Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors That Contribute to Thriving in First-Year Students of Color

As the qualitative portion of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, this study identified the attitudes, behaviors, and teaching strategies of first-year seminar instructors whose students of color exhibited the highest gains in thriving at the end of their first semester. Thriving students are those who are fully engaged psychologically, socially, and academically in the college experience, making the most of their learning. Interviews with 13 faculty of high-thriving students of color revealed four themes: (a) faculty engaged learners where they are, (b) faculty connected with students personally in and out of class, (c) faculty embraced the tapestry of diverse learners, (d) and faculty saw students as individuals. Implications from these findings are explored through pedagogies and practices that may promote thriving in first-year students of color.