First-Generation Professionals in the Workplace

Melissa-Ann Lagunas, B.A.

Across the nation, organizations aim to eliminate workplace barriers based on protected diversity characteristics including race, gender, and sexual orientation. While it is critical for these barriers to continue to be combated, organizations should expand their efforts to create an inclusive workplace for individuals from other diverse backgrounds. In fact, limited resources are available for first-generation professionals, defined as people who were the first in their immediate family to have earned a college degree and now obtain a white-collar career or profession at a higher level than what was held by their parent(s)/guardian(s).

Since people with first-generation status are frequently members of additional underrepresented groups including low socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic minority backgrounds, they are often referred to as the “hidden minority” (Loyola, 2016). Together, these communities have shown to be more at risk for experiencing mental health symptoms due to factors associated with being a part of a minority group including economic hardships, limited access to equitable resources, acculturation, and exclusionary sociopolitical climates. The following sections will introduce the first-generation professional identity and discuss potential psychological risks faced by this community.

Empirically supported research suggests that first-generation students in higher education experience low levels of cultural and social capital, defined as knowledge about college and graduate school or relationships with people who have experienced higher education, respectively (Clemens, 2016). The same is true for first-generation professionals who have indicated that despite having a college degree, they have experienced difficulties advancing economically and socially as they are unaware of important steps that lead to professional success (Olson, 2016). Such knowledge is cultivated socially through professional networks and mentors; however, many early career professionals are only cognizant of the importance of prioritizing such relationships due to guidance from parents or family members who have experience with higher education and professional workplace settings. Since first-generation professionals may not have immediate access to these kinds of relationships, they are institutionally disadvantaged compared to their continuing-generation colleagues (Toutkoushian et al., 2018).

For example, many high paying career opportunities now require extensive extracurricular experiences such as internships, research positions, or frequent community service work. Additionally, graduate level education is beginning to become normalized as an entry level requirement for certain industries (Morgan, 2021). In other words, pursuing strong marks and graduating with a college degree may no longer be enough to secure a well-paying job for the next generation of professionals. Furthermore, the student-debt crisis largely hinders students from minoritized groups, including those who identify as first-generation, from pursuing extracurricular activities since they are often unpaid. Instead, first-generation students are spending their hours generating income by working at jobs that are less relevant to their professional interests, thus impacting their competitiveness when seeking employment (Wilcox, 2021).

Once overcome, the obstacles do not end after higher education. Research shows that high levels of job satisfaction are highly correlated with increased social capital within professional work settings (Flap & Völker, 2001). In other words, one’s professional network plays a critical role in how satisfied they are with their job. Since first-generation professionals are entering career fields in which they do not share similar occupational and economic experiences with their colleagues, they are less likely to have strong social capital, thus being more at risk for developing mental health symptoms related to poor perceived social support, imposter syndrome, fear of failure, and maladaptive perfectionism. This is demonstrated in a qualitative study conducted by Hirudayaraj and McLean (2017) in which first-generation graduates describe decreased sense of belonging and fear of not fitting in as primary stressors associated with being a recent first-generation graduate from higher education entering the workforce.

With these psychological risk factors in mind, what can institutions, organizations, and future researchers do to contribute to the occupational success of this community? Suggested by the participants in the study conducted by Hirudayaraj and McLean (2017), institutions should consider implementing credit-based curricula centered on career-readiness early in students’ academic careers. Often, conversations about employment after college occur towards the end of one’s higher education rather than in the beginning, as part of general education requirements. By prioritizing such conversations in the preliminary years of one’s college career, first-generation students are more likely to be aware of the steps necessary to take in order to become competitive applicants for employment after graduation.

Organizationally, employers should consider compensating their college interns for their work in an effort to invest in the diversity of our next generation’s professionals. Doing so is supported by Tinisha Agramonte, director of the Commerce Department’s Office of Civil Rights who states in an interview with cyberFEDS that while many perceive providing resources for first-generation professionals as a handout, organizations are actually “expand[ing] the lens through which people view what makes someone qualified. The best and brightest come in many diverse packages” (p.1, Agramonte, 2019).

Organizations would benefit from learning and education about the “hidden minority” as “...first-generation status is an invisible form of diversity...” (p. 104) that often goes unnoticed (Hirudayaraj & McLean, 2017). By recognizing first-generation professionals as a minoritized group, resources are more likely to be implemented that can support this community in overcoming barriers associated with discrimination. Potential resources could include networking opportunities specifically designed to support first-generation professionals in establishing connections with colleagues who share similar experiences to them, in an effort to increase their social capital in the workplace.

Melissa-Ann Lagunas is a member of the 2022-2023 cohort and a second-year clinical psychology PhD student at Seattle Pacific University. She is interested in ethnic and minority research, specifically the psychological experience of first-generation professionals.

References

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