Higher education in America is characterized by widespread access to college but low rates of completion, especially among undergraduates at less selective institutions. We analyze longitudinal transcript data to examine processes leading to graduation, using Hidden Markov modeling. We identify several latent states that are associated with…

While socioeconomic inequality in postsecondary outcomes is well documented, limited research explores the extent to which seeing a high school counselor can help to reduce inequality in college destinations. In particular, previous research rarely considers the high school context in which counselors and students interact as well as the other…

Using data for 638 assistant professors who joined graduate sociology departments between 1975 and 1992, I examine the claim that when the labor market for new doctorates is weak, assistant professors experience less favorable employment outcomes than when that labor market is strong. Surprisingly, I find that those hired during the weak…

The purpose of this study is to revisit the widely held assumption that the impact of socioeconomic background declines steadily across educational transitions, particularly at the postsecondary level. Sequential logit modeling, a staple methodological approach for estimating the relative impact of SES across educational stages, is applied to a…

This multi-level, longitudinal study investigated the ecumenical worldview development of 13,932 students enrolled in one of 126 institutions. Results indicated that the final hierarchical linear model, consisting of institution-and-student-level predictors as well as slopes explaining the relationships among some of these predictors, explained…

This study addresses several methodological problems that have confronted prior research on the effect of class size on student achievement. Unlike previous studies, this analysis accounts for the hierarchical data structure of student achievement, where grades are nested within classes and students, and considers a wide range of class sizes…

Developed elements of a transformational change framework through case studies of 6 institutions over a 4-year period. Three key findings were: (1) five core strategies for transformational change; (2) the characteristic that makes them essential: sensemaking; and (3) the interrelationship among core and secondary strategies, the nonlinear process…

A longitudinal path-analytic study of influences upon education aspirations suggests that academic performance, parental supportiveness, faculty-student interaction, and major department context played significant roles in outcomes, beyond the role played by freshman-year background characteristics. (Author/MLW)

The study examined the validity of the Eccles model of achievement behaviors for its predictive validity in determining student persistence in the postsecondary educational system to completion of the baccalaureate degree. The value placed on college attendance had significant influence on persistence. (Author/MLW)

A study of early postenrollment wage determinants of White young men in the 1966 to 1971 period is described. The focus is on student labor force status as a determinant of postenrollment wage rates. Results suggest that work while enrolled may mitigate transition problems to full-time work after enrollment. (Author/MLW)

Anchored in national longitudinal data analyzed through hierarchical linear and non-linear modeling, this study found that African-American students have a similar probability of obtaining a BA degree whether they attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) or a historically White college or university (HWCU). Among…

The purpose of this paper is to build a predictive model of enrollment that provides data driven analysis to improve undergraduate recruitment efforts. We utilize an inquiry model, which examines the enrollment decisions of students that have made contact with our institution, a medium sized, public, Doctoral I university. A student, who makes an…

The participants, strategies, and tactics involved in the curriculum change process in graduate schools of business were investigated. Two groups of participants, internals and externals, and two strategies, the empirical rational and the power coercive, are identified. The methods used to implement or resist curriculum change are described.…

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 with a model of educational attainment for whites (n=6,512) and blacks (n=699) that explicitly measured for a father's presence in the household. No substantial differences were found in the process of educational attainment between these groups when…

A 3-dimensional model was developed to assess impact of institutional research studies. Elements are short, intermediate, and long-range time components; acceptance, non response, and rejection actions; and primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences. A variety of criterion measures and instruments have been identified to assist in model…