Creating my village: a narrative study examining the impact of community cultural wealth on the college readiness of first-generation, African American college students

Research indicates that when reviewing high school academic performance and standardized test results—two of the traditional measures of college readiness—first-generation and African American college students are among some of the least college ready demographics in the United States. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore the similarities in challenges faced by students who are either African American or first-generation, and examine how students who identified as both first-generation and African American increased their level of college readiness through reliance on their community cultural wealth and various forms of capital. Through the use of interviews, three themes emerged. From those themes, key findings indicated that students who identified as both first-generation and African American relied on multiple streams of support and various forms of capital throughout their transition from high school to college, utilized their aspirational and resistant capital as means of motivation, and persevered through obstacles through a reliance on their support networks. The study concluded with suggestions for further research and implications for practice.