WEBINAR
First-Gen in Focus: Navigating Identity and Support in a Changing 2025 Landscape
Virtual | On-Demand Viewing
Session Description
This session explores how first-generation college students see themselves and how colleges can help them build a first-gen identity within today’s rapidly shifting sociopolitical climate. Drawing on focus groups and survey data from students and practitioners nationwide, presenters will share how students move from being labeled as “first-generation” to embracing that identity and how institutions can support this process while mitigating harm to first-gen programs and students.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the research methodology and context driving the updated national landscape analysis by examining survey and focus group findings from first-generation students and higher education practitioners nationwide.
- Analyze the process of first-generation identity formation by examining how students transition from seeing "first-gen" as an assigned administrative label to adopting it as a source of agency, strength, and pride.
- Evaluate institutional strategies that foster belonging and asset-based mindsets through proactive identification, tailored peer community spaces, and strength-based programming.
SPEAKER
Melinda Mechur Karp, Ph.D.
Founder & Principal, Phase Two Advisory
Dr. Melinda Karp, Phase Two’s founder and project lead, has extensive research and thought-partnership experience in the areas of college access, student support, and completion strategies. She is a nationally-known expert on community colleges and strategies to support low-income, first-generation, minoritized, and otherwise under-served students in and out of the classroom. Dr. Karp has authored or co-authored over 70 articles, book chapters, and working papers and 35 practitioner-focused blogs, op-eds, and practical toolkits. She served as panel chair for the Institute for Education Science’s What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on Effective Advising for Postsecondary Students and a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success and a coach for the NCII Rural Guided Pathways Project.
SPEAKER
Suzanne Lyons, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant, Phase Two Advisory
Dr. Suzanne Lyons is a senior consultant with Phase Two Advisory, supporting their national research and practitioner learning networks related to college access, success, and holistic student support. In addition, she is an educator and systems-level social worker, with over 20 years of experience working in K-12, public and private colleges, and national non-profits, including work with The Posse Foundation, TRIO, and Promise programs. As a first-generation, low-income college graduate, Dr. Lyons has dedicated her career to focusing on policies, programs, and multi-sector partnerships across the K-20 pipeline that support college access and success. Among other publications, Dr. Lyons is co-author (with Dr. Karp) on a chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Higher Education, “Advising the whole student: Current approaches to integrating academic, career, and personal support.” Prior to joining Phase Two, she led private and federal grants geared toward systems-level change to improve student outcomes in high schools and at Hispanic-serving community colleges. Dr. Lyons holds her Bachelor’s in Psychology & Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, her Master’s in Social Workfrom the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
Registration
KICKER TEXT
Webinar Registration: $79
FirstGen Forward Network Members receive a 30% discount by using their code from the Network Resource Hub at checkout.
How It Works: Once payment is complete, you will be redirected to a final registration form. After submitting the form, you will receive a confirmation email detailing how to access materials for on-demand viewing.