Date of Award
12-2025
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Higher Education Administration: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Steven McCullar
Second Advisor
Rachel Friedensen
Third Advisor
Jason Woods
Fourth Advisor
Rebecca De Leon
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
first-generation college students, concurrent enrollment, anticipatory socialization, self-determination theory
Abstract
This narrative inquiry explored the concurrent enrollment experience of first-generation college students. The purpose of the research focused on how their experiences influenced motivation and college student identity formation. Narratives were presented through the lens of self-determination theory and anticipatory socialization. Findings indicate that concurrent enrollment provided an important environment for student motivation and academic rehearsal. Socialization into a full college identity was constrained by physical location of experiences and the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants responded to first-generation challenges by constructing their own internal motivations and rehearsing roles through future-facing, aspirational identities. The findings contribute to literature on early college experiences and offer implications for concurrent enrollment programs to support motivation and identity development among first-generation college students.
Recommended Citation
Wright, Maria A., "First in the Family, Navigating Dual Worlds: A Narrative Inquiry of Agency, Motivation, and Identity in College" (2025). Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. 104.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/hied_etds/104
Comments/Acknowledgements
To my coworkers, your patience and understanding allowing me to focus on writing and classes - thank you for your flexibility, encouragement, and support.
To my advisor and dissertation committee, who provided me steady support in moving forward while allowing me the time to navigate life at my own pace - thank you for your guidance and mentorship.
To my supervisor and mentor, whose leadership challenges each of us “to become a college president” someday - your subtle check-ins kept me accountable to progress. Thank you for teaching me that transformative leadership is more than institutional change, but also the impact we can have in changing the trajectory of just one student at a time.
To my parents, lifelong educators who not only shaped my values but shaped the educational journeys of thousands of students in your careers - you showed up not only with words of encouragement but with hands willing to help. Your support went further than you know by stepping in to care for our children, ensuring we had clean dishes and laundry, and had a “less embarrassing” yard in the cul-de-sac. You made sure that life kept going. I am so grateful that you both retired when you did and for your presence in our lives.
To my husband, whose unwavering support came with patience and sacrifice – when I lost motivation to move forward, you reminded me (sometimes gently, sometimes firmly) that quitting was not an option and that I was capable. I am so grateful for you and everything you did to see this to the end.
And finally, to all of those who are not specifically mentioned – big actions or small, through words of encouragement or an act of kindness, thank you for being there.