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This qualitative study analyzed the first-generation college students' experiences in higher education and their assessment of two programs of access to and persistence, which have been implemented as a public policy in Chile for more than a decade. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants, six who accessed through those programs and six who enrolled through the regular national admission system (PSU). The main results show that first-generation students, regardless of the way of access to higher education, have similar experiences in terms of university adjustment. In addition, those programs mainly FGS's meet access equity. Finally, this study also refers to some unique experiences regarding being FGS, which have not yet been addressed in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does ethnic status affect social stratification in Chile? Despite a rich theoretical debate in the literature on social stratification, there is a shortage of empirical approaches to this phenomenon in Latin America. This research note seeks to bridge the analytical gap by describing the social exclusion of indigenous people in Chile. From a case study in La Araucanía region and using statistical techniques to give equal weightings to indigenous and non-indigenous groups (specifically Mapuches and non- Mapuches), we attempt to show that given equal socio-demographic conditions, the incomes of both groups are similar in the low and middle strata, and differentiated in the higher strata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]