New Zealand Statistical Association 2024 Conference

Adam Glucksman

Victoria University of Wellington—Te Herenga Waka

The subjective wellbeing of first-in-family university students: A multivariate re-evaluation of common narratives

This is joint work with Philip Morrison, Louise McMillan

As universities compete for more and more students the proportion of students for whom neither parent has a university degree rises. Many overseas scholars see these ‘first-in-family (FIF)’ students as a risk, pointing to their lower wellbeing and higher attrition rates. This study asks whether New Zealand FIF students also return greater psychological distress than their peers whose parents have university backgrounds.

I model wellbeing outcomes among first-year students at Victoria University of Wellington as collected by the YOU Student Wellbeing Survey in 2019, 2020 and 2021 (n = 4000). I employ a range of statistical models suited for both continuous and binary response variables, with methods designed to test various interactions and covariates across wellbeing outcomes. Key controls include age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and levels of family support. Analytical approaches focus on evaluating the impact of FiF status, both as a main effect and in interaction with covariates, on dimensions of psychological wellbeing.

My results indicate that, after adjusting for covariates, FiF status alone does not have a statistically significant impact on any of the wellbeing measures. By demonstrating that FiF status itself may not be a primary driver of wellbeing differences, this study invites a re-evaluation of common overseas narratives regarding FiF students.

In addition to providing a data-driven perspective on the subjective wellbeing of FiF students, this study underscores the value of interaction-focused analysis in educational research. This allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how demographic and socioeconomic factors jointly influence wellbeing, thus enriching the field's approach to understanding diverse student populations.