Psychosocial Factors Related to Retention and Early Departure of Two-Year Community College Students

The present study is based on the theoretical model of college retention developed by Tinto (1975, 1987, 1993) and subsequent validation efforts of others (Bers and Smith, 1991; Munro, 1981; Pascarella and Chapman, 1983a, b; Pascarella and Terenzini, 1983, 1991). The first goal of the study was to a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Research in higher education 1998-08, Vol.39 (4), p.419-455
Main Authors: Napoli, Anthony R., Wortman, Paul M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Academic Persistence
College students
Colleges
Community College Students
Community colleges
Life events
School campuses
Social events
Social integration
Social psychology
Studies
Vigilance
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Summary:The present study is based on the theoretical model of college retention developed by Tinto (1975, 1987, 1993) and subsequent validation efforts of others (Bers and Smith, 1991; Munro, 1981; Pascarella and Chapman, 1983a, b; Pascarella and Terenzini, 1983, 1991). The first goal of the study was to assess the validity of the model on a two-year community college sample. The second goal was to extend and further refine the model by examining the mediational influences of a comprehensive set of psychosocial measures (i.e., life events occurring during the first semester of college, social support, self-esteem, social competence, personal conscientiousness, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with the academic, administrative, and social systems of college) on the constructs within Tinto's (1987, 1993) model. Results confirm the generalizability of the model to two-year community college populations. In addition, the structural equations model revealed that the psychosocial measures have both direct and indirect effects on college persistence.
ISSN:0361-0365
1573-188X
DOI:10.1023/A:1018789320129