First Year Narratives: Navigating Between Home and Institutional Culture in the Lives of First-Generation, Low-Income College Students

Abstract

First-generation, low-income (FLI) students face unique cultural challenges as they transition into higher education. Cultural mismatch theory has primarily focused on how students’ values match with those of their academic institutions. However, this approach often overlooks how students simultaneously experience match or mismatch with their home environments, especially as they learn to navigate new cultural expectations in college. This narrow focus leaves out the ways students negotiate dual cultural contexts and the strategies they use to do so. The current study expands this framework by examining cultural mismatch both with institutions and with home, as well as the strategies students use to manage this mismatch. We investigate how these factors relate to students’ sense of belonging and compare patterns across private universities, public universities, and community colleges. Using a cross-sectional survey design (N = 151), we assessed students’ cultural orientations, cultural match, and the strategies they use to navigate between their home and institution. Results revealed that cultural mismatch, particularly between students and their institutions, was consistently associated with reduced belonging–particularly for students at community colleges. Acculturation strategies also shaped outcomes: students who tried to integrate their home and college cultures or assimilated into college culture were linked to greater belonging, while those who switched between culture or resisted changing were associated with lower institutional belonging. These findings underscore how institutional context shapes the impact of cultural navigation and highlight the need for tailored supports that promote FLI students’ belonging and affirm students’ cultural identities across different college environments.