What It Takes to Be First—and the Strengths We Carry Forward

In recognition of First-Generation College Celebration Day (coming up on November 8), UNCF welcomes guest contributor Michelle Y. Hoover, a leadership development expert whose work focuses on the experiences of first-generation professionals. She writes the Substack First-Gen Rising.

Drawing on more than two decades of experience working with leaders and her five years of research into the first-generation professional experience, Hoover explores the strengths students develop on their path to a degree, why those strengths matter in the workplace and how colleges and universities can better prepare students to turn their skills into career advantages.

By Michelle Y. Hoover

Every November, First-Generation College Celebration Day marks the anniversary of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which expanded access to a college education for millions of Americans. It also honors the extraordinary students who are the first in their families to pursue a degree.

UNCF was already working to open the doors of higher education more than two decades before that landmark legislation. Founded in 1944, UNCF has spent more than 80 years expanding educational opportunity, providing scholarships and support that help students enroll, persist and graduate. Since its founding, UNCF has helped over 550,000 students earn college degrees.

African American students who receive a UNCF scholarship achieve a 70% six-year graduation rate—much higher than the 40% six-year graduation rate for all African American students nationwide and the national average of a 60% six-year graduation rate. Those investments have changed the trajectory of not just students’ lives but those of generations to come.

Today, first-generation college students make up more than half—54%—of all U.S. undergraduates. That’s an impressive indication of how far we’ve come in expanding access to higher education. It’s also an invitation to think more broadly about these students and what happens after they graduate.

We have spent decades recognizing the challenges of navigating college when you’re among the first in your family to pursue higher education. Colleges and universities have responded by creating programs, communities and resources to help these students find their footing and succeed in an unfamiliar environment. But once they graduate and enter the workforce, we largely stop paying attention.

Being first-gen doesn’t end when students get their diploma, a hard-won credential earned in a system no one in their family had navigated before. Graduation also marks their entry into another unfamiliar system: the professional world, where they’re largely on their own, without the support structures that helped them through college.

Many first-generation college graduates go on to become first-generation professionals (FGPs), people who enter the professional world without inherited knowledge of how it works. They bring with them the strengths developed through the experience of being first, which can be of enormous value to their workplace, if they and their employers recognize them.

Over more than 20 years in leadership development, I’ve helped Fortune 200 companies identify and develop their current and future leaders, reaching more than 75,000 people through my programs. That work has gotten me into the mechanics of how companies assess leadership potential, and some of the most common traits that have come up are strategic thinking, sound judgment, collaboration, adaptability and the ability to make decisions and move forward amid uncertainty.

Photo by FOTOGRAFÍA EDITORIAL on Unsplash.

First-generation students develop many of these traits through their college journeys. They demonstrate resourcefulness and initiative when they figure out financial aid and other institutional processes. They show their ability to manage time and prioritize when balancing a full course load while working part- or full-time. They are able to shift between their home and campus environments, many times two different worlds with varied expectations that draw out distinct versions of themselves.

These capabilities didn’t just help them get the degree; they can help them succeed in the workplace.

But many FGPs don’t recognize these abilities as professional strengths. To them, being resourceful, adaptable or able to make decisions under pressure is just how they’ve always operated. And because they don’t recognize the professional value they bring, they’re less likely to use those strengths to their advantage when considering a new opportunity, thinking about a promotion or advocating for a higher salary.

The financial stakes are significant. Research has found that households headed by first-generation graduates have a wealth gap of roughly $93,000 compared with those headed by continuing-generation graduates.

Over the past five years, I’ve studied the experiences of first-generation professionals, having conversations with more than 50 FGPs across backgrounds, industries and stages of their careers. As they described how they approached their careers, I’ve heard variations of the same beliefs again and again:

• My work will speak for itself.
• If I work hard, opportunities will follow.
• Other people have connections. I’ll just have to outwork them.

These beliefs make sense—hard work, dependability and a determination to succeed have helped many FGPs get where they are. But this strategy does not take into consideration some of the most consequential unwritten rules of professional life:

• Relationships and influence are just as important as quality of work.
• Your work is not memorable if you aren’t sharing it.
• Being excellent at your job is often not enough to advance.

Photo by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu on Unsplash.

This is where professional fluency comes in—understanding how people advance, how organizations work and knowing how to use that knowledge to act in your own interest. It means recognizing that opportunities often emerge through relationship building, not company-wide announcements; that excellent work requires visibility; and that advocating for yourself is necessary, because waiting to be noticed is not a strategy.

Some people begin learning these lessons long before they enter an office. This type of knowledge can be absorbed at dinner tables when a parent recounts their day at work or through social events in circles with generations of professional experience.

But for FGPs, discovering these key lessons often comes through trial and error that can take years, possibly decades, of their careers.

When FGPs can pair the strengths they’ve spent years developing with an understanding of the professional world’s unwritten rules, they can strategically pursue opportunities, advocate for their contributions and make more informed career decisions earlier on. Employers, who already have millions of FGPs in their workforce, will then be able to identify and develop that talent more effectively, rather than overlooking people whose capabilities aren’t always apparent.

FGPs already possess valuable strengths. Professional fluency helps them turn those strengths into career advantages.

The best part is professional fluency can be taught. For example, colleges can bring in FGP alumni into classrooms to explain how hiring, promotions and project assignments actually happen; use real workplace scenarios to teach students how to advocate for themselves; and help students practice building relationships with people who can open doors throughout their careers. Many institutions are already doing parts of this work through career services, mentoring and experiential learning programs. Teaching professional fluency builds on those efforts by helping students understand not just how to get a job, but how to navigate the relationships, expectations and decisions that shape their careers once they’re employed.

That’s why preparing first-generation students for success must include preparing them not just to graduate, but for the careers ahead of them. Access to college was never only about earning a degree. It’s about what that degree makes possible: greater choice, financial stability, meaningful work, leadership and the ability to create opportunities for the people who come after you.

On First-Generation College Celebration Day, we have every reason to celebrate how far these students have come—and reason to be excited about what they do next. FGP’s have already shown us what they can accomplish when given access to opportunity. Imagine what becomes possible when we prepare them not just to graduate, but to thrive in the professional world.

About the Author

Michelle Y. Hoover is the founder of Baem Leadership, a leadership development consultancy, and a leading voice on the first-generation professional experience. With more than 20 years of experience developing leaders across industries, she focuses on helping first-generation professionals understand the unwritten rules of work and turn their strengths into career advantages.

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This article is Michelle’s first contribution to UNCF, exploring the strengths first-generation students bring to the professional world and how colleges and universities can help them build on those strengths.

For more insights on the first-generation professional experience and professional fluency, subscribe to Michelle’s Substack, First-Gen Rising.