Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab: College as a Community of Helpers

Higher education has got to do a better job of proactively reaching out to students instead of waiting for them to ask for help, said Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, Professor of Higher Education Policy and Sociology at Temple University. Goldrick-Rab spoke to a dozen Montgomery College staff and faculty on August 22nd after her keynote speech for MC’s Professional Day. Her message stressed that people in higher education can do better in addressing the needs of first-generation and low-income college students.

Students often feel lost when going to college for the first time, Goldrick-Rab said, adding that things as fundamental as the language used in higher education can baffle new students.

“What is a ‘major’?” she asked. “What does it mean to ‘commit to a program’?” These terms are oftentimes unclear to students moving out of a highly structured context, such as high school.

Goldrick-Rab went on to explain the social psychological perspective of feeling alienated in college. “I’m talking about feeling lost in the way that you feel disconnected because it feels like nobody cares.” She compared two approaches to viewing students: independently and interdependently. She said we often frame students as independent beings. “You’re here pulling yourself up by your bootstraps to get ahead,” she said.

On the other hand, she said, first-generation college students tend to see themselves as more interconnected with their communities and families; moreover, they usually respond better to an interdependent approach. In such a way, she stated, students feel more connected. “You don’t rise or fall on your own,” she said.

Dr. Goldrick-Rab spoke at length about what faculty can do to help first-generation college students, starting with how they communicate to students. For example, in a syllabus, she said, instead of writing, “You, you, you will do this,” write, “We, we, we will do this.” She also spoke of the importance of acknowledging students’ challenges in order to let them know that they can talk about them. “We want students to express their needs when they have them,” she said.

First-generation students tend to experience a number of challenges, including lack of technological access, said Goldrick-Rab. She told the story of a student she was working with who said she had Internet “when the bills were paid,” which was only about every other month. Dr. Goldrick-Rab also noted that the most common form of technical device most students have is not a laptop or iPad, but a smartphone. “You cannot do assignments with an iPhone,” said.

It is also important to acknowledge that students have competing priorities, including work, commuting time and what she referred to as “care work” for children, parents, and other relatives. “We talk a lot about ‘going away to college,’” she said. Yet for some, she added, “You don’t really go anywhere; sometimes, you’re awfully close to home.”

In particular, Goldrick-Rab emphasized how it is essential for faculty to acknowledge the struggles that students are experiencing, despite the fact that they have content to teach. “The content won’t stick if you don’t do this,” she said, noting that students who feel unacknowledged tend to think, “We can try to pretend this thing doesn’t exist, but it’s in my head while you’re teaching.” She suggested either frontloading the class with upfront acknowledgements about students’ difficulties, or putting aside five minutes each class to name, acknowledge and ask students to put aside their outside challenges in order to focus while in the class.

All students have struggles, no matter what their financial situation is, said Goldrick-Rab. “It may be a student who is afraid of public speaking,” she said. For this reason, she recommends having students interview each other in class to ask what they see as the most difficult thing for them as students. These common challenges can help bring students together, she said.
It is important to ask students questions that are meaningful to them, Dr. Goldrick-Rab emphasized. For example, instead of assuming that something must be tough to a student, ask them, “What is that like for you?”. Another meaningful question for students is, “Why are you here?”, which can unearth a wealth of information about their backgrounds. Talking about the students’ children can elicit a great deal of conversation: kids provide a strong motivation for students to go to college, and they often feel alienated when they perceive their children as not welcome in the classroom, library, and so forth.

When students don’t come to class, Dr. Goldrick-Rab said that it is important to understand why they don’t come. “Attendance is correlated with learning and doing well in class,” she said. “However, one reason it’s correlated is due to a selection issue,” mentioning that students who come to class have less complicated lives and hence are more likely to attend. She said that faculty can help students who don’t make it to class by offering alternative assignments, if life circumstances make it impossible for them to attend. “Telling your employer you’re not going to make it to work because of a class is not an option for most,” she said.

With respect to conflicting priorities, Goldrick-Rab told a story of a faculty member from Mississippi who guided her through an exercise to show how hard it is for students to focus on succeeding in the classroom. She was told to fold up a piece of paper into eight parts and on each part, write one role that she plays in life, such as daughter, worker, mother, and so on. Then she told Goldrick-Rab, “You can’t be in school and do eight things at once, so tear up two of those roles.” After removing two of the roles, the faculty member went on: “I’ve never seen a student do well in my class if they thought they were six different things; so tear up two more roles.” With difficulty, Goldrick-Rab did so. Finally, the faculty member said, “The only students who do well in my class are those who are a student and one other role. So tear up two more.” She then told Goldrick-Rab, “This is when students literally cry. I tell them, ‘I’m not telling you what to do; I’m telling you this is what it’s really like to focus.’”

Goldrick-Rab also touched on issues of food insecurity and homelessness. She mentioned that Temple University has a Care Team to look into situations where staff and faculty express concern about students’ well-being. Another initiative to help students involves starting a peer to peer program, where students can be instrumental in serving as first points of contact. Faculty can help by putting a statement in their syllabi mentioning resources for food pantries or emergency aid, she said. The issue of homelessness in college students is close to Goldrick-Rab’s heart. “I go to sleep every night with a roof over my head, knowing that I have been face to face with tons of college students who do not have a roof over their head at night,” she said, fighting back tears.

In conclusion, Goldrick-Rab remembered the lesson she learned from watching Mr. Rodgers. “If you feel scared and things are going wrong, look for the helpers,” she said. “Better yet, BE a helper.”

Dr. Goldrick-Rab suggests the below statement for inclusion in course syllabi to address the topic of food insecurity and homelessness.

Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact the Dean of Students for support. Furthermore, please notify the professor if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable her to provide any resources that she may possess.

Please go to the following link to watch the small group discussion with Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab

https://youtu.be/qLDdqSZ_iUs

written by Dr. Caroline Toscano