Cultural Challenges and Adaptation: College Education Experiences of Chinese First-Generation College Students

Abstract: Chinese first-generation college students (FGCS) experience cultural challenges. We developed a framework for analyzing the content of interviews with 20 Chinese FGCS in three college stages. In the input stage, narrow family perceptions misled the FGCS college goals, manifested as unrealistic visions or negative attitudes. In the shallow college environment stage, lack of family guidance hindered FGCS college transition, as shown through curriculum learning unpreparedness, information barriers during research activities, and two extremes of participation in extracurricular activities. In the deep college environment stage, mismatched family culture impeded FGCS college adaptation, as shown by instrumentalist attitude towards curriculum learning, fear of the teachers' authority when conducting research activities, and poor integration in extracurricular activities under the influence of weak cultural capital. It is necessary for colleges to provide "cognitive adjustment—experience compensation—cultural support" for FGCS, and more specifically, can provide direct support (internal and external support) and interpersonal interactions support (role-model, guidance, and resource support) can inform higher education management.