This article describes a qualitative study with seven first‐generation college graduates who went on to complete graduate school and are now working in colleges and universities as counselors and counselor educators. These findings highlight the resources that these participants possessed that contributed to their college success stories. Relational‐cultural theory is proposed as a fitting developmental model for college counselors working with this student demographic.
Explorescholarly articles
Not a Problem to Be Fixed: Successful First‐Generation Graduates and Implications for College Counselors
Related Stories

Data, Assessment, & Evaluation
Staff Perceptions of First-in-Family Students in Higher Education: A Case Study of a Belgian College

Access and Persistence
“I Wasn’t Supposed to Be There”: Examining the Experiences of First-Generation Women of Color in Undergraduate STEM Majors

Data, Assessment, & Evaluation