“They Helped Me Fill the Gaps”: Promoting First-Generation College Students’ Help-Seeking Attitudes and Behaviors

The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring is hosting a 2023 Webinar Series on Effective Student Mentoring for college and higher-education populations. The next webinar in the series will be led by Matthew Hagler, assistant professor of psychology, Francis Marion University. In this talk, Dr. Hagler will present findings from his longitudinal, mixed methods research on first-generation college students’ transition to higher education. First, he will present quantitative analyses showing that mentoring support and positive help-seeking attitudes are associated with key outcomes, including academic self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Then, he will present first-person accounts, based on in-depth interviews with first-gen students, illustrating how they make decisions about if, when, and from whom to ask for help. These interviews uncovered significant barriers to help-seeking, such as fear of judgment, shame, and limited time, and how some students overcame barriers to obtain needed resources. Finally, Dr. Hagler will present actionable strategies by university stakeholders that can promote first-gen students’ help-seeking, including addressing stigma, leveraging near-peer mentoring, and improving awareness and accessibility of services. To register for the event, please click here.