First Advisor

Karen Haley

Term of Graduation

Spring 2024

Date of Publication

4-9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership: Postsecondary Education

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy

Language

English

Physical Description

1 online resource (vi, 153 pages)

Abstract

Roughly 80% of community college students indicate that they intend to transfer to a four-year institution, 30% of those students eventually transfer, and 13% of those students persist to graduate with a baccalaureate degree. There has been previous research on transfer students and on first generation students, but the intersection of first-generation transfer students is under-reported. Prior research indicates that sense of belonging is an important factor in student persistence to graduation for transfer students. Higher education institutions, specifically four-year public institutions, are positioned to support first-generation transfer student sense of belonging by fostering a "transfer receptive culture." Recognizing that students are experts in their own experiences, design thinking strategies are employed to co-create services to support sense of belonging; however, the experience of the students who participate in co-design activities has not been researched. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to understand the experiences of nine first-generation transfer students who participated in co-design of programs and services aimed at fostering a transfer receptive culture at Portland State University. Through observations of co-design sessions, analysis of visual data, and semi-structured interviews with participants, the researcher found that the co-design process engaged first-generation transfer students and enhanced their sense of belonging through validation of their identities and experiences; validation of participants' identities and life experiences shaped their participation in the co-design process as experts; and co-design of programs and services with first-generation transfer students must include action as part of the process.

Rights

© 2024 Randi Petrauskas Harris

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42215

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