Stay the Course: Introducing the Second Issue of JFGSS

Our approach as an editorial team is to center, edify, and interrogate first-generation student success scholarship. This entails discussion, collaboration, and debate as we hone in on research articles and Notes From the Field submissions that engage advanced thought leadership, theoretical frameworks, asset-based research, and critical reflections of the complex first-generation student community. Our hope is that whether you are an emerging scholar, a tenured faculty member, a first-generation college student/professional/ graduate, or a university president that you are able to stay the course on advancing firstgeneration student success by identifying transformative practices in your respective spheres of influence and beyond. This second issue of the Journal of First-generation Student Success features four research articles and one Notes From the Field submission. The research articles were positioned intentionally to consider macro-level first-generation student success efforts that signal institutional commitment, followed by manuscripts which center first-generation student experiences in areas such as peer-to-peer support, on-campus living, and doctoral programs. Each JFGSS issue will close with Notes From the Field submissions, featuring perspectives at the nexus of research and practice. This issue’s Notes From the Field feature illuminates the experiences of first-generation immigrant professionals. We start off with a research article that considers the role of institutional mission statements as a signal for first-generation student success efforts. Catherine M. Pressimone Beckowski and Jake D. Winfield’s “Toward a Culture of First-Generation Student Success: An Analysis of Mission Statements From First-gen Forward Institutions” presents a content analysis of 157 mission statements of NASPA First-gen Forward Institutions — universities that have earned national recognition for their commitment to first-generation student success. This piece leaves readers with tangible recommendations on ways to leverage institutional missions to promote a culture of first-generation student success. Next, Trista A. Beard’s “Emerging Social Capital in the Lives of Latinx First-Generation College Students: The Case for ‘Apprentice Agents’ in a Social Capital Framework” presents findings drawn from the college life histories of 10 graduating seniors to showcase how Latinx first-generation college students rely on emotional support from their trusted peers to navigate the environment, processes, and resources within universities. Then, Krista M. Soria and Brayden J. Roberts’ “The Benefits of Living on Campus for Low-Income, First-Generation Students’ Belonging, Perceptions of Campus Climate, and Resilience” utilized propensity score matching techniques from data collected as part of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership survey to examine the effects of living on campus for first-year, first-generation students from low-income backgrounds. In “They Don’t Value My Knowledge: Interrogating the Racialized Experiences of Black First-Generation Doctoral Students in HESA Programs at HWIs,” authors Jason K. Wallace and Jesse R. Ford conducted a qualitative study which builds upon existing knowledge of JOURNAL OF FIRST-GENERATION STUDENT SUCCESS 2021, VOL. 1, NO. 2, 71–72 https://doi.org/10.1080/26906015.2021.1943636