Academic Belonging and Intellectual Risk-Taking Among First-Generation Learners

Claire M. Donovan

Academic Belonging and Intellectual Risk-Taking Among First-Generation Learners

Author(s)	Dr. Claire M. Donovan
Country	United States
Abstract	First-generation learners enter higher education with substantial academic potential but may encounter institutional cultures, expectations, terminology, and participation norms that are less familiar because they cannot necessarily draw on parental experience of college systems. These conditions can influence not only persistence and academic achievement but also whether students feel sufficiently accepted to engage in intellectually vulnerable forms of learning. The present study examines academic belonging as a potential enabling condition for intellectual risk-taking among first-generation learners. Intellectual risk-taking is conceptualized as learning-oriented behavior undertaken despite uncertainty or the possibility of making an error, appearing less competent, receiving criticism, or exposing incomplete understanding. Examples include answering difficult questions without certainty, proposing unconventional interpretations, challenging an argument respectfully, and requesting clarification, approaching instructors for assistance, and revising a position after receiving evidence. A structured integrative review and conceptual analytical methodology was used to synthesize contemporary research on first-generation college students, sense of belonging, academic engagement, help-seeking, classroom climate, social-class mismatch, and academic risk-taking. National evidence indicates that first-generation students can experience lower belonging than continuing-generation peers in particular four-year college contexts, while daily-diary research shows that belonging is associated with emotional and behavioral engagement and that first-generation students may be particularly responsive to day-to-day changes in belonging. Research on academic risk-taking further demonstrates that classroom context matters: Hübner and Pfost found that seminar-group differences accounted for approximately 11.0% to 16.3% of variation in students' academic risk-taking. The paper proposes that belonging may facilitate intellectual risk-taking by reducing belonging uncertainty, fear of negative evaluation, ambiguity about academic norms, and perceived social cost of error while strengthening help-seeking, participation, self-efficacy, and willingness to learn publicly. The study concludes that institutions seeking equitable first-generation student success should treat belonging and intellectual participation as connected educational outcomes rather than separate student-support concerns.
Keywords	Academic belonging; first-generation learners; intellectual risk-taking; academic risk-taking; student engagement; help-seeking; classroom climate; higher education; psychological safety; educational equity
Field	Engineering
Published In	Volume 1, Issue 2, March-April 2020
Published On	2020-04-30

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American Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Innovation and Research

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Academic Belonging and Intellectual Risk-Taking Among First-Generation Learners

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