The educational system should generally provide opportunities for learning, participation, and social (upward) mobility. Tertiary education can be an expensive endeavor, depending on the country, the institution and respective tuition fees, especially for first generation students, who tend not to have economic capital within their families as other students or have to be in gainful employment while studying (Bathmaker et al. 2013). The social background of a student also implies a certain social positioning within society (Baron 2014). First generation students with a working-class background or a disadvantaged family background may also feel out of place and experience difficulties in cultural adaptation to university (Resch et al. 2021). Higher education institutions strive to reduce the reproduction of social inequalities by opening access for diverse student groups and widening possibilities of participation. However, first generation students still experience barriers when it comes to studying in tertiary education. This contribution views educational disadvantages for first generation students as an institutional effect at the intersection of the individual (agency) and the institution (structure) (Giddens 1984). While structure refers to sets of rules and resources which are organized as properties of social systems, such as universities, agency, in contrast, refers to the capability of individuals to shape their social and academic life and then be able to give reasons for their actions. Hence, this contribution maps current barriers from two perspectives: First, from the micro perspective of the student, mapping barriers such as double burden of working and studying in parallel, barriers due to social status or social positioning of the student, or experiences of discrimination (classism, class origin), and second, from the meso perspective of the higher education institution, exploring concepts such as institutional discrimination or tertiary socialization (Becker & Lauterbach 2010). After mapping major barriers for first generation students in higher education, this contribution introduces key sociological theories to theoretically underpin the contributions of the symposium, such as Bourdieu’s theory of reproduction (Bourdieu & Passeron 1990), meritocracy as a leading principle of study success (Nahai 2013), and theories to overcome social inequality through social justice and anti-discrimination.

Baron, C. (2014). Klasse und Klassismus. Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme. Weinheim: Beltz. Bathmaker, A.-M., Ingram, N. & Waller, R. (2013). Higher education, social class and the mobilisation of capitals: recognising and playing the game. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 34(5-6), 723-743. Becker, R. & Lauterbach, W. (2010). Bildung als Privileg. Erklärungen und Befunde zu den Ursachen der Bildungsungleichheit. Wiesbaden: SV-Verlag. Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture. London. Sage. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Outline of the theory of structuration. University of California Press. Nahai, R. N. (2013). Is meritocracy fair? A qualitative case study of admissions at the University of Oxford. Oxford Review of Education, 39(5), 681-701 Resch, K., Hörr, B., Thimm-Netenjakob, I., Varhegy, V., Manarte, J. & Migdal, A.M. (2021). Silent Protest. Areas of concern in cross-cultural adaptation processes of international students and faculty. The International Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 21(1), 119-132.