Design thinking - Storytelling to solve the problem

Challenge:

To understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first generation and  low-income students.

Selection:

Listening to and empathizing with their needs, I gained enormous ​insights into the types of

support services​ and ​mentoring​ first gens feel will help them navigate the academic and social

challenges they face from the time they complete high school throughout college. Anxiety and

bewilderment are patterns of behavior I found among first generation low-income students when

they share stories about their first encounter with campus culture. Many feel like outsiders,

confused by the academy’s social and academic expectations.

Application:

I start mind mapping about The social isolation, low self-confidence, and academic paralysis

generated by these feelings seem to melt away among first generation/low-income students

who study abroad. Why? What happens when they and their middle- and upper-middle class

peers travel to countries and experience unfamiliar cultures and languages? ​Reports ​document

changes in behaviour among first generation/low-income students: an increase in confidence,

self-efficacy, openness, perceptual acuity, resilience — general effectiveness in cross-cultural

situations.

Insight:

Are these trends anecdotal or are we really on to something? Does study abroad add value to

the college experience of first generation/low-income students in ways that are fundamentally

different from their middle- and upper-middle class peers?

Approach:

I will interview first generation/low-income students who have studied abroad and capture their

stories. I believe that listening with empathy is the first step toward explaining these unexplained

transformations.

