Date of Award
5-10-2026
Date Published
June 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Professional Studies
Department
Information Management
Advisor(s)
Beth Patin
Second Advisor
John Jordan
Keywords
college transition;cultural wealth;equity in education;information experience;Latine college experience;student thriving
Abstract
Traditional research frequently utilizes deficit-oriented models that view first-generation college students’ (FGCS) backgrounds as hurdles. Instead, asset-based approaches center the cultural strengths these students bring to institutions not designed for them. Despite representing a significant and growing portion of the FGCS population, Latine learners remain understudied within information management scholarship. This study addresses this critical gap by examining how Latine FGCS’ cultural wealth shapes their information experiences during the critical first year of college, integrating three frameworks: Information Experience (IX), Communities of Cultural Wealth (CCW), and Student Thriving. Moving beyond traditional information behavior research that focuses on what students do, this study examines how students experience information through the lens of cultural capital. Using Testimonio methodology, a Latin American tradition that centers marginalized voices, eight second-year Latine FGCS shared their first-year navigation experiences through semi structured interviews. Deductive coding revealed four integrated themes demonstrating how distinct forms of cultural wealth activate thriving behaviors, which in turn transforms information experience. Findings demonstrate that Latine FGCS operate as cultural practitioners who deploy multiple forms of capital simultaneously to transform opaque or hostile institutional environments into navigable paths towards their goals. Students utilized familial and social capital to build trusted information networks, linguistic capital to decode the hidden curriculum through code-switching and translation, aspirational capital to drive persistent information seeking, and resistance and navigational capitals to strategically navigate complex systems. This asset implementation was not passive adaption but active mastery of institutional environments through culturally informed information practices. The study concludes that cultural wealth is foundational, not supplementary to information experience. Five theoretical contributions reframe scholarly understanding: shifting from deficit to endogenous thriving, challenging positivist epistemologies with relational alternatives, validating multilingualism as metacognitive asset, utilizing resistance capital as a building block for determination, and employing Testimonio as an Information Experience methodology. More than a dozen practice recommendations translate these insights into actionable strategies for first-year programming, institutional communications, advising, faculty development, and assessment. Together, these contributions provide a blueprint for institutions to honor and leverage student strengths, rather than attempting to remediate perceived deficits, a critical shift as Latine students represent nearly 40% of first-generation learners nationally.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Deseda-Coon, Carlota, "The Impact of Cultural Wealth on the Information Experiences of Latine First-Generation College Students" (2026). Dissertations - ALL. 2283.
https://surface.syr.edu/etd/2283
