This quantitative study examined grit and hope scores with a population of first-year Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) students. The researcher strived to understand if higher grit and hope scores correlate with higher grade point averages (GPA) and persistence in STEM among first-year STEM students enrolled in a mid-sized, suburban,…

While previous research has established that faculty and their interactions with students have had the greatest impact on student retention and satisfaction for centuries, limited studies have been done to understand how faculty are influencing Generation Z, our newest generation of students in higher education. This study examined how the…

This research study explored the level of student engagement that transfer students experience and how these levels can predict their persistence. This quantitative study utilized secondary data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). George Kuh's Theory of Student Engagement guided this study and influenced the development of the…

This quantitative non-experimental predictive correlational study aimed to explore the relationship between intent to persist, academic self-efficacy, and burnout among college first-year STEM students. The study is important since there are high dropouts of undergraduate college STEM students that cause vast gaps in the STEM labor market. This…

This study analyzes the reasons for stop out behavior in a first-year composition class. The study was intended to be mixed methods, but the quantitative data, which was to be collected via survey, yielded too low of an n-value to allow for statistical analysis; therefore, case study research, analyzed through a social context framework, was…

Student dropout is a major concern in studies investigating retention strategies in higher education. This study identifies which variables are important to predict student dropout, using academic data from 3583 first-year students on the Business Administration (BA) degree at the University of Barcelona (Spain). The results indicate that two…

Why do college students persist with their education, especially when facing challenges? We answer this question by exploring the complexities surrounding college student retention, using the organizational research lenses of job embeddedness, normative pressures, and the unfolding model of turnover. We first developed a college embeddedness scale…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship and predictability of demographic factors, and academic factors on the persistence and progression rates among first-year, full-time, four-year degree seeking students at a Historically Black College and University. Specifically, this study focused on the predictive power of demographic…

The authors present a comprehensive study to identify factors that affect the retention rate of first-time freshman business students in a large four-year public university. Factors include background academic and demographic variables, current performance indicators, and course-taking patterns. Based on a logistic regression model and comparison…

Objective: We wanted to identify factors associated with pre-nursing student retention and success at a small, rural two-year institution in South Carolina. Method: Transcript analysis generated a dataset for pre-nursing students (N = 125). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze high school and university data. Results:…

This mixed methods study examined the impact of grit and self-efficacy and the factors of these constructs on the performance of at-risk, developmental placement students, surveying 184 first-year students before the midterm point of their first semester. Following the quantitative portion, six upperclassmen, who had started their careers in the…

Prior research has explored how international students' interactions with domestic students and with other international students predict their self-reported short-term outcomes, particularly in the context of the environmental challenges that international students may encounter. The present study builds upon this earlier work by using…

The prevailing theories of student persistence have been developed in Predominantly White Institutional (PWI) contexts. The extent to which these theories--in whole or in part--apply to Minority Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has not been studied in depth. This study tests a PWI-based theory of…

Purpose of the Study: In a time of rising costs, social discourse questioning value of an undergraduate degree, and declining enrollment, institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure to provide stakeholders and potential students with measures of accountability and student success. These pressures renew the need to leverage…

Copious research on Social Cognitive Career Theory has found student self-efficacy substantially related to persistence in engineering programs. The present exploratory study investigated the associations among faculty encouragement (a specific type of verbal persuasion in college context) and students' self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and…