Purpose - Given that a relatively large percentage of colloge students entering historycally black colleges and universities (HBCUs)are first-generation students and considering the low completion rate among this group in the science,technology,egineering and matehematics (STEM) discipline, the purpose of this preliminary meta-synthesis studyis intended to facilitate a greater understanding of the academic and social adjustment among college students,particularly first-generation college students enrolled in STEM disciplines at HBCUs.Therefore,this meta-synthesis will shed light and offer important recommendations for university administrators and faculty members in supporting the academic and social adjustment of these students in STEM fields at HBCUs.
Design/methodology/approach - This review of literatur was conducted using a meta-synthesis approach (also referred to as integrative review). A meta-synthesis is based using a process by which findings across multiple studies are organized and presented (Turner,Gonzalez and wood,2008; wood,2010).This approach is used to provide insightto academicians and practitioners alike on the status of research on a given phenomenon(Bland,maurer and Maldonado,1995; patterson,Thorne,canam and jillings,2001; wood,2010).We engaged in a cyclical process of collecting,annotating,and synthesizing research over a 45-years time-frame (1970 to 2015).This produced over 50 cited resources with more than 100 scholars including peer-reviewed articles,reports,books,book chapters,and conference papers.
Findings- factors present in the literature that effected students encrolled in a STEM program at a HBCU are grouped into theree contexts:(a)first-generation academic and social characteristics ,(b)first-college dropout and transition,and(c)first-generation STEM retention.Tables 2 to 4 provide these contexs by author and year of publication.Within these general groupings ,four interralated themes emerged from the literature: (a) prior academic perfomance and STEM discipline,and (b) college adjustment and STEM discipline .(c)social integration and STEM discipline,and (d) academic integration and STEM discipline
Originality/value-This information may help professors and university professionals in the STEM fields to be more aware of the challenges faced by incoming college students. More empirical work is needed in this area in a way that is useful for understanding and enhancing professors' and university peofessionals' knowledge.To this end,research that carefully describes what HBCU professor and university professionals know or their ideas about teaching college students,especially first-generation students enrolled in the STEM discipline,is needed.