Communicated narrative sense-making of the perceived causes and effects of first-generation college students becoming homeless in higher education

Using the communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM; Koening Kellas, Citation2018), the present study investigated the perceived causes and effects of becoming homeless during higher education through the narratives of unhoused first-generation college students (FGCS; N = 24). Via retrospective storytelling, the findings suggest FGCS attributed a (1) lack of collegiate preparedness as a perceived individual cause of becoming unhoused during postsecondary education. Structurally, the findings reveal FGCS associated a (2) lack of cultural capital with their experience of housing precarity in college, whereas a (3) lack of institutional support was narrated to have prolonged/intensified residential insecurity. Regarding perceived effects, the findings suggest FGCS believe that being unhoused in college impacts their social life by (4) experiencing social stigma and (5) maintaining hidden identities. Beyond social implications, FGCS narrated how experiencing homelessness in higher education led to a (6) lack of academic motivation and (7) decline in academic performance. Taken together, the findings offer meaningful theoretical implications for CNSM, cultural capital, and identity negotiation in the context of homelessness during postsecondary education. Through the translational storytelling heuristic, practical implications are offered to generate more institution-led support systems and develop preventative solutions starting in high school to support FGCS pursuing higher education.