Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to explore the importance of high school social connections for STEM self-concept in college, and whether these self-evaluations then have an impact on college outcomes. Due to differences in how first-generation college students and continuing-generation college students experience and navigate through institutions of higher education, subsample analyses were conducted to see differences based on generational status. Based on theories of self-concept and efficacy-based self-esteem as a theoretical framework, this thesis hypothesized that engagement with social connections in high school would positively impact self-evaluations in college, and that these self-evaluations would then have positive impacts on college retention and performance (i.e., GPA). Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), this thesis found that the hypotheses concerning social connections in high school affecting self-evaluations later in college were partially supported for both generational statuses albeit with different social connections. STEM self-concept and reflected appraisals only impacted college outcomes for continuing-generation college students. This thesis contributed to a longstanding line of literature exploring differences and similarities between first-generation college students and their counterparts. This thesis calls for educators and stakeholders to continue providing resources and interventions to first-generation college students to offset the imbalance they face in institutions of higher education, so that their self-concept may play a more realized role in their outcomes.