A Decade Out: What Did We Learn From College Students Who Graduated During the Great Recession?
The first cohort of FirstGen Ahead students is graduating this spring during an especially challenging time in our country. To better understand what may lie ahead and to build skills and connections in the process, three students spent the summer working with Dr. Susan Gershenfeld on a qualitative research study that offers insights into the experiences of students who graduated from college during the 2009 Great Recession and explores their subsequent career paths over the past decade.
Each student researcher asked three general questions in a semi-structured interview. 1) What experiences stand out as you think about graduating from college during the Great Recession? 2) What influenced or affected your career decisions over the past decade? 3) What advice would you give to a rising college senior about graduating during the current economic, racial, and politically polarized climate? Interviews lasted between 20 and 180 minutes. Eighty-one alumni were invited to participate in the study with 41% of alumni participating, including 19 first-generation alums and 18 of whom were people of color.
Five themes emerged from analyzing the 33 interview transcriptions of alumni from Providence College, UMass Boston, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The first two universities are where the student researchers attend and the third is where Dr. Gershenfeld previously worked and received a graduate degree. Three of the five themes are described below with the remaining two themes to be included in the February newsletter.
1. Temporarily Swallowing Your Pride. Most of the underemployed graduates (8 out of 9) were first-generation and People of Color (FG/PoC). None of the first jobs obtained by these nine underemployed alums required a college degree. These alums spoke about searching for jobs; not being able to find employment in their desired field; and working at a part-time job for a period of time to pay bills, pay down student loans, and financially support their family. As one FG/PoC alum said, “I never imagined that after four years of college I would end up being a server which requires no college degree.” This suggests underemployment is a risk — particularly for first-gen students and people of color who graduate from college during difficult economic times.
2. Networking: Not Just What, But Who. Data from this study suggests differences in networking based on class and race. Alumni from both public and private universities who are FG/PoC were less apt to speak about the value of networking as compared to their White counterparts when transitioning from college to the workforce. For example, many continuing gen, White students (CG/W) expressed how their initial and subsequent employment opportunities happened by utilizing their networks. This difference between class and race with networking, however, lessened once they entered the workforce. For example, one FG/PoC alum said, “It’s not just what you know but who you know, and your network is very important in leveraging access to opportunities and jobs in a way I didn’t understand in 2009.”
Data from the study also suggests that personal sentiments toward networking played a role in utilizing networks for assistance. Those who refused to network either had a nonexistent to weak network or their personal pride got in the way of referring back to the network they did have. As one alum said, “Jobs are about networking and who you know. This puts first-generation students at a disadvantage, especially in times of limited economic opportunity.”
3. Hustling Required, Not Optional. More than one-half of the FG/PoC alums at both public and private universities (10 out of 18) specifically mentioned proactive behaviors such as hustle, hard work, grit, and initiative. Specifically, they spoke about the need to hustle, to keep pushing and pushing until they reached their goal, to work hard, and to take initiative. Similar sentiments and actions were not expressed by their CG/W counterparts when asked about their college-to-career trajectories. As one FG/PoC alum said, “I kept hustling… I didn’t have anyone to allow [me] to pursue my passion 110% without having to worry amount money or connections.”
Findings from this summer research project led to the FirstGen Ahead fall student Informational Interview Project (Nuggets of Advice from the Informational Interview Project).
