Download or read book Characteristics of Persistence and Retention Among First generation College Students Majoring in Science Technology Engineering Or Math written by Lorie Lasseter Burnett and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Persistence and retention of college students is a great concern in American higher education. The dropout rate is even more apparent among first-generation college students, as well as those majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). More students earning STEM degrees are needed to fill the many jobs that require the skills obtained while in college. More importantly, those students who are associated with a low-socioeconomic background may use a degree to overcome poverty. Although many studies have been conducted to determine the characteristics associated with student attrition among first-generation students or STEM majors, very little information exists in terms of persistence and retention among the combined groups. The current qualitative study identified some of the characteristics associated with persistence and retention among first-generation college students who are also STEM majors. Participants were juniors or seniors enrolled at a regional 4-year institution. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to allow participants to share their personal experiences as first-generation STEM majors who continue to persist and be retained by their institution. Tinto's Theory of Individual Departure (1987) was used as a framework for the investigation. This theory emphasizes personal and academic background, personal goals, disconnecting from one's own culture, and institutional integration as predictors of persistence. The findings of the investigation revealed that persisting first-generation STEM majors are often connected to family, but have been able to separate that connection with that of the institution. They also are goal-driven and highly motivated and have had varied pre-college academic experiences. These students are academically integrated and socially integrated in some ways, but less than their non-first-generation counterparts. They are overcoming obstacles that students from other backgrounds may not experience. They receive support from their families and institution, but have diverse academic backgrounds. The findings show that a culmination of many characteristics have enabled the participants to persist and be retained by their institution.

Download or read book Sex Education Research written by William J. Taverner and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-02-20 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Curated by the chief editor of the American Journal of Sexuality Education, this book presents engaging and accessible chapters that capture current and essential research findings from leaders in the sexuality education field. William J. Taverner brings together an impressive array of contributors to help sexuality professionals remain up-to-date on the most relevant issues in sex education today. Covering a spectrum of hot sexuality education topics, including abstinence, gender, innovative programs, pleasure, the politics of sexuality education, porn literacy, sexual orientation, and more, each chapter describes key findings on a particular topic, their significance, their practical application, and how these new developments have arrived. The book includes chapters that address individuals across all age ranges, from children to older adults, as well as sexuality education and training programs for specialized professions, such as nurses and school-based health occupations. Practical and clear, this book identifies priorities and trends in the field, addresses marginalized audiences and overlooked topics, and hopes to encourage important discussions to come. Sex Education Research: A Look Between the Sheets provides a wide range of occupations and academic disciplines with a foundation of research essential to their work, such as public health professionals and students of human sexuality, gender studies, biology, psychology, sociology, as well as community educators, school nurses and health teachers, and administrative leaders affiliated with sexuality education programs at community-based organizations.

Download or read book Increasing Persistence written by Wesley R. Habley and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INCREASING PERSISTENCE "Of all the books addressing the puzzle of student success and persistence, I found this one to be the most helpful and believe it will be extremely useful to faculty and staff attempting to promote student success. The authors solidly ground their work in empirical research, and do a brilliant job providing both an overview of the relevant literature as well as research-based recommendations for intervention." GAIL HACKETT, PH.D., provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs; professor, counseling and educational psychology, University of Missouri, Kansas City Research indicates that approximately forty percent of all college students never earn a degree anywhere, any time in their lives. This fact has not changed since the middle of the 20th century. Written for practitioners and those who lead retention and persistence initiatives at both the institutional and public policy levels, Increasing Persistence offers a compendium on college student persistence that integrates concept, theory, and research with successful practice. It is anchored by the ACT's What Works in Student Retention (WWISR) survey of 1,100 colleges and universities, an important resource that contains insights on the causes of attrition and identifies retention interventions that are most likely to enhance student persistence.?? The authors focus on three essential conditions for student success: students must learn; students must be motivated, committed, engaged, and self-regulating; and students must connect with educational programs consistent with their interests and abilities. The authors offer a detailed discussion of the four interventions that research shows are the most effective for helping students persist and succeed: assessment and course placement, developmental education initiatives, academic advising, and student transition programming. Finally, they urge broadening the current retention construct, providing guidance to policy makers, campus leaders, and individuals on the contributions they can make to student success.

Download or read book Purposeful Persistence written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undergraduate populations at colleges and universities have become increasingly diverse in recent years, and one of the greatest shifts has been the steadily increasing numbers of first generation college students (FGCS), students whose parents did not attend college. Studies of FGCS have concluded that retention is less likely for FGCS than continuing generation college students (CGCS). According to the literature, FGCS are more likely to be academically under prepared, come from low income and minority backgrounds, and be less engaged in the college experience than CGCS. In exercising this attention, many colleges and universities have developed retention strategies focusing on characteristics of FGCS that might put them at risk for not completing a degree. Initially, these contrasts between FGCS and CGCS were regarded widely as deficits of the first-generation population. In recent years, however, some institutions of higher education have shifted in their approach from an "individual deficit model" focused on the shortcomings of individual students to a deeper understanding of how institutional conditions encourage or discourage students from staying in school. This evolving emphasis includes a shift in responsibility for students' college going success -- from the individual to the institution. These contrasting and evolving ideas present a complex but incomplete picture of how colleges work or do not work for first-generation college students. This study explored the characteristics and perspectives of FGCS and the institutional conditions, policies and practices affecting first year persistence at a low persisting rural four-year university. I examined three broad questions: What are the critical characteristics of FGCS who persist past their first year at the University? What implications do these characteristics have for retaining FGCS beyond the first year of college at the institution? What implications do these attributes hold for other colleges and universities seeking to retain FGCS? Confounding results were found after analyzing demographic and academic data on FGCS; although similar to other FGCS in terms of at-risk characteristics, they were out-persisting and performing their CGCS peers. In order to understand this counterintuitive finding, institutional policies and practices were explored, and focus groups were conducted investigating the perceptions of FGCS towards college persistence. The findings suggest that the restricted focus on external attributes of students fall short in explaining FGCS persistence. This study illustrates that institutions of higher education can better support first generation college students if they make available the freedom for individuals to develop naturally, learn through experience, and engage in the formation of their purpose (based on Dewey's 1938 work). It is up to leaders in institutions of higher education and researchers to extend the focus and support beyond external attributes of first generation students and include a focus on internal characteristics, providing a more complete picture of how colleges work or do not work for them.

Download or read book First Generation College Students written by Dana D. Carroll and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Diversifying the STEM Fields From Individual to Structural Approaches written by Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-02-14 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book College Students Persistence and Degree Completion in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics stem the Role of Non cognitive Attributes of Self efficacy Outcome Expectations and Interest written by Michael Aryee and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Institutional and Major Persistence Among First generation Engineering Students in a First year Program written by David Fredrick Hoffman and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research study examined the factors that positively influenced the first-to-second year institutional and major persistence efforts of first-generation engineering undergraduates that participated in a first-year program at Kansas State University, a large, land-grant, public, and four-year institution in the Midwestern United States. Historically, both first-generation college students and engineering majors have lower rates of persistence when compared to other populations. In order to provide sufficient context for the study, previous work on college student retention, engineering major persistence, first-year program participation, and the experience of first-generation undergraduate students was examined. Through these efforts, it was determined that the first-year persistence of first-generation engineering students that had participated in a first-year program had not been sufficiently examined. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that positively influenced the institutional and major persistence efforts of first-generation engineering undergraduate students in a first-year program through a qualitative design and a grounded theory methodology. The following research question at the center of the study was addressed: What were the factors that positively influenced the first-to-second year institutional and major persistence efforts of first-generation engineering students that participated in a first-year program? Through the incorporation of a grounded theory methodology, first-generation engineering students that participated in first-year program and had persisted in engineering from their first to their second year were interviewed. Within the interview setting, the research participants provided considerable insight into their experiences and persistence efforts throughout their first year in the engineering program. The collection and analysis of data led to findings that suggest the existence of six primary elements that positively influenced the first-to-second year institutional and major persistence of first-generation engineering students. By adhering to the grounded theory methodology, a theoretical model, which can be identified as the First-Generation Engineering Student First-Year Persistence Model, was developed. The First-Generation Engineering Student First-Year Persistence Model illustrates the six primary elements that positively influenced the first-to-second year institutional and major persistence for first-generation engineering students and the various subcategories of factors that contribute to each element. Furthermore, a summary of and further discussion of the primary findings were provided. Finally, recommendations for future studies concerning first-generation engineering students and first-to-second year institutional and major persistence efforts were offered.

Download or read book Talking about Leaving Revisited written by Elaine Seymour and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-12-10 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ​Talking about Leaving Revisited discusses findings from a five-year study that explores the extent, nature, and contributory causes of field-switching both from and among “STEM” majors, and what enables persistence to graduation. The book reflects on what has and has not changed since publication of Talking about Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences (Elaine Seymour & Nancy M. Hewitt, Westview Press, 1997). With the editors’ guidance, the authors of each chapter collaborate to address key questions, drawing on findings from each related study source: national and institutional data, interviews with faculty and students, structured observations and student assessments of teaching methods in STEM gateway courses. Pitched to a wide audience, engaging in style, and richly illustrated in the interviewees’ own words, this book affords the most comprehensive explanatory account to date of persistence, relocation and loss in undergraduate sciences. Comprehensively addresses the causes of loss from undergraduate STEM majors—an issue of ongoing national concern. Presents critical research relevant for nationwide STEM education reform efforts. Explores the reasons why talented undergraduates abandon STEM majors. Dispels popular causal myths about why students choose to leave STEM majors. This volume is based upon work supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award No. 2012-6-05 and the National Science Foundation Award No. DUE 1224637.

Download or read book Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education written by William G. Bowen and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 200? with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Jefferson once stated that the foremost goal of American education must be to nurture the "natural aristocracy of talent and virtue." Although in many ways American higher education has fulfilled Jefferson's vision by achieving a widespread level of excellence, it has not achieved the objective of equity implicit in Jefferson's statement. In Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, William G. Bowen, Martin A. Kurzweil, and Eugene M. Tobin explore the cause for this divide. Employing historical research, examination of the most recent social science and public policy scholarship, international comparisons, and detailed empirical analysis of rich new data, the authors study the intersection between "excellence" and "equity" objectives. Beginning with a time line tracing efforts to achieve equity and excellence in higher education from the American Revolution to the early Cold War years, this narrative reveals the halting, episodic progress in broadening access across the dividing lines of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The authors argue that despite our rhetoric of inclusiveness, a significant number of youth from poor families do not share equal access to America's elite colleges and universities. While America has achieved the highest level of educational attainment of any country, it runs the risk of losing this position unless it can markedly improve the precollegiate preparation of students from racial minorities and lower-income families. After identifying the "equity" problem at the national level and studying nineteen selective colleges and universities, the authors propose a set of potential actions to be taken at federal, state, local, and institutional levels. With recommendations ranging from reform of the admissions process, to restructuring of federal financial aid and state support of public universities, to addressing the various precollegiate obstacles that disadvantaged students face at home and in school, the authors urge all selective colleges and universities to continue race-sensitive admissions policies, while urging the most selective (and privileged) institutions to enroll more well-qualified students from families with low socioeconomic status.

Download or read book Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research written by Aditya Johri and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-02-10 with total page 1124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research is the critical reference source for the growing field of engineering education research, featuring the work of world luminaries writing to define and inform this emerging field. The Handbook draws extensively on contemporary research in the learning sciences, examining how technology affects learners and learning environments, and the role of social context in learning. Since a landmark issue of the Journal of Engineering Education (2005), in which senior scholars argued for a stronger theoretical and empirically driven agenda, engineering education has quickly emerged as a research-driven field increasing in both theoretical and empirical work drawing on many social science disciplines, disciplinary engineering knowledge, and computing. The Handbook is based on the research agenda from a series of interdisciplinary colloquia funded by the US National Science Foundation and published in the Journal of Engineering Education in October 2006.

Download or read book First generation Students written by Anne-Marie Nuñez and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Understanding the Educational and Career Pathways of Engineers written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-01-26 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engineering skills and knowledge are foundational to technological innovation and development that drive long-term economic growth and help solve societal challenges. Therefore, to ensure national competitiveness and quality of life it is important to understand and to continuously adapt and improve the educational and career pathways of engineers in the United States. To gather this understanding it is necessary to study the people with the engineering skills and knowledge as well as the evolving system of institutions, policies, markets, people, and other resources that together prepare, deploy, and replenish the nation's engineering workforce. This report explores the characteristics and career choices of engineering graduates, particularly those with a BS or MS degree, who constitute the vast majority of degreed engineers, as well as the characteristics of those with non-engineering degrees who are employed as engineers in the United States. It provides insight into their educational and career pathways and related decision making, the forces that influence their decisions, and the implications for major elements of engineering education-to-workforce pathways.

Download or read book Persistence of Interest in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics written by Jeffry L. White and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: While there has been an increase in enrollment, interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been declining on college campuses since 1967. Higher enrollment does not transfer to an increase in the number of minorities in the STEM fields. The majority-minority enrollment ratio is nearly 2:1 but the gap widens to 4:1 when it comes to graduation. In fact, underrepresented minorities (URM) earned only 12% of the STEM degrees awarded in 1998. When the higher attrition and lower graduation rates of URM are scrutinized, upwards of 60% changed majors or dropped out of STEM. Further investigation reveals the most frequently cited reasons for departure were loss of initial interest, developed a greater interest in another field, or were turned off by the STEM disciplines. A primarily exploratory study was conducted into the conditions necessary for academic interest in the STEM fields to persist. A model based on student engagement (Astin, 1977) and interest operations (Prenzel, 1988a) theories was used with a random sample of URM at universities participating in the Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance. Survey research was employed to investigate interest development and the effect of student retention programs and activities on such interest. The latter part of the study could not be fully examined when 95% reported not utilizing retention services. For the section on interest, an online survey using a 5-point Likert scale was validated using principal components analysis. A binominal logistic regression was used to predict membership in one of two possible groups: persisters and students at-risk for not persisting. The major conclusions are: 1. While 3 variables (feelings, learning and difficulty) were statistically significant only one, feelings was substantively significant. 2. Persistence increased 80.9% for each 1-unit increase in feelings and 9.9% for learning. 3. Persistence decreased 19.8% for each one-unit increase in difficulty. 4. The sample was not a very good fit with the parameter estimates. 5. The model fit the data at an acceptable level with an overall accuracy of 74.3%. 6. Using the model 72% fewer classification errors were made. 7. Multiple measures of association indicated a small-moderate effect size.

Download or read book Accessibility and Diversity in the 21st Century University written by Berg, Gary A. and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2020-05-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In higher education institutions across the world, rapid changes are occurring as the socio-economic composition of these universities is shifting. The participation of females, ethnic minority groups, and low-income students has increased exponentially, leading to major changes in student activities, curriculum, and overall campus culture. Significant research is a necessity for understanding the need of broader educational access and promoting a newly empowered diverse population of students in today’s universities. Accessibility and Diversity in the 21st Century University is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the provision of higher educational access to a more diverse population with a specific focus on the growing population of women in the university, key intersections with race and sexual preference, and the experiences of low-income students, mid-career and reentry students, and special needs populations. While highlighting topics such as adult learning, race-based achievement gaps, and women’s studies, this publication is ideally designed for educators, higher education faculty, deans, provosts, chancellors, policymakers, sociologists, anthropologists, researchers, scholars, and students seeking current research on modern advancements of diversity in higher education systems.

Download or read book Journal of Engineering Education written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education written by Shawna Patterson-Stephens and published by IAP. This book was released on 2023-08-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The primary aim of this text is to provide educators with specific strategies for engaging in equity and inclusion work on college campuses. We include the perspectives of faculty and staff with a range of experiences and expertise to address current topics evolving at various levels and functional areas in the academy. Rather than replicate findings and recommendations established in extant literature, we provide faculty, staff, and graduate students with the insight and tools they will require to transform established recommendations into actionable solutions and promising practices. This book offers theoretical and practical approaches to evolving diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in higher education. The core themes of this volume center on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in higher education. While some educators use these terms interchangeably, we define diversity as a concept that envelopes several modes of social identity, including race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, faith/non-faith affiliation, size, veteran’s status, etc. The practice of fortifying representation amongst minoritized populations without making considerations for structure and support has been the primary model for diversifying the academy for the past 40 years. Within the context of higher education and diversity, our conversation shifts beyond ensuring marginalized communities are represented. Within each chapter, the contributing authors address a wide range of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics that are unique to their positionality as educators in the postsecondary sector. As editors, we intentionally identify authors with diverse professional backgrounds who offer a range in their approaches to addressing emergent trends in their respective areas in higher education. In addition to submitting manuscripts that engage critical examinations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the postsecondary sector, authors were encouraged to design supplemental material for their chapters, such as training modules, study guides, case studies, guides for utilizing critical research approaches and design, and interactive activities that can be replicated in various settings on campus (e.g., the classroom, residence halls, student organization trainings, etc.).