Mapping the invisible helpers: mesosystemic pathways to goal escalation among first-generation college students in elite Chinese universities

Résumé fourni par la source

This study investigates how first-generation college students (FGCSs) in two elite Double First-Class Chinese universities recalibrate their academic and career goals through mesosystemic interactions during the early transition years. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews and 11 goal-formation timelines, we use reflexive thematic analysis to trace critical incidents and relational supports. The findings indicate a recurrent but not inevitable two-stage escalation of goals: students move from conservative or diffuse aspirations to structured exploration, and then to advanced commitments such as graduate study, research, or entrepreneurship. Three mechanisms – rule decoding (making tacit rules explicit), identity scaffolding (sustaining self-efficacy), and opportunity brokering (opening institutional gateways) – enable these shifts, with timing and urban–rural background shaping their effects. The study extends student agency theory by specifying how meso-level ties reorganize perceived action possibilities, maps the ‘invisible helpers’ and turning points that differentiate trajectories, and identifies design levers – such as transparent opportunity portals, structured peer–faculty pairing, and onboarding that decodes hidden rules – through which universities can make selective access more equitable.