The Role of Relational Reciprocity: How Students’ Families Support and Influence Them during the Transition to Higher Education

Abstract

This work is embedded in a larger qualitative study and uses grounded theory techniques to explore the reciprocal nature of familial relationships for racially and ethnically minoritized students and, in turn, how these relationships impact students’ higher education experience. After analyzing semi-structured interview data using grounded theory approaches like open coding and constant comparison, themes of genuine and resistant reciprocity emerged. The findings showed that genuine familial reciprocity led to positive influences, while resistant reciprocity detracted students from their higher education journeys. Genuine reciprocity covered mutual exchanges that included emotional, temporal, and financial support. Resistant reciprocity centered on familial exchanges that left students feeling obligated to support their family financially and/or temporally. Many students used resistant reciprocity as motivation to persist despite their personal or familial circumstances. These findings contribute to a framework of relational reciprocity for college students and their families. Relational reciprocity illuminates the nature of and types of exchanges that contribute to students’ persistence during higher education, whether propelled by or in spite of them.