect these first generation low-income students. Engle defines most of the factors as being resources that these students are left out of, such as knowledge about university processes or how to manage time. However Petty centralizes her argument on psychological setbacks, such as the lack of motivation, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

I think looking forward I could research differing perspectives of first generation low-income families versus first generation low-income students. I think it would also be interesting to research more psychological setbacks felt by first generation low income students in regards to higher education. Finally I plan on looking at dissertations related to the impact of social capital on the successful completion of college and experiences on academic success.