Testing a critical cultural wealth model of well-being among first-generation students.

The current study examined predictors of career choice and life satisfaction among a diverse sample of first-generation college students (N = 424). Grounded in the critical cultural wealth model (CCWM; Garriott, 2019), financial stress, sense of belonging, and work volition were found to directly predict life satisfaction and work volition was found to directly predict career choice satisfaction. Additionally, work volition and/or a sense of belonging were found to significantly mediate the relation of financial stress and experiences of discrimination to career choice and life satisfaction.