Understanding hope as experienced by first-generation college students at Hispanic-serving institutions

Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study describes how the phenomenon of hope is experienced by six first-generation college students at South Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), how student affairs contributed to that hope, and how these students understood the spaces on a college campus relative to their experiences of hope. The culturally engaging campus environment (CECE) model was used as a theoretical framework which allowed for consideration of how the HSI environment engages with students. The study’s findings add to the literature by revealing how hope surfaced from 1) within the individual participants, as it might if were a value, a character trait, or someone’s nature, and 2) within their relationships, with family, friends, colleagues, mentors, staff, and faculty. Furthermore, these hope experiences and interactions took place on HSI campuses and within the purview of student affairs. The implications for HSIs are that they can cultivate cultures of hope, by integrating culturally engaging campus environment tenets, which is valuable to first-generation college students.