A researcher's journey: the stories of 'successful' female, non-traditional, first-generation college students at the Community College of Denver

Abstract

This narrative inquiry explored the stories of four self-identified 'successful' female, nontraditional, first-generation college students at the Community College of Denver. The researcher reflexively and subjectively shares the story of her own research journey as she tells how her research interest emerged, why it is important to hear the voices of first-generation women, how the academy assumes a hegemonic stance in categorizing groups of students as being "at risk," how the academy's policies and practices could support the success of women like her participants, and how the journey positively influenced her and her participants. Using feminist research strategies, the author conducted a group interview followed by a three-stage individual interview process during which she asked her participants to share their stories, co-interpret their stories' meanings, and discuss their experiences of being part of the research project. Each participant left a memento (letter, poem, etc.) for other first-generation women. An interpretive framework of relationships, resilience, reflection, and responsibilities (the 4 R's) emerged inductively during data analysis. The author uses this framework to offer suggestions and recommendations for colleges to build policies and practices to foster success and connections with their first-generation population. As a result of her findings, she challenges colleges to build a responsive and caring campus culture. Another important finding was related to the positive effects and meanings the participants and researcher made of the experience of participating in the research study. It appears to confirm the importance of providing forums and venues for individuals to narrate their lives. It is the author's belief that the findings of this study offer a counter-narrative/counter-story to the widely-told grand narrative that focuses on a deficit model of non-traditional, first-generation students and contributes to unearthing the less-heard Discourse (Gee, 1996) of the Other (Johnson-Bailey, 2002b; Personal Narratives Group, 1989).