Although more of the U.S. population now attends college, a substantial proportion of students are the first in their families to pursue higher education. One significant way that first-generation students differ from their “continuing-generation” counterparts is the lack of relevant knowledge held by their parents about college life. Without this set of experiences from which to draw, such parents have a limited capacity to counsel their young adult children as they move through systems of higher education. This wealth of experience and knowledge, or cultural capital, works in both visible and invisible ways. Using data from a sample of undergraduates, this paper quantifies differences between first- and continuing-generation students in specific forms of cultural capital, including parental involvement, autonomy support, and how often students seek out the advice and support of their parents. Whereas most students reported discussing job/career plans with their parents and received encouragement to be responsible for their own choices, significant differences were found for nearly every other item measured: continuing-generation students benefited from more parental involvement, autonomy support, and communication about academic life than first-generation students.
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