Document Type

Article

Version

Author's Final Manuscript

Publication Title

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

First-generation college students (FGCS) make up one third of the college student population but continue to face unfavorable academic outcomes. A powerful yet understudied factor that contributes to FGCS’ lower academic and graduation rates is campus discrimination. Importantly, discrimination undermines feelings of belonging on campus and belonging has been found to predict academic performance, motivation, and persistence to graduation. The current study examined whether on-campus discrimination influenced sense of belonging among 276 FGCS sampled during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether decreased sense of belonging, in turn, was associated with two forms of academic well-being (i.e., GPA, motivation to return to college the fall following the onset of COVID-19). We found that discrimination significantly predicted social belonging and that social belonging mediated the relationship between discrimination and GPA, and discrimination and motivation to return to college in the fall. These findings contribute to a growing body of research on FGCS and highlight how campus discrimination can perpetuate academic inequities. Existing literature often points to deficits among FGCS that contribute to their disparate academic outcomes, however, future research should consider the role in which campus culture directly impacts their well-being and academic trajectories.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000914

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