Third-year College Retention and Transfer: Effects of Academic Performance, Motivation, and Social Connectedness |
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| Authors: | Jeff Allen Steven B Robbins Alex Casillas and In-Sue Oh |
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| Institution: | (1) ACT, Inc., Iowa City, IA 52246-0168, USA;(2) Department of Management and Organizations, Henry B. Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA |
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| Abstract: | We studied the effects of academic performance, motivation, and social connectedness on third-year retention, transfer, and
dropout behavior. To accommodate the three outcome categories and nesting of data within institutions, we fit a hierarchical
multinomial logistic regression path model with first-year academic performance as a mediating effect. Our sample included
6,872 students representing 23 four-year universities and colleges. This work expands the current state of persistence research
by (1) considering the effects of motivation and social connectedness on college persistence beyond the first year of college,
(2) testing whether the effects of motivation and social connectedness on third-year retention and transfer are direct, indirect,
or both, and (3) testing whether the effects of academic performance, motivation, and social connectedness are different for
retention and transfer. We found that academic performance has large effects on likelihood of retention and transfer; academic
self-discipline, pre-college academic performance, and pre-college educational development have indirect effects on retention
and transfer; and college commitment and social connectedness have direct effects on retention. Academic self-discipline led
to greater first-year academic performance, which suppressed its effect on retention and transfer. Practical and theoretical
implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2nd Annual National Symposium on Student Retention, Albuquerque, New
Mexico, October 2006. |
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| Keywords: | College persistence Retention Transfer Academic motivation Social connectedness |
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