A Phenomenographic Study of Talented, Low-Income Undergraduate Students

This article explores the patterns of variation in the responses of talented, low-income students engaged in a program of undergraduate study. For this article, we focused on a subset of data from an earlier study of talented undergraduate students. Our aim was to add to the literature exploring the resilience of people from impoverished backgrounds that complete an undergraduate qualification, despite challenging circumstances. The data were collected from individual interviews with 10 participants, who also completed a demographic survey. Participants had not previously been identified as talented, nor, despite their consistently high achievement, did they consider themselves to be gifted or talented. Phenomenographic analysis of the interview transcripts revealed an outcome space that explained not only what the students had experienced, but also how they had experienced it. Implications for the retention and success of such students are discussed. Although this is a New Zealand study of talented, low-income, undergraduates, our findings may have application elsewhere.