Rachel Gable

Rachel Gable is director of institutional effectiveness at Virginia Commonwealth University and holds a doctorate in education from Harvard University. To write her book The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Universities, Rachel conducted more than 100 interviews with first-generation students at Harvard and Georgetown Universities. Her research reveals how the hidden curriculum at legacy universities often catches first generation students off guard, poignantly describing the disorienting encounters on campus that confound them and threaten to derail their success. Gable shows how first-gens are as varied as any other demographic group, and urges universities to make the most of the diverse perspectives and insights these talented students have to offer.