By Richard Zhang, M.D., MA and Chandani Rana, LCSW
Student support services at U.S. universities are often centered on siloed, rigid categories: undergraduate athletes and non-athletes, domestic and international students, or first-generation and continuing-generation students. These specialized programs help newcomers navigate basic academic, social, and financial resources in their new school or even new country. Individually, however, such programs may not sufficiently account for the needs of those with overlapping identities—in particular, first-generation international college students.
People in this intersectional position face the challenges of two groups. On one hand, they may contend with acculturative stress and legal uncertainties in the U.S., as most other international students do. On the other hand, like U.S.-raised first-generation students who lack prior role models, first-generation international students benefit from more targeted mentorship and explicit guidance as to colleges’ “hidden curricula”: for example, strategically choosing majors, balancing demanding workloads with limited time, or financial literacy about paying educational fees.
Often separate and unconnected, university offices for international and first-generation students can do more to intentionally, jointly support this vulnerable sub-community. Such initiatives benefit from a nuanced understanding of this population’s intersectional challenges. Support can alleviate compounded stressors that otherwise raise the risk for mental health conditions in transitional-age young adults.
First-Generation Tensions
International students at U.S. universities are often perceived as affluent and privileged. Factoring in paid tuition and living expenses, the annual enrollment of over 1 million international students is indeed estimated to add tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy. Yet, members of the international community, who comprise a substantial 6% of U.S. college students, do not all start on an even playing field. Some hail from highly educated, connected families, but others lack parental role models to guide them as to what an undergraduate experience looks like, let alone abroad. This diversity of social capital exists even among international students originating from the same country.
One transitions more easily into college when they already have implicit awareness of higher education norms. What many second and third-generation students assume is obvious knowledge, as taught to them by family members who completed college, can be alternatively seen as a head start. Not every first-generation student initially grasps how classroom participation factors into grading; how office hours are neither remedial nor punitive, but open to all; that others will not check if one is keeping up with coursework; or how early on classmates are planning their careers. Many first-generation international students feel “behind” in learning these norms, stressed, and impacted by self-doubt.
