Previous research has compared the impacts of college adjustment, belongingness, and academic self-efficacy on first-generation and continuing-generation college students. However, the impacts of these factors on academic success (GPA) and persistence of first-semester, first-generation college students have not been investigated. The primary purpose of this study was to examine college adjustment and belongingness for first-semester, first-generation college students, with a focus on race and gender. This study also examined the impact of academic self-efficacy (i.e., course self-efficacy and social self-efficacy), college adjustment, and belongingness for academic success (GPA) and persistence of these students. The roles of race and gender in relation to the moderators of college adjustment were also explored. Eighty-two students completed measures of college adjustment, belongingness, and academic self-efficacy (i.e., course self-efficacy and social self-efficacy). Participants were recruited via in-class announcements and completed all study measures through an online questionnaire. Results of multiple regression and ANOVAs demonstrated that College Adjustment, Belongingness, and academic self-efficacy (i.e., Course Self-efficacy and Social Self-efficacy), were not statistically significant predictors of Academic Success (GPA) or Persistence in this sample. Results of independent-sample t-tests, however, did reveal a statistically significant difference in the College Adjustment subscale, Institutional Attachment, between males and females. Independent-samples t-tests also revealed a statistically significant difference in first and second semester Academic Success (GPA) for students who Persisted to third semester and those who Did Not. Additional exploratory analysis, chi-square tests, found no significant associations between the impact of Gender, having a Pell Grant, Minority Status, or belonging to an Academic Support Program on Academic Success (GPA) and Persistence. Limitations of the present study and implications for future research along with potential implications of these findings for counselor education, research, and practice were also explored.

Sense of belonging refers to the extent a student feels included, accepted, valued, and supported on their campus. The developmental process of belonging is interwoven with the social identity development of diverse college students. Moreover, belonging is influenced by the campus environment, relationships, and involvement opportunities as well as a need to master the student role and achieve academic success. Although the construct of sense of belonging is complex and multilayered, a consistent theme across the chapters in this book is that the relationship between sense of belonging and intersectionality of identity cannot be ignored, and must be integrated into any approach to fostering belonging.Over the last 10 years, colleges and universities have started grappling with the notion that their approaches to maintaining and increasing student retention, persistence, and graduation rates were no longer working. As focus shifted to uncovering barriers to student success while concurrently recognizing student success as more than solely academic factors, the term “student sense of belonging” gained traction in both academic and co-curricular settings. The editors noticed the lack of a consistent definition, or an overarching theoretical approach, as well as a struggle to connect disparate research. A compendium of research, applications, and approaches to sense of belonging did not exist, so they brought this book into being to serve as a single point of reference in an emerging and promising field of study.

College Student Self-Efficacy Research Studies offers three uniquely designed sections that provide a unique mixture of research studies conducted on African American, Mexican American, and first-generation college students. This book explores a variety of factors affecting a diverse group of college students including institutional commitment, college adjustment, and social and academic self-efficacy barriers.

As of 2010, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that first-generation college students (FGCS) composed almost 50% of the population within higher education (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Consequently, this unique subgroup of college students are the focus of many post-secondary education studies to determine factors that contribute to their success (Mehta, Newbold, & O'Rourke, 2011; Owens, Lacey, Rawls, & Holbert-Quince, 2010; Pascarella, Wolniak, Pierson, & Terenzini, 2003; Prospero & Vohra-Gupta, 2007). Literature on FGCS calls for an examination of ecological (e.g., community factors) and individual factors relating to college adjustment and well-being as well as the role of general self-efficacy in these links (Dennis, Phinney, & Chuateco, 2005; Plybon, Edwards, Butler, Belgrave, & Allison, 2003). Sampling ethnic and racial minority FGCS and White FGCS at various U.S. American institutions, the present study examined the direct and indirect relations between community factors and college student adjustment and personal well-being (i.e., life satisfaction), through general self-efficacy. Findings suggest that the relations between community factors, self-efficacy, college adjustment, and life satisfaction differ for ethnic and racial minority FGCS and White FGCS. Implications are provided for the design of more effective counseling interventions and higher education programming for ethnically and racially diverse FGCS.

As students transition into college, some matriculate with more family, social, and academic support structures than others. Students who are the first in their families to attend college may not have the support necessary to help them succeed, influencing a need for more college resources to assist students with becoming academically successful. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine if there were significant differences in perceived self-efficacy between first-generation and non-first-generation African American college students. The independent variable was African American college student status: first-generation African American college students and non-first-generation African American college students. The dependent variables were perceived collective self-efficacy, perceived social self-efficacy, perceived academic self-efficacy, and perceived roommate self-efficacy. The College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI), which measures collective self-efficacy and the three psychosocial factors: academic self-efficacy, roommate self-efficacy, and social self-efficacy, was used in this study. There was no significant difference in the collective self-efficacy of first-generation African American college students and non-first-generation African American college students as it relates to college self-efficacy. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the subscales of: academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and roommate self-efficacy. Given that self-efficacy is malleable, the results of this casual comparative study can be used by colleges to evaluate current programs and design new programs that meet the needs for first-generation students to be academically successful.