Alfred Mele and Nadia Ruiz, among others. This from Dr. Ruiz's essay was particularly striking:
It was at this point that the hidden curriculum of higher education—the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school—first began to reveal itself to me. These lessons include norms, values, and beliefs that are conveyed in the classroom and in one's social environment without explicitly being taught. As a first-generation college student, I was often unaware of these unspoken rules and expectations. For example, I didn't know about the importance of building relationships with professors, attending office hours, or the various support programs available. The fact that this curriculum remained hidden from me longer than it did for my non-first-generation peers created a significant barrier, making it difficult to navigate the academic landscape and access the resources necessary for success. Most first-gen students discover or find out about these resources on the fly, if at all: this keeps us behind.
Both my parents were college graduates, but I have to admit it took me awhile to figure some of these out too. But it is definitely even more foreign territory for those who have never been part of bourgeois society, of which academia is an importance instance.
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