Inside Higher Ed published a book review of The College Fear Factor by Seton Hall University professor Rebecca Cox yesterday. According to the review, Dr. Cox believes a mismatch exists between many first generation college students’ expectations and those of their professors, and that pedagogical norms may be furthering learning gaps. I think Dr. Cox is on to something very important.
Dr. Cox reports that first generation college students “admitted to feeling intimidated by professors’ academic knowledge …. Essentially, students were afraid that the professor would irrevocably confirm their academic inadequacy.” She goes on to say that first generation college students are reluctant to ask for assistance even when they need it.
That was very true of me even though I excelled at virtually every academic endeavor I ever undertook. It took me years before I could bring myself to ask a question or speak unless spoken to in class, and I was near the end of my formal education before I was able to talk to a professor outside of class. While I rarely needed academic assistance, I never asked for it even when I did. My few bad grades resulted from my inability to ask for help from my professors when I didn’t understand something. Meanwhile, I observed classmates from different socioeconomic backgrounds having no such difficulty even when they asked stupid questions (and yes there are stupid questions, beginning with those you ask because you didn’t bother to read your assignment) and wondered what was wrong with me.
Dr. Cox notes that first generation college students tend to devalue teaching methods that don’t involve professors lecturing to (or more aptly “at”) them. I remember thinking that about the Socratic method when first exposed to it in law school. I initially thought it allowed the professor to prepare less; only after several years, and practicing it as a professor, did I realize that it takes more time to prepare and forces students to prepare for (or drop) your class.
After reading the book review, I now am wondering two things: (1) How on earth did I ever graduate from college, much less earn a law degree? And even more baffling, how did I find my way into higher education? (2) Have I been an ineffective professor for students just like me? I hope not.
I will be reading Dr. Cox’s book, which is available through Harvard University Press.
Not to get all melodramatic, but I have to say that I was touched by this post, as it mirrors my college experience almost perfectly. There were very few professors who didn’t intimidate the hell out of me, even in the classes where it was clear to me that I was one of the very best students. But it didn’t really become a true problem until my attempt at law school. I’ve spent many days and months pondering what exactly went wrong for me, but much of it was summed up by what Dr. Cox said: “Essentially, students were afraid that the professor would irrevocably confirm their academic inadequacy.” Truly, I did a lot of things wrong. But that was real for me.
Back to what you were saying:
I don’t know how things were for you at W&L, but at WVU CoL circa 2000, it was very much a game of “hide the ball” between the faculty and the students. Which is fine, I suppose, if everyone is on the same playing field. But I quickly noticed that there was a group of students who seemed to pick up things or just “get it” much quicker than the rest of us. And these weren’t necessarily the brightest students either. (A certain daughter of a certain college “official” comes to mind.) It was puzzling. Later, I learned that these students were the children of lawyers, judges, and white collar professionals. In many cases, these students were the grandchildren of college educated professionals. It’s not so puzzling at all to see that how in a big game of hide the ball, the students who can call home and ask for a map are going to do much better. Up until that point in my life, I had never had an experience where the deck was so blatantly stacked against those of us who weren’t fortunate enough to grow up as second generation college students.
Looking back, I remember that there were student groups for Christian law students. There were groups for minority law students, conservative law students, and even the dirty hippie law students. But what I really needed was a group for first generation college students. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.