2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The persistent academic underperformance of first-generation college students (FGCS) compared to continuing-generation college students (CGCS) presents a critical challenge to educational equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Prior research has documented grade point average (GPA) gaps ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 points, often established in the first year, persisting through students’ undergraduate studies, and reducing the likelihood of STEM graduation. Existing literature relied on short-term data and/or traditional four- to six-year graduation benchmarks, limiting sample size and thereby constraining the generalizability of findings. Longitudinal data analysis will reflect the full academic trajectories of FGCS, who take longer to complete their degree, and assess the delayed or long-term effects of interventions. Existing research also lacks a close examination of how generational status and gender interact to influence GPA, which overlooks the unique and compounded disadvantages. The present analysis provides the insights needed to develop tailored strategies that effectively reach the potentially at-risk FGCS (minority) populations.
The purpose of the present study is to fill the above-described research gaps by analyzing both term (semester) and overall (cumulative) GPA for FGCS and CGCS in engineering at a public research university in the Mountain West region of the United States. The research questions are: (1) What are the yearly trends in term and overall GPAs, and are the differences statistically significant? (2) How do generational status and gender interact to influence GPAs, and are patterns consistent across years? The study population comprised 8,835 individual undergraduate students enrolled and/or graduated in our College of Engineering over the past 11 years (2014-2024). The sample size is significantly large and has seldom been found in the literature. Students’ annual records were analyzed using a cross-sectional quantitative study, with the Shapiro-Wilk test indicating non-normal data distributions (p < 0.05). This led to the use of Mann-Whitney tests for the ‘What’ question and two-way ANOVAs for the ‘How’ question in the present study.
The results revealed that the overall GPA gap between FGCS and CGCS narrowed over time, from 0.15 points in 2014 to 0.09 points in 2024, while the term GPA gap decreased from 0.18 points to 0.11 points. Mann-Whitney tests confirmed a persistent and statistically significant GPA gap, with CGCS outperforming FGCS in all years for overall GPA and 10 out of 11 years for term GPA (p < 0.05). Two-way ANOVAs showed a consistent generational status effect (p < 0.05 in 10 years for overall GPA and eight years for term GPA) and an inconsistent gender effect (p < 0.05 in five years for overall GPA and four years for term GPA). However, these factors accounted for only a small proportion of the variance in GPAs (η² < 0.01), indicating minor practical effects. No significant interaction between these two identities was found on any metric across all years (p > 0.05). These new research findings imply that institutional equity efforts should continue leveraging targeted intervention success for FGCSs, extending from the pre-college stage, and integrating rather than creating gender-focused interventions.