Running head: HIGH-ACHIEVING COLLEGE SCHOLARS 1

Experiences of Low-Income High-Achieving College Scholars Studying on Private Universities

Pia Roelen C. Pahati

Bulacan State University

HIGH-ACHIEVING COLLEGE SCHOLARS 2

Experiences of Low-Income, High-Achieving College Scholars Studying on Private Universities

Our great hero, Jose Protacio Rizal once said that the youth is the hope of our society.

Whether the youth will end up as good bunch of people or not, they are still the ones who will be

the future handlers of our society. The great extent of the future is on their hands. The life-

changing decisions they make today will change what will happen in the future (Puyat, 2005).

However, the so-called hope of our society faces many challenges and adversities, especially

today which needs further understanding and help from our government and from each of us

(Cabigon, 2009).

There are several challenges that Filipino youth confront nowadays, specifically

education and poverty. Poverty is defined by the Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines

as a certain observable fact with a lot of complexities, resulting to problems with nutrition,

health, education, housing and leisure (p. 15, 2005). The only ironic thing with poverty is that it

is most likely featured in the news that the economic growth of the country is now on its robust

performance, yet, why can it not be felt by the people? In fact, NSCBTS, stated that the situation

has not been changed, considering the poverty incidence within Filipino families of about 22.3%

last 2012.

Although that seems to be the predicament that the country is now confronting, Filipino

students who value education will not let poverty be a hindrance to their goals and aspirations in

life. Filipinos give a certain high importance on education. As what parents usually tell their

children, Education is the most important thing which I can bequeath to you. With these words,

one can clearly see how college diploma symbolizes personal attainment, good future and

stability in financial terms for many Filipinos (Reyes & Galang, 2009).
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However, here in the Philippines, elementary or what they call as basic education and

secondary education are the only education that is provided by the government, and that tertiary

education is only supervised by the government. Luckily, two government agenciesthe

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as well as the Technical Education and Skills

Development Authority (TESDA) enables and help Filipino students to finish a degree or in the

case of TESDA, a vocational course. As was mentioned earlier, Filipino college students are very

persistent when it comes to completing a degree, fortunately, those students who are coming

from low-income families but high-achieving students were granted by scholarships by private

universities and colleges, as well as some financial assistance by the government.

To date, there are numbers of high-achieving, low-income students who are attending

private colleges and universities as full-grant scholars. However, the question is, how are they in

that specific private universities? Does their socioeconomic status affect their over-all college

experience? And do they find these private universities and colleges conducive for their over-all

academic achievement?

Furthermore, there are very few literature that tackles about the experiences of low-

income high-achieving Filipino students studying on private universities. So, I will just give the

overview of the values that Filipino students have amidst their challenges in studying and some

of the studies that tackles about the experiences of low-income high-achieving students.

Values of Filipino College Students amidst Challenges

In any places, institutions or universities that we go, self-definition and self-identification

is always deemed as an important part of every individual, especially in the case of low-income

high-achieving students as their feeling of belonging to the institution in which they are part of
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boosts their self-concept and self-esteem as individuals as well as increases their likelihood to

stay and finish their started degrees (Revilla, 1997). However, we must not undermined low-

income high-achieving Filipino students as they can withstand frustration and make sense of the

experiences that they are going through (Puyat, 2005).

In all account to literature, Filipinos put education at its highest, even though there would

be times that they are confronted with adversities; the resiliency of Filipinos students can not be

questioned (Castillo, 2002). Beyond the fact that students value education as it is the way that

they see which would lead them to better jobs, they also see it as a means of fulfilling their

responsibilities toward their family according to the study of Reyes and Galang (2009). Ogena,

(2009), supported this as she found in her study how Filipino students value families, and that

despite of the financial difficulties that they are experiencing, it doesnt overshadow and hinder

the aspirations of Filipino students, especially with the case of first-generation youth as noted by

Pineda (2010) in his study. First-generation youth that was pertained in that study (Pineda, 2010)

is the students whose parents did not finished their college degrees, as it was seen that the usual

low-income high-achieving students came with that background, yet it must not be confused with

the participants of this study, as this study only pertains to those low-income high-achieving

Filipino college scholars.

Castillo (2002) in her study described college as a world full of diversities, filled with

different types of peopledifferences in race, in socio-economic status and many more. With

that, she found that Filipino Americans students also experience such diversity and may

experience many seemingly insurmountable odds, yet positive support from family, friends, and

mentors; and some sense of belongingness in the community enables our fellow citizens abroad

to overcome such diversities that they faced in the course of their study. Like any other students,
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it was also noted that financial obstacles, time management and some family obligations were

seen by these students as borders towards their academic aspirations, yet their deep sense value

of education took precedence over those borders. Lastly, Aure (2005) reported that peer group

interactions and support were important to Filipino American undergraduate students, but parents

were much more influential in all the areas which they have focused on. Additionally, students

involved in an ethnic specific student organization had high levels of ethnic identity, strong

campus connectedness, and belonged to peer groups with similar ethnic backgrounds.

All in all, from the findings of the studies that have been reviewed, support from family

or value of family and education pushes Filipino students to carry on amidst all the challenges

they encounter throughout college, specifically, financial problems, time management, and

diversity.

Common Struggles of Low-Income Students

Low-income high-achieving students were found to confront many challenges, like

financial concerns, personal struggles, finding a community to belong, emotional and

psychological challenges (i.e. feelings of being alone, and self-doubts) (Salas, 2011; Uesugi,

2009; & Carrasquillo, 2013). Based on the study of Hoxby and Avery (2012), some low-income

high-achieving students do not choose selective colleges despite the fact that they would be

given full scholarships as it was found in this study that high-achieving low-income students are

not well-informed compared to their high-achieving high-income counterparts, and that because

of the less information that they knew, they are intimidated by the high rate tuition fee of the said

university. However, since scholarship grants given by selective colleges nowadays are known
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by many, as it can be seen in the Internet or said by teachers, many high-achieving low-income

students are now entering tertiary education in private universities and colleges (Ying, 2007).

In the study of Carrasquillo (2013), high-achieving, low-income individuals did not only

pointed out economic obstacles but also some organizational problems to their success,

especially in the realm of practices within the community colleges teaching and learning

environments.

In addition to that, Salas (2013) which focused on the usual struggles that first-generation

low-income students commonly faced found that financial concerns, personal struggles and

finding a community are the major obstacles that they encounter in the college that they are

attending to. The participants reported that there came a point that they just want to leave school

in order to help their families. Other participants even stated that there is no connection between

him and the campus. Although they felt this way, the participants of that study felt validated for

their hardwork, which pushes them to finish their started degrees.

Moreover, Uesuigi (2009) which focused on former foster youth found that there were

three factors that serve as an obstacle in their efforts to finish college, such as emotional and

psychological challenges like having self-doubts and times of feeling alone, the absence of

structure in their college environment, and concerns about their physiological needs like lack of

basic needs such as housing, food, and clothing.

Characteristics of Low-Income High-Achieving Students

Nowadays, scholarships from private universities are granted to those low-income high-

achieving students (Ying, 2007). The common denominator from all the findings of the literature
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about low-income high-achieving students is that all of them have that great persistence to finish

their degrees and to attain high academic achievement.

The common factors that contribute to the persistence of high-achieving low-income

students were found by Deafenbaugh (2007) as parental support and encouragement of degree

aspiration from peers. The students surround themselves with other high ability peers who serve

as their supports and resources, both personally and academically. Their academic preparation

and ability function as passports to other resources, including extracurricular activities, engaging

coursework, and a high achieving peer group, which may have compensated for the lack of

support they received at home.

Speaking of extracurricular activities, one study pointed that extra-curricular activities,

competition with friends for grades, and challenging coursework are taken both as a protective

and a risk factor of high-achieving, low-income and moderate-income African college students,

depending on the situation that they are into. As these three can either boosts their self-esteem

and enjoyment in school or give them more pressure due to more time constraints.

Socioeconomic Status and Private Colleges

Based from studies, schools are places where one can either feel or not feel some sense of

belongingness (Kingston & Lewis as cited in Ostrove and Long (2007). In the following studies,

literature suggests that socioeconomic status also affects students in many ways.

On the study of Ostrove and Long (2007), they noted that social class background of

students is related to their sense of belonging and adjustment in tertiary education, which in turn

predicts social and academic adjustment and quality of experience in college as well as their

academic performance. They noted that this relationship between the variables can be found
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when social class was measured objectively or subjectively by asking the participants to self-

identify themselves within the socioeconomic range. In relation to this, women from working

and middle-class families felt that they are socially segregated and academically unprepared

during their stay on elite college campuses (Ostrove, 2003), compared to those ladies coming

from the upper-class families who exudes higher self-confidence.

In an experimental study done by Spencer and Castano (2007), they found that those

students who have low SES performed worse during tests, especially when socioeconomic

identity is pointed out, as well as to feel much lower self-confidence compared to their high-

income counterparts.

The following studies only gave us an overview of how socioeconomic status can affect

the sense of belonging of an individual in elite colleges abroad, although it was not clear if the

socioeconomic status that they are pertaining are just lower compared to the upper or low, such

as in the case of poverty.

These results help us better understand the role stereotyping plays in the academic

performance of low-SES students, and may partly explain the disparity on standardized test

scores between low- and high-SES students. Aside from that, it was not indicated with those

studies if their participants are high-achieving or not.

The Present Study

The literature with regard to low-income, high-achieving students are scarce, yet studies

on low-income, high-achieving students studying in private colleges or universities are even

scarcer, as I just only see some pieces that might be related to this study. Based from all the

researches that have been reviewed, they only focused on the characteristics and struggles of
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high-achieving, low-income students, yet no one like this study, to my knowledge, has ever done

exploring the experiences of those low-income, high-achieving college scholars studying in

private universities in Metro Manila.

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research study is to explore the

academic, social, and personal experiences of low-income high-achieving students who are

studying in private universities in Metro Manila. This study will be important because knowing

their experiences in the private universities where they are studying, will provide more

information about what happens to the students after the scholarship grant has been given. Aside

from that, this study will also give its contribution to the existing body of knowledge in

Educational Psychology, specifically about the lives of low-income, high-achieving college

scholars studying on private universities and colleges in Metro Manial through their personal

thoughts and subjective views about the phenomenon.

Research Questions

Six major research questions will guide this study. Specifically, the following questions will be:

1. What are the challenges that low-income high-achieving students face on studying in

private universities in Metro Manila?

2. What personal characteristics, beliefs, and experiences that low-income high-achieving

students perceived they have that helps them to aspire and continue their college degree

in the private universities they are attending to?

3. What are the factors that drive low-income high-achieving students finish their college

degree in private universities?

4. What are the factors that they consider a hindrance while studying in private universities?
5. What is their over-all experience in studying in private universities and colleges?
6. What is the impact of studying in the top universities and colleges in the Philippines give

to low-income high-achieving students?

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Methods

Research Design

In this study, I will use the qualitative method of phenomenology as there is no theory of

choice. According to Flowerday and Schraw (2000), phenomenological design is appropriate

when ones goal is to explore a phenomenon about which little has been written, (p.35) which is

likely the same with my goals in this study. I will also be going to collect information from the

participants who are able to describe the phenomenon through their experiences, which will

allow me to organize themes, based on their responses.

According to Wahyuni (2012), the research paradigm for this study will be

constructivism. I will have the ontological position of being subjective and socially constructed

in this research. In epistemological terms, I will focus upon the details of the situation, or the

lived experiences of the participants.

Participants

The sample of participants will be consisted of ten low-income, high-achieving college

scholars studying in private universities in Metro Manila, specifically students from De La Salle

University, Ateneo De Manila University, and University of Sto. Tomas.

The sample will be generated using snowballing technique. This sampling technique

is an approach for locating information-rich key informants (p. 176, Patton, 1990). The process

of snowball sampling begins by asking a number of people who to talk to when it comes to that

specific phenomenon. Eventually, the chain of recommended informants will typically diverge

initially as many possible sources are recommended, then converge as a few key names get

mentioned over and over (p. 176, Patton, 1990).

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The participants will be 18 up to 25 age-old low-income high-achieving college scholars

studying in private universities in Metro Manila. Each participant will be required to meet the

basic requirements of being a high-achieving student, with GPA of no less than 2.0 from the last

semester and with grade no less than 2.0; came from a low-income family who earns no less than

6000 pesos per month; and is a full-grant scholar of the private universities. All participants that

will be involved in this study are all students that are currently enrolled and is a full-grant scholar

of De La Salle University, Ateneo De Manila University and University of Sto. Tomas.

Instrument (Appendix A)

The instrument that will be going to use in this study will be guided by the interview

questions that I will design, which will guide the flow of the interview with the participants,

specifically on the proceeding in-depth interviews.

Procedure

I will first give each participant an informed consent which they have to sign. This

informed consent contain all the things that they need to know about the researchits purpose

and its reason for being conducted. It is also indicated in the informed consent that the

information that they will provide will be held with great care and confidentiality. Aside from

that, I will also clarify that they are free to leave from participating in the research once they feel

uneasy about it. I will also be going to explain the specific details on which they will be

contributing within this research.

The data gathering procedure will be coming from a series of in-depth interviews with the

participants. In-depth interviews will focus on their experiences studying in private universities

in Metro Manila. These verbal responses will be recorded using an audio recorder, and will be
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transcribed verbatim by the interviewer. Body language, positions or any initial observations to

the interviewee will be noted. The initial in-depth interview will about to last for 30 to 40

minutes. Follow-up interviews will be done either through phone or personal visit to the

participants in order to clarify some parts that the I, as the researcher deemed a bit vague.

In-depth interviews will be used because it is the type of qualitative method that will

enable people to talk about their personal feelings, their opinions, as well as their experiences.

Aside from that, it also gives the interviewer the chance to gain insight into how the participants

interpret their experiences (Mack, Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, & Namey, 2005).

Data Analysis

The data that will be gathered from the series of in-depth interview with the participants,

from the audio records and the transcribed notes of the past interviews. After collecting it, the

notes from the handwritten transcription as well as the audio recordings will be encoded in the

computer. Upon encoding the data to the computer, participants will be coded with numbers for

confidentiality.

Transcripts will be read repeatedly to identify the key themes and categories, which were

then developed into a framework for coding the body of interview data. I will analyze the data

collected using qualitative content analysis, by identifying themes based on the responses that the

participants have given. After identifying themes based from the contexts, I will be going to ask a

professional or a researcher to help me check the data to perform test code reliability.

References:

Aure, A. P. (2005). Impact of peer group support and ethnic identity development on the

academic success of filipino american college students. (Order No. 1429263, California
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State University, Long Beach). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 104-104 p. Retrieved

from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305367396?accountid=28547. (305367396).

Cabigon, J. V. (2009). Understanding Filipino adolescents: Research gaps and challenges.

Philippine Social Sciences Review, 56(1).

Carrasquillo, C. A. (2013). In their own words: High-achieving, low-income community college

students talk about supports and obstacles to their success. (Order No. 3567694, University

of California, San Diego). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 206. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1420365116?accountid=28547. (1420365116).

Castillo, E. J. (2002). Bridges over borders: Critical reflections of filipino american college

students on academic aspirations and resilience. (Order No. 3049612, University of San

Francisco). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 162-162 p. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/305483267?accountid=28547. (305483267).

Deafenbaugh, J. W. (2007). Low-income, high ability scholars: An in-depth examination of their

college transition and persistence experiences. (Order No. 3262103, The Ohio State

University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 234. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/304833281?accountid=28547. (304833281).

Elite schools tap community colleges to diversify ; universities are trying to enroll more poor

students. (2006, Mar 06). Beaumont Enterprise Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/373362104?accountid=28547

Hoxby, C. M., & Avery, C. (2012). The missing" one-offs": The hidden supply of high-achieving,

low income students (No. w18586). National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Johnson, C. (2012). Characteristics of high achieving, low- and moderate-income african

descent college students. (Order No. 3553751, University of California, Santa

Barbara). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 148. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1315241247?accountid=28547. (1315241247).

Mitchell, S. K. (2011). Factors that contribute to persistence and retention of underrepresented

minority undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

(STEM). (Order No. 3477173, The University of Southern Mississippi). ProQuest

Dissertations and Theses, , 196. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/896579986?accountid=28547. (896579986).

Ogena, N. B. (2009). How are the Filipino Youth Changing? The Shifting Lifestyles of Our

Nation's Young, 1970s-1990s. Philippine Social Sciences Review, 56(1)

PANG-ESTADISTIKA, P. L. S. U. (2005). Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines.

Pineda, S. J. (2010). "Doing it for the family" educational experiences of first-generation female

filipino teens in public schools in montreal. (Order No. MR68380, McGill University

(Canada)). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 134. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/818497382?accountid=28547. (818497382).

Puyat, J. H. (2005). The Filipino youth today: Their strengths and the challenges they face.

YOUTH IN TRANSITION.

Revilla, L. A. (1997). Filipino American Ibentitq. Filipino Americans: Transformation and

Identity, 12, 95-111.

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Salas, A. F. (2011). Supporting student scholars: College success of first-generation and low-

income students. (Order No. 3497551, California State University, Long Beach). ProQuest

Dissertations and Theses, , 163. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/922412395?accountid=28547. (922412395).

Scholarships for poor students. (2005, Jan 18). Birmingham Post Retrieved from

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Uesugi, K. M. (2009). Still they rise: An examination of the internal characteristics and external

factors that enable former foster youth to succeed in college. (Order No. 3351758,

University of California, Los Angeles). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 367-n/a.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304852160?accountid=28547.

(304852160).

Virola, R. A., Encarnacion, J. O., Balamban, B. B., Addawe, M. B., & Viernes, M. M. (2013).

WILL THE RECENT ROBUST ECONOMIC GROWTH CREATE A BURGEONING

MIDDLE CLASS IN THE PHILIPPINES?. Presented on the 12th National Convention

on Statistics (NCS).

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Appendix A

Interview #1

1. Demographic Questions: Please tell me how old you are? Where are you from originally?

Where do you live now?

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2. What is the occupation of your parents? How many are you in the family?
3. When did you begin your college degree? Where are you studying now? Are you a

working student?; where?; doing what?

4. What prompted you to decide to go to college?
5. How do you get the full scholar grant provided by the university?

Interview #2

1. Tell me about your experiences in studying in a private university.

2. As a low-income, high-achieving student studying in a private university, what do you

feel?
3. What is education for you?
4. What are the things that you most like about college life in a private university?
a. Is there something that you dont like?
5. What pushes you to finish your studies here, and why?
6. What are the things you see that sometimes affects your over-all enthusiasm toward

school?