First in the Family: The Hidden Curriculum of Graduate Studies held its first meeting on September 21, creating a new space for first-generation university students to talk openly about some of the challenges that come with navigating higher education.
Led by recent MA Educational Studies graduate and CSLP student affiliate Britney Vu as part of the CSLP’s EmpowerGrad programming, the small support group was inspired by McGill University’s First Up initiative. While that group serves McGill students, Vu wanted to create a space at the CSLP that would welcome first-generation students from Concordia and other universities.
The support group has bi-monthly check-ins, allowing students to have a safe space, where they can talk about their struggles, share experiences and encourage one another, or just yap about any of their struggles.
At the first meeting, the conversation quickly turned to how family background can shape the university experience. One McGill student reflected on a sociology course that explored differences in the experiences of working- and middle-class children, prompting a broader conversation about how socioeconomic circumstances can shape opportunities long before students arrive at university.
Zo, a Concordia University student, talked about how navigating university spaces can be difficult. They recounted having to navigate everything on their own, including university applications and funding.
The group also talked about the feeling of being the “black sheep” in the classroom: knowing that your experiences are different from those of many of your peers.
That led naturally to a discussion about another part of higher education’s hidden curriculum: networking. Knowing that internships matter, developing relationships with professors and peers, asking for help and building professional connections may seem like common knowledge within a university. But students whose parents attended university may have greater access to that knowledge and to professional networks, while first-generation and working-class students often have to discover these expectations for themselves.
It was only the group’s first meeting, but Vu hopes First in the Family can grow into a welcoming space where first-generation students can find community, share what they have learned and make some of higher education’s unwritten rules a little more visible.
The next First in the Family meeting takes place November 30. Register to join the conversation.
Story submitted by Britney Vu.