The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 1 - 22

Lauren Schudde

to students of various economic means (if the
college does not already offer this type of programming). This may help overcome, at the
least, structural hurdles to social engagement
with peers. Of course, many campus residence
halls already organize free or low-cost programming, but sporadically scheduled events
cannot fully mitigate the ﬂood of informal activities, initiated by co-residents, that require
cash in hand. Ensuring there are frequent and

Efforts to create a more inclusive
institutional culture and to offer
opportunities for students from
diverse backgrounds to participate
in campus life can be carefully
designed and pursued.

regularly scheduled free events could help encourage consistent engagement among lowincome students.
At the same time, colleges can increase
low-income students' access to "psychological resources" that bolster a belief system that
people "like them" excel at college. Postsecondary institutions are not devoid of programming
explicitly aimed at easing the transition to
college for ﬁrst-generation and low-income students. The standard approach offers "bridge"
programs to teach general academic strategies, such as how to study for exams or choose
a major. But structured support systems that
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demonstrate that people from similar backgrounds to their own can thrive at college build
students' psychological resources for persisting in college (Steele, 2010; Stephens, Markus,
& Fryberg, 2012).
Recent research suggests that exposure to
students from similar backgrounds who successfully navigated college improves the academic outcomes of disadvantaged students.
Using a panel of senior college students, Stephens and colleagues (2014) presented incoming students, most of who lived on campus,
with real-life stories about how diverse backgrounds shape college experiences. Compared
with a standard intervention that provided
stories of college adjustment without highlighting students' different backgrounds, the
panel focused on how experiences related to
socioeconomic background eliminated the
social-class achievement gap. The intervention
increased ﬁrst-generation students' tendency
to seek out college resources (e.g., meeting with
professors) and, subsequently, improved their
grade point averages. It improved the college
transition for all students on psychosocial outcomes (e.g., mental health and engagement).
Implementing a similar intervention within
residence life programming may improve the
retention and achievement of low-income and
ﬁrst-generation students.
Many staff training programs explicitly
tackle diversity issues aimed at illuminating
prejudices regarding gender, sexual identity,
and race. They aim to create safe and culturally sensitive spaces for students. Efforts to
improve the effectiveness of diversity training often overlook socioeconomic diversity,
however, focusing far more attention on cultural divisions, like racial tensions, that are

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 1

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