Higher Education Within a Post-Pandemic Digital Era: The CIRCLE Model for Supporting Generation Z and First-Generation College Students
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: With the rapid technological advancements, persistent retention disparities, and career stability concerns among Generation Z learners, higher education in the United States needs a re-examination of student success. Student support efforts and previous student-centered frameworks require re-examination in light of the current socio-cultural context. In response, this paper proposes the CIRCLE model. This conceptual model is faculty-driven and includes evidence-based practices that predict successful outcomes by benefiting students’ socio-emotional factors. The model stems from an integrated conceptual framework that synthesizes established student success theories, contemporary research on faculty–student relationships, and digital integration in higher education. Traditional student-centered theories are merged with contemporary digital integration models and applied to the realities of Generation Z and first-generation college students. From this, the author delivers a clear, context-responsive plan for faculty supporting a diverse cohort of learners, as we all live in today’s post-pandemic, digitally immersed world.
Source: Social Sciences
Author: Sara Marie Lute
Institution: University of North Carolina at Asheville
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7151257967
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