Co-Designing with First-Generation Transfer Students

Roughly 80% of community college students indicate that they intend to transfer to a four-year institution, 30% of those students eventually transfer, and 13% of those students persist to graduate with a baccalaureate degree. There has been previous research on transfer students and on first generation students, but the intersection of first-generation transfer students is under-reported. Prior research indicates that sense of belonging is an important factor in student persistence to graduation for transfer students. Higher education institutions, specifically four-year public institutions, are positioned to support first-generation transfer student sense of belonging by fostering a "transfer receptive culture." Recognizing that students are experts in their own experiences, design thinking strategies are employed to co-create services to support sense of belonging; however, the experience of the students who participate in co-design activities has not been researched. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to understand the experiences of nine first-generation transfer students who participated in co-design of programs and services aimed at fostering a transfer receptive culture at Portland State University. Through observations of co-design sessions, analysis of visual data, and semi-structured interviews with participants, the researcher found that the co-design process engaged first-generation transfer students and enhanced their sense of belonging through validation of their identities and experiences; validation of participants' identities and life experiences shaped their participation in the co-design process as experts; and co-design of programs and services with first-generation transfer students must include action as part of the process.