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A Critical Review of LIS Literature on First-Generation Students
- portal: Libraries and the Academy
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 19, Number 1, January 2019
- pp. 177-196
- 10.1353/pla.2019.0009
- Article
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abstract:
This review offers a critical analysis of the library and information science (LIS) literature on first-generation students (FGS) from the last 40 years. This literature demonstrates an interest in understanding the needs of FGS to serve them better, but it is often grounded in a deficit model of education that focuses on what first-generation students lack instead of what they have. This review identifies four predominant themes in the literature: FGS as outsiders, as a problem, as reluctant library users, and as capable students. Then it suggests possible avenues of future research, such as using a "funds of knowledge" approach to build on the learning and skills that students bring from their families and communities.