Students who are the first among their families and relatives to start a degree often face major challenges and experience doubts. The lack of information, role models and sometimes support in their immediate surroundings can make it difficult to decide to start a degree and settle in at university. This can also involve financial worries or mental blocks.
Difficulties can also arise during the degree itself that have nothing to do with ability or a willingness to make an effort, but can stem from students’ social background, such as their social, economic or cultural circumstances.
Support for students from non-academic backgrounds
The Student Advice Center (ZSB) and other counseling services at FAU provide support to prospective students affected by these challenges with deciding on a degree program, applying for a place and with enrollment. If you are already studying, we can provide support with getting started and with the various challenges that can arise during your degree.
We would also like to encourage you to see your background not as a barrier but as an asset and to embark on the adventure of studying!
What we offer
Below, you will find an overview of our current advisory and information services. Other services are being planned for the future.
ArbeiterKind.de: Online program on options for financing your studies, in German
Dates for your diary:
- Tuesday, November 11 I 6.30 pm to 8 pm I Part 2 I Financing your studies with BAföG: What you need to know! (In German)
- Wednesday, November 26 I 6.30 pm to 8 pm I Part 3 I Could you be entitled to a scholarship?! (in German)
All events are held online via Zoom.
All services offered by ArbeiterKind.de are free of charge for our main target groups.
Register for online events:
StudOn group for first-generation students
If you are already studying at FAU and would like to find out more, join ourStudOn group. All registered participants receive up-to-date information and announcements about events via the course.
Advisory and information services at FAU
Click on the tabs to receive further information about advisory and information services.
The ZSB provides support to students before they start their degree with deciding which degree to take, applying for a place and tailoring their degree to their interests. Students can also get in touch if they have questions during their degree such as changing subjects, subject combinations and doubts about studying. Students in special circumstances (e.g. pregnancy, studying with physical impairments or mental health issues) can also turn to us for advice. The Student Advice Center (ZSB) holds regular online presentations for prospective students. All dates are published on the FAU website MeinStudium. FAU’s Career Service provides support to students, graduates and doctoral candidates for planning and starting their careers. The service is free of charge and includes career guidance and advice on applying for jobs, job application training, and seminars, as well as presentations and information on specific careers.
The Scholarship Office at ZSB offers support with finding a suitable scholarship program. The most important information about study costs, financing options and BAföG and an overview of the most important scholarship providers is available on the student finance website.
The Office of Equality and Diversity develops and offers various services aimed at encouraging the success of students in all their diversity at the University, and aims to contribute to increasing educational participation and equality of opportunity, in particular for under-represented student groups at FAU. The Guide for first-generation students by the Office of Equality and Diversity provides an overview of all the advisory and support services and courses provided by the University.
The Language Centre provides individual writing consultations for students who struggle with writing academic texts and written assignments.
The aim of the mentoring program is to further strengthen equality of education and therefore equal opportunities while studying at FAU WiSo. Participants are provided with mentors who support them during their degree and in overcoming organizational problems, and a network of contacts for orientation purposes during and after completing their degree.
Advice and risk assessment for pregnant students
Other points of contact
- ArbeiterKind.de
ArbeiterKind.de was set up in 2008 and is now the largest charitable organization for supporting first-generation students in Germany. It offers a wide range of information and mentoring services. There is an active local group in the Nuremberg-Fürth-Erlangen region. - Erste Generation Promotion e.V.
The non-profit association Erste Generation Promotion – EGP e. V. is an initiative set up by doctoral candidates and graduates of the University of Cologne. It focuses on providing advice and networking opportunities open to Master’s degree students and doctoral candidates from all over Germany and abroad.
Find out more
- The German broadcaster WDR provides an interesting insight into the topic in its YouTube film “Der harte Weg zur Akademikerin” (The hard road to becoming an academic). It is a report about Isabell and Ann-Kristin, two women who are the first in their families to study for a degree.
- If you would like to find out more detailed information on the topic, you can find data and explanations about the influence of one’s family background on educational opportunities in the university system in the 2020 Hochschulbildungsreport (University Education Report), which is an initiative started by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.
- In a podcast at [transcript] BLOG, sociologist and classism researcher Markus Gamper talks about the stigmas that make going to university more difficult for “working-class kids”. As a first-generation student himself, he also talks about his own path into academia.