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Desire for Higher Education in First-Generation Hispanic College Students Enrolled in a Graduate Counseling Program

A Phenomenological Analysis

Tamara Olive Department of Education, Sul Ross State University

tolive@sutross. edu

Abstract

Motivation to seek higher education is rarely examined in Hispanic first-generation graduate students, those v̂ ihose parents have not attended college, and there is less literature examining those whose desire for education extends to a master's degree in counseling. The purpose of this study was to conduct a phenomenological examina- tion of the desire to attend college among first-generation Hispanic students enrolled in a counselor education program. One-hour taped interviews were conducted with three volunteer participants enrolled in a graduate counseling program at a Texas uni- versity designated as a Hispanic-serving institution. Meaning units and constituents were extracted, and a general structure was developed using the Descriptive Phenomenological Method (Giorgi, 1985). The phenomenological analysis resulted in one structure that identifies the influence of respected others; resilience and self- efficacy; self-denial; a need for distinction and career satisfaction; spirituality; altru- ism; and a view of commitment to a counseHng degree as a nonUnear process.

Keywords

graduate education - Hispanic college students - first-generation students counselor education

Demographic data regarding enrollment and degree attainment of Hispanic graduate students are readily available (American Council on Education, 2002; U.S. Department of Education, 2010). However, individual perspectives

I KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2014 [ DOI 10.1163/15691624-12341269

DESIRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN FIRST-GENERATION 7 3

of first-generation Hispanic graduate students are less frequently examined. Statistical reports fail to explain past motivation to seek higher education in these students whose parents have not attended college. Further, although studies have addressed factors such as language proficiency, academic suc- cess, family influences, self-efficacy, and parental aspirations (Gándara, 1982; Goldenberg, Gallimore, Reece, & Gamier, 2001; Zarate & Gallimore, 2005) asso- ciated with Hispanic student college enrollment, there is a lack of literature addressing the unique meanings within a lived experience for those students whose desire for higher education extends beyond an undergraduate degree to a master's degree in counseling.

Although the number of first-generation Hispanic college students is increasing (Saenz, Hurtado, Barrera, Wolf, & Yeung, 2007), Hispanic students earned only 5.9% of the total 625,023 master's degrees awarded in the United States in academic year 2007-2008 (u.s. Department of Education, 2010). This number represents an increase of 2% over a ten year period; however, the United Census Bureau (2011) reports between years 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43%, or four times the nation's 9.7% growth rate. These individuals remain underrepresented in post-baccalaureate education (Hoffer, Hess, Welch, & Williams, 2007). Thus, their needs and motivation are relevant to those in the higher education environment.

A qualitative analysis of the perspectives of these students can provide insights. A phenomenological study describes the meaning of the lived expe- riences for several individuals in regard to a phenomenon being examined (Giorgi, 2009). The descriptive phenomenological method (Giorgi, 1985) was used in this study to discover the meaning of desire for higher education for some Hispanic first-generation graduate students.

Problem Statement

The purpose of this study was to answer the following research question: What is the experience of the desire for higher education in Hispanic first- generation college students enrolled in a graduate counseling program? Each participant determined their own unique meaning for the phenomenon of the desire within their lived experience. Since first-generation Hispanic students have been designated as an underrepresented group in graduate edu- cation (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 2007), what motivates some individuals to chose a post-baccalaureate path? Further, how does the pursuit of an advanced degree in counseling contribute to that meaning?

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Literature Review

First-generation and Hispanic Students

First-generation status may influence the desire for higher education. The liter- ature on first-generation college students reflects persistence and self-efiicacy. Although Inman and Mayber (1999) suggest these students may be less pre- pared psychologically and academically for college. Hicks and Dennis (2005) found that first-generation college students are aware of possihle deficits in college readiness and seek to obtain knowledge and skills to facilitate success in the higher education environment. Despite perceived negative early edu- cational experiences of some first-generation students, Komada (2002) found that these students tend to he intrinsically driven and self-motivated.

Saenz et al. (2007) claimed that first-generation students tend to have lower educational aspirations than non-first-generation students, and Cornelius- White, Garza, and Hoey (2004) stated that academic achievement is influ- enced by familial factors. The level of education of parents of Hispanic college students has been found to be both a contributor to low levels of educational attainment as well as to higher educational achievement (Zamani, 2000). Ceja and Short (2008) state that Hispanic families want their children to have a bet- ter life than they have had and view college as important; however, "in many cases, the will exists but the knowledge does not" (p. 357). Hispanic parents may lack basic information regarding opportunities for their children to attend college (Tornatsky, Cutler, & Lee, 2002).

Gándara (2002) stated Latino students are less likely than all other ethnic groups to enroll in college, and Hispanic students whose parents lack college experience or who attended without achieving a degree are considerably less likely to enroll in four year universities compared with children of parents with baccalaureate degrees (Alon, Donina, & Tienda, 2010). However, since 1975 Hispanics have remained the most likely group to be first-generation college students at four-year universities (Saenz et al., 2007).

Sosa (2002) noted that since 90% of Hispanics do not have a familial tradition for higher education, this may produce a lack of family commitment to enroll- ment as well as a suspicion that the liberal college culture may negatively influ- ence their children's values. The decision to pursue higher education for some first-generation Hispanic students may require a purposeful break in regard to familial and socio-cultural traditions (Olive, 2008). For these students, collec- tivist and individualistic values and traditional and modern contexts may con- flict within the higher education environment (Chavez & Rudolph, 2007). Since demographics would suggest higher numbers of Hispanic first-generation stu- dents matriculating and achieving baccalaureate and post-graduate degrees.

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it is important to examine challenges in the desire for higher education and influences that contribute to academic commitment.

Graduate Counseling Programs Graduate counseling programs focus on educating and training students to become counselors with professional identities and values, knowledge, and skills to provide counseling services (Woodside, Oberman, Cole, & Carruth, 2007). Learning to counsel others may be regarded as a developmental process (Hackney & Cormier, 2005; Lyons & Hazier, 2002), and in a qualitative study conducted with pre-practicum counseling students, Woodside et al. (2007) found that students in a graduate counseling program viewed their experi- ences as a journey permeated with self-discovery and self-doubt. Although Skovholt and Ronnestad (1992) noted self-doubt and insecurity in counselor development, they found that as counseling students progressed, they later expressed variable confidence. Woodside et al. note the dynamic of self-doubt throughout the journey as a more constant, rather than fluctuating experience and suggested that self-doubt might be "a necessary component of counselor development" (p. 27).

Personal events influence counseling students' development (Furr & Carroll, 2003). In the Woodside et al. (2007) study, participants addressed learning about themselves, and "they described themselves as different in regard to their behavior as a graduate student and their previous way of being an undergradu- ate student" (p. 26). They discussed their friends, families, and significant indi- viduals who had been important in their journey People in their past, friends and classmates, families, and their anticipated fiiture work were mentioned.

Choate & Granello (2006) note the expectation of student cognitive growth for those individuals in graduate counseling programs and the importance of relationship with the faculty adviser to facilitate that growth. They suggest that as cognitive complexity increases, positive counseling characteristics emerge, such as greater flexibility, better use of empathy, and less anxiety and self-focus. Cognitive and conceptual development and self-efficacy are anticipated out- comes in a counseling program. As individuals develop higher levels of cogni- tive, moral, and conceptual functioning, as well as improved self-efficacy, they are better able to experience empathy, deal with dichotomy, assess, process, and select appropriate therapeutic techniques (Halverson, Miars, & Livneh, 2006). Other studies (Lambie, Smith, & leva, 2009; Noam, Young, & Jilnina, 2006) connect social-cognitive maturity in counseling students to higher levels of adaptivity, empathy, self-care, and Wellness.

Examining the literature regarding the cognitive, social, and moral develop- ment of students within a counselor education program has merit. However,

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there appears to be a deficit regarding motivation to pursue a master's degree in counseling. As has been previously noted, only 36,801 of tbe 625,023 master's degrees awarded in academic year 2007-2008 were earned by Hispanic indi- viduals (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Closer examination of tbis data reveals tbat of all master's degrees awarded at tbis time, 28% were concen- trated in education, and an additional 9% were awarded in tbe field of bealtb professions and related clinical services. Counseling degrees are awarded from witbin tbese fields; tberefore, altbougb current data appears unavail- able regarding tbe specific number of Hispanic individuals receiving coun- seling degrees in tbe United States, based on tbe overall percentiles, it may be inferred tbat Hispanic individuals are also underrepresented witbin these programs. Thus, to examine the motivation to commit to such an academic pathway is important.

Method

Tradition of Inquiry

The philosophy of phenomenology was developed by Edmund Husserl dur- ing tbe early 1900s; pbenomenological studies of existence were pioneered by European pbilosopbers sucb as Sartre, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. Tbe pbenomenological metbod developed witbin tbis continental pbilosopbical tradition. Amedeo Giorgi played a key role in developing empirical pbenom- enological metbods. He defines pbenomenology as botb a pbilosopby con- cerned witb epistemological issues, as well as "a metbod for investigating tbe structures of consciousness and tbe types of objects tbat present tbemselves to consciousness" (Giorgi, 2009, p. 87).

Giorgi (2009) suggests tbat wbile quantitative procedures bave value, tbey are not best suited to researcb tbe qualitative aspects of pbenomena. He asserts a qualitatively driven investigative approacb can yield greater access to tbe lived pbenomenon, an understanding of tbe basic psycbological meaning assigned by individuals to tbat pbenomenon, and a ricber description of it. In order to understand the subjects' world, the researcher "must first arrive at it by a suspension, or bracketing, of all presumptive constructs about it" (Giorgi, 1985, p. 91) in order to encounter it freshly and describe it precisely as it is intu- ited (Giorgi, 1997). Psychological rather than philosophical essences are sought in this methodology, because tbe analysis of tbe descriptions of lived experi- ence takes place witbin a psycbological perspective (Giorgi, 1989b).

Giorgi's (1985) descriptive pbenomenological approacb was employed in tbis study in order to discover meanings tbrough an analysis of interview data.

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This method approaches psychological subject matter "with the criteria of science in a phenomenological way" (Giorgi, 1985, p. 4). The descriptive phe- nomenological approach is scientiflc; it is methodical, systematic, critical, and produces general flndings (Giorgi, 1989a). This rigorous methodology was an appropriate selection for this study.

Participants The three participants met all of the following criteria: (a) graduate stu- dents enrolled in the graduate counseling program at the selected university; (b) identify their primary ethnic afflliation as Hispanic, an individual of Spanish-speaking origin, regardless of race, whose roots can be traced to Spanisb-speaking nations such as Mexico, Central and South America, and Cuba; and (c) first-generation students, those whose parents have not attended a higher-education institution.

The names and contact information for those students meeting criteria for participation in the study were provided by the university graduate counseling program. Qualifying students were contacted with an invitation to participate in the research study, and participants registered via email response.

The participants' ages ranged from 27 to 40 years of age. Participant 1 (Pi) was a 28-year-old male. He is an immigrant to the United States from Mexico. Participant 2 (P2) was a 40-year-old female who also immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Participant 3 (P3) was a 27-year-old female who was born in the United States. All three participants reported Spanish language pro- ficiency in their families, and one participant, P2, reported that she learned English as a second language.

Data Collection and Analysis Data were coflected in a private office setting on the campus of a Texas public university identified as a Hispanic-serving institution. Hispanic-serving insti- tutions are "degree-granting public or private institutions of higher educa- tion eligible for Title IV funding in tbe United States and Puerto Rico in which Hispanics comprise 25 percent or more of the undergraduate full-time-equiv- alent enrollment" (Llagas, 2003, p. 96). Demographic data were collected from each participant confirming first-generation status, age, gender, family infor- mation, socioeconomic status, and immigrant status/country of origin.

Each of the three participants was interviewed individually in one, one- hour tape-recorded session. They were given the following instruction: "Please describe what it was like for you to desire a higher education. Please be as concrete and detailed as possible." Questions regarding graduate school were not included; rather the question remained open-ended; thus, participants

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incorporated advanced higher education within their response only if they regarded it as relevant to their desire. The interview provided raw, descriptive data.

The interviews were transcribed verbatim and examined as written descrip- tions. The method of analysis consisted of the following four steps outlined by Giorgi (1985):

1. One reads the entire description in order to get a general sense of the whole statement.

2. Once the sense of the whole has been grasped, the researcher goes back to the beginning and reads through the text once more with the specific aim of discriminating "meaning units" from within the phenomenologi- cal reduction, a psychological perspective and with a focus on the phe- nomenon being researched.

3. Once "meaning units" have been delineated, the researcher then goes through all of the meaning units and expresses the psychological insight contained in them more directly. This is especially true of the "meaning units" most revelatory of the phenomenon under consideration.

4. Finally, the researcher synthesizes all of the transformed meaning units into a consistent statement regarding the subject's experience. This is usually referred to as the structure of the experience and can be expressed at a number of levels, (p. 10)

Meaning units are considered to be context-laden constituents that are "spon- taneously perceived discriminations within the subject's description arrived at when the researcher assumes the phenomenological reduction, a psychologi- cal attitude toward the concrete description" (Giorgi, 1985, p. 11). Each mean- ing unit, originally expressed in the subject's own words, is transformed by the researcher through a descriptive process into "psychologically pertinent expressions but without using the jargon of mainstream psychology" (Giorgi, 2009, p. 137). These meaning units form the basis for the stmcture of the expe- rience; this structure, rather than being universal, is general and thus in prin- ciple is "applicable to more individuals than the persons upon which they were based" (Giorgi, 2009, p. 166).

During the research process, it was necessary to bracket my experiences in order to set aside any preconceptions. This was particularly important, for in addition to serving as the researcher, I am also a first-generation student and the recipient of a graduate degree in counseling. I relied on "intuitive psycho- logical senses that present themselves to the consciousness of the researcher" as I analyzed and transformed the data (Giorgi, 2009, p. 154). The psychologl-

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cal Structure of the phenomenon of desire for higher education in this study's Hispanic graduate students emerged through the analysis.

Limitations Because ofthe laborious nature of tbe descriptive phenomenological method, the sample size of this study was smafl. The three participants originated from Texas counties in close proximity to the border with Mexico. Two of the par- ticipants were immigrants. Although all participants in this study claimed Mexican ancestry, this is not true for all Hispanic graduate students. Because of these factors and environmental influences, the results may not be typical of all Hispanic first-generation graduate students in other university settings across the nation. Further, the interviews were conducted in English. One par- ticipant speaks English as a second language, and certain expressions com- mon in Spanish, in which the researcher is not fluent, do not easily translate to English.

Although the participants of this study identified themselves as having Hispanic origin, they are not representative of all memhers of this ethnic group or cultural affiliation. Therefore, the results of this study may not be general- ized to afl Hispanic first-generation students enrolled in graduate counseling programs.

Results

Data from Pi, P2, and P3 were combined into one general structure reflect- ing their essential common features. Following is the structure of the desire for higher education in first-generation Hispanic college students enrolled in a graduate counseling program:

For P the experience of the desire for higher education was influenced by encouragement from respected others in spite of an absence of nuclear or extended family role models for college education. Although having experi- enced challenging life circumstances, P demonstrated resilience, persistence, and self-efficacy in setting and achieving educational goals. P's commitment to model higher education values and establish new traditions within the family incorporates a willingness to practice and display self-denial while engaged in the academic process. P views a graduate degree in counseling as an opportu- nity to achieve distinction, comfort, and career satisfaction. Having a spiritual orientation, P regards the choice to pursue a counseling degree as a calling divinely influenced and facilitated by God. P views advanced higher education as necessary in order to fulfill an altruistic motivation to professionally help

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Others experiencing distress or needing guidance. Prior to enrolling in a coun- seling program, P sought education or experience in other fields. The commit- ment to a graduate counseling degree is viewed by P as a nonlinear process, subsequent to other, less preferred considerations.

Discussion of Results

The structure of the desire for higher education in first-generation Hispanic college students enrolled in a graduate counseling program will be discussed in terms of the constituents. Rather than being stand-alone themes, constitu- ents are interrelated parts of the whole structure, and each must be present for the structure to be maintained. Although separate empirical factors may be examined, the holistic interdependency of the constituents produces psycho- logical meaning (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003).

Discussion of the Constituents of the Structure In examining the structure, the following constituents innate to the experi- ence of the desire for higher education in first-generation Hispanic college stu- dents enrolled in a graduate counseling program emerged:

1. Lack of nuclear or extended family role models for higher education countered by encouragement from respected others.

2. Resilience, persistence, and self-efficacy in achieving educational goals in spite of challenging circumstances.

3. Willingness to practice self-denial in order to model higher education values to family.

4. A graduate degree in counseling perceived as an opportunity to achieve distinction, comfort, and career satisfaction.

5. A belief that the choice of a counseling degree was influenced and facili- tated by God.

6. An altruistic motivation to professionally help others experiencing dis- tress or needing guidance.

7. Commitment to a counseling degree viewed as a nonlinear process, sub- sequent to other, less preferred considerations.

As I checked each of the above constituents against the original data, 1 asked what does this statement reveal about the phenomenon; is it relevant; and is it important to the essence of the experience of the desire for higher education? If I removed the constituent, would the structure collapse? (Giorgi, 1985).

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After careful analysis, constituents l, 2, 3, 4,5, and 6 appeared necessary for the phenomenon and were apparent in the individual constituents for eacb participant. I was initially uncertain regarding tbe last constituent, constituent 7, and removed it from tbe structure to see if it was essential. I discovered tbat tbe participants regarded tbe consideration of alternate career or educational paths as a vital part of tbe educational process and development of desire, as tbey contemplated or actually engaged in otber careers or academic pro- grams and tben abandoned tbem. Viewing tbis constituent as essential to P's desire for bigber education required my "slowing down and dwelling" (Giorgi, 1985, p. 174). I found tbat witbout eliminating an initial cboice experientially, P would not bave developed a vision incorporating a preferred professional identity necessitating a specific graduate program. Althougb tbere were varia- tions in tbe initial cboices in tbe participants, tbe basic nonlinear process was essential. Witbout tbis constituent tbe structure was weakened, so I decided to retain it.

Tbere were differences in several otber constituents. Constituent 1 was essential, altbougb tbere were empirical variations between the three par- ticipants whose families lacked role models for higher education. P2 and P3 noted school teachers or administrators in secondary school settings encour- aging an initial desire for higher education, while P3 credited support from his spouse during botb undergraduate and graduate scbool as influencing desire for bigber education and advanced bigber education. All tbree participants acknowledged tbeir appreciation for support from family or extended family members in tbeir academic considerations and endeavors.

Constituent 5 also reflected empirical differences. P2 noted a spiritual influ- ence in ber desire to pursue and accomplisb a counseling degree. Pi and P3, too, noted a spiritual orientation, but empbasized an importance to remain witbin "God's will" in tbe selection of a graduate program; furtber, tbey sougbt valida- tion internally and from otbers in positions of spiritual autbority. Altbougb expressed differently, tbe perception of spirituality as vital to the desire for higher education was reflected by all participants; tberefore, tbe psycbological meaning in tbis constituent was tbe same. Witbout tbis constituent tbe struc- ture would collapse.

Tbe eigbt constituents of tbis structure are all interrelated. For example, con- tributing to P's comfort and career satisfaction acbieved tbrougb a counseling degree (constituent 4) is P's altruistic motivation to professionally help others (constituent 6) and P's belief tbat tbe choice of a counseling degree was influ- enced by God (constituent 5). P's lack of nuclear or extended family role mod- els for bigber education (constituent 1) influences tbe willingness to practice self-denial in order to model bigber education values to family (constituent 3).

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This desire to create a new familial tradition for higher education (constituent 3) influences P's resilience, persistence, and self-efficacy in achieving educational goals in spite of challenging circumstances (constituent 2). P's view of the com- mitment to a counseling degree as a nonlinear process, subsequent to other less preferred considerations (constituent 7) is connected to P's selection of this specific degree as an opportunity to achieve distinction, comfort, and career satisfaction (constituent 4); to P's altruistic motivation (constituent 6); and to P's belief that this academic path is spiritually influenced (constituent 5). That the selection of this degree program is nonlinear reflects the personal, interpersonal, occupational, and spiritual influences in a journey of discovery as expressed in these constituents, rather than a long-range strategic academic plan. These constituents are not contradictory within the structure of the phe- nomenon of the desire for higher education. Each constituent is related to the others in holistic interdependence

Comparisons to the Literature In the structure of the experience of the desire for higher education, several constituents may be further examined and with consideration of existing lit- erature. Constituent 1, lack of nuclear or extendedfamily role models for higher education countered by encouragement and support from respected others, is reflected in the data of the two female participants, P2 and P3, reflecting the influence of school teachers and administrators in their commitment to col- lege and graduate school. Zarate and Gallimore (2005) noted that Latina college enrollment appears to relate more to relationships with counselors and teach- ers than to academic achievement and parental expectations. They noted that, in regard to preparation for college, acculturated females rely more on school agents for emotional support than on family memhers. Because some parents of underrepresented students are not familiar with higher education access or processes, their children must look to the schools to provide social capital in order to obtain knowledge of attending college, as well as emotional support to help navigate the college decision-making and planning process (Gonzalez, Stoner, & Jovel, 2003).

P2 reported the following:

The assistant principal helped me a lot. She talked to me about my prob- lems. At that time the school didn't have a counselor, so the assistant principal did everything She said if you're number one in your class, you can go to any university, or if you're number two, you can go to any university in Texas. So then I started to tbink about college. It's not just a product of my imagination. It became more real.

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P2 graduated second in her class, and the assistant principal helped with matriculation and choice of major. Later P2 selected the graduate school in a distant city from which this administrator earned her master's degree. While in the graduate counseling program, P2 recalls, "I had a good teacher who encour- aged me to keep going."

Refiecting other influences, P2's father advised, "If you get married and your husband died, you need a career. You need to take care of yourself." In a study of parents' expressions regarding the importance of career preparation for girls and boys. Zarate and Gallimore (2005) noted that parents of girls appeared to characterize formal education as a means of counteracting the girls' vulner- abilities related to gender. This was illustrated in the frequent comments that education was important "para defenderse (to defend oneself) or para hacerle

fi'ente a la vida (to confront life)" (Zarate & Gallimore, 2005, p. 394). It was also common for daughters' parents to stress that education could allow the girls to become breadwinners if a marriage failed.

Pi noted the absence of familial role models for higher education in the fol- lowing remarks:

They [family] were very supportive, but they didn't push me, and there was no other family member saying, 'Hey, I went to college and this was my experience, and look at the outcome,' but I'm thinking, maybe if there was, maybe that would have helped to have a role model. To look where they came from and where they're going.

Pi credited his spouse with ongoing support for his academic endeavors, and he notes the infiuence of respected university professors in the graduate coun- seling program.

Constituent 2, resilience, persistence, and self-efficacy in achieving educa- tional goals in spite of challenging circumstances, is reflected in a qualitative study conducted by Woodside et al. (2007) in which participants described their experience of learning to be a counselor. The participants indicated that learning to be a counselor did not begin upon acceptance into a counseling program. Rather, they stated they took a journey leading them to the study of counseling that "represented a synthesis of their experiences and mani- fested itself in different ways" (Woodside et al., 2007, p. 20). The participants described challenging situations as a part of this journey. In this current study. Pi reports that difficulties did not deter him or his wife, also enrolled in a graduate program, from their educational commitment. He stated, "That never stopped us. Not job transition, not even being laid off, so even in that transition

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I kept attending school. Full-time school and full-time work. We always stayed strong. We believe; we just do it. We have the confidence."

P3 reported challenges she experienced in balancing parenting with being enrolled full time in graduate school. Phinney and Haas' (2003) study of ethnic minority coflege students noted Stressors resulting from coping with domestic responsibilities in addition to carrying full academic loads. She stated, "I was working a full-time job and going to school at night, so I didn't really see my

children until the weekend. That really hurt me There was some guilt as a mother." Although P3 reports this as emotionally difficult, she states that she persisted because she had "a vision that this is what I want to do."

P2 reported challenges in regard to learning English as a second language. She did not learn the language until 9th grade, when she began high school in the United States. She said, "I started learning everything by memory; I memorized everything. I learned vocabulary, but I didn't understand. I car- ried a dictionary everywhere; I did really well, and I liked that." P2 stated that she decided to hecome a counselor and was accepted into a master's program. She reported the following:

My first class was graduate research; it was a hard class. I went on proba- tion. My next class was [personality] theories. I did well and got off pro- bation. I was worried someone would say, 'What are you doing here?' but decided, though, don't quit. Keep going And now I'm going to gradu- ate with my master's.

Although P2 entered graduate school with a belief that her language deficits might keep her from reaching her educational goals, when facing challenges, she repeatedly asserted, "I can do this!"

Constituent 3, willingness to practice self-denial in order to model higher edu- cation values to family, is reflected in the following remark of Pi:

I think my children have played a part in my desire for higher education. They haven't rebelled with the studying; they have been very positive. I know we're setting a positive example for them, pursing higher educa- tion. . . . I believe we've established an educational environment. They've seen that.

P3 states, "We instill in our children that they can achieve anything that they put their minds to. We model higher education." In an examination of the intergenerational educational mobility of Hispanic high school graduates.

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Alon et al. (2010) note that compared with parents who lack post-secondary degrees, "college educated parents are better equipped to convey their post- secondary expectations" (p. 1808), and their children are more likely to pursue higher education than those whose parents are less educated. Further, stu- dents with college-educated parents exhibit higher degree attainment than those ethnic peers with less-educated parents. Olive's (2010) study of Hispanic college students enrolled in a post-baccalaureate achievement program noted an altruistic motivation integrated in a view of higher education as somehow beneficial to family members or others. Results from that study reveal partici- pants' motivation to establisb a tradition for higher education within the fam- ily system and to influence their family, extended family, and future children to pursue college.

Regarding Constituent 4, a graduate degree in counseling perceived as an opportunity to achieve distinction, comfort, and career satisfaction, there is a minimal amount of information in the literature addressing career develop- ment of master's level counseling students (Busacca & Wester, 2006). Savickas (2005) notes that for some graduate students, a re-exploration of career may occur in which the individual examines again their interests, values, and abili- ties. This examination incorporates "exploring the fit between self and the role of counselor" (Busacca & Wester, 2006, p. 179). In the qualitative Woodside etal. (2007) study of counseling students, one theme emerging from the interview data reflected a temporal component of choice for a counseling career related to the notion of right path/wrong path. P2 recalled, "1 went into counseling. When I went into that building [at the university], I said, 'Yes.' It felt right." A quest for distinction and satisfaction is reflected in Pi's following remarks:

I really want something that's going to back me up, that's going to speak for my name. Accomplishments, you know.. .junior college, university, then master's, and now thinking of a doctorate I want to pursue the LPC [licensed professional counselor] route; I would really enjoy private practice.

P3 imagines herself counseling couples, but also teaching in higher education, an environment which she enjoys.

Constituent 5, a belief that the choice of a counseling degree was influenced andfacilitated by God, reflects a spiritual orientation. Many of the participants in a qualitative study of counseling students asserted that counseling was a gift, "their calling," or "their destiny" (Woodside et al., 2007, p. 25). Pi's spiritual perspective is illustrated in the following:

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I, my wife and I had discussed counseling. We believe God put the desire in our hearts to help people. It is something that we really prayed about and asked God to reveal tbat it's sometbing from Him. If it is part of His will, it will fall into place; He will provide. And all of funds He bas pro- vided, sucb as travel to bere [university for classes]. We just know tbat we bave tbat confirmation.

Also reflecting perspectives of comfort and of divine inspiration, P3, whose spouse has also committed to a master's degree in counseling, stated, "In this counseling program I feel peace; I feel comfortable. I just really feel that God has called my husband and me to counseling. I know tbat I'm doing this, and it's for a reason."

The Woodside et al. (2007) study of graduate students enrolled in a coun- seling program addresses constituent 6, an altruistic motivation to profession- ally help others experiencing distress or needing guidance. Participants in that study expressed a desire to learn about tbe counseling process in order to lis- ten to tbe clients, understand tbeir point of view, and empower tbem to belp tbemselves. All participants described bow tbey were using tbeir classroom learning to belp otbers. Some participants talked about belping otbers tbrougb counseling as sometbing tbat reflects "wbo I a m . . . and wbat I am supposed to do" (Woodside et al., 2007, p. 22). Mastain's (2007) pbenomenological study of altruism identified tbe motivating factor of personal identity as essential to tbe experience of assisting anotber person in need. P3 stated tbat sbe bad acbieved ber master's degree in business, but sbe was not utilizing tbe degree. Sbe reports sbe was belping people at ber cburcb and belping students at tbe scbool where she worked as a teacher; she decided that a counseling degree would provide the means to professionally help others. P2 noted that she wanted to grow up and help people, to heal people. Pi's altruism is reflected in his assertion, "It is a blessing, a reward, to belp otbers."

In regard to Constituent 7, commitment to a counseling degree viewed as a nonlinear process, subsequent to other, less preferred considerations, Busacca and Wester (2006) note tbat students may enter counseling programs imme- diately after completing undergraduate studies, or tbey may transition into a counseling program after several years of working in an occupation very dif- ferent from counseling. Luzzo (2000) found tbat graduate students do not all progress tbrougb stages of career development at exactly tbe same pace or in exactly tbe same manner. Some graduate students "bave adopted an explor- atory posture" during tbeir educational experience (Busacca & Wester, 2006, p. 179) and graduate students who return to college after working or meeting

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Other obligations often find themselves recycling through exploratory stage tasks" (Busacca & Wester, 2006, p. 180).

Pi addresses this nonlinear pathway when he states, "I didn't start in the field of counseling. What did influence me is my desire to repair things, to fix things at the technology level. Now I'm going to try to help fix people." P3 received her master's degree in business but was unable to find a job utilizing tbe degree. She pursued an alternative certification plan to enable her to teach business in the public school system. She states she had never thought about counseling until a pastor in her local church suggested it. P2 wanted to study medicine in Mexico. However, she said when she was unable to return to the country of her birth, she entered a Texas university. After discovering there was no medical school at the university, she tried business, quickly found it undesirable, and finally declared a major in psychology. She was teaching in a private high school when the opportunity to work as the school counselor presented. At that point, she decided to apply to graduate school for admission to a counselor education program.

Summary and Conclusion

Hispanic first-generation students have been examined from numerous quan- titative research perspectives. The descriptive phenomenological method (Giorgi, 1985) was utilized in this study to identify the structure and better understand the lived experience of the desire for higher education in Hispanic first-generation college students enrolled in a graduate counseling program. The elegant simplicity of this qualitative but scientifically rigorous method (Wertz, 2010) yielded a holistic, phenomenological analysis resulting in one structure that identified the influence of respected others; resilience, persis- tence, and self-efficacy; self-denial in order to model education values; a need for distinction and career satisfaction; spirituality and divine influence; altru- istic motivation to professionally help others; and a view of commitment to a counseling degree as a nonlinear but preferred process. There is little in the literature addressing the reasons Hispanic first-generation students ultimately commit to a graduate counseling program. This study offers a contribution to tbe literature and may offer insights valuable to those professionals in higher education interested in attracting and training future counselors and fostering their successful personal and professional journeys of discovery.

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