The Effects of First-Year Students' Self-Perceptions of Behaviors, Attitudes, and Aptitudes on Their First-to-Second-Year Persistence
Year: 2012
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Student persistence continues to be a topic of much research and discussion in higher education. Based on Bean and Eaton's (2000) psychological theory of persistence for its theoretical framework, this study examined the effect of students' demographic and background characteristics and students' self-perceptions on their first-to-second-year persistence at a small, private, faith-based institution. Demographic and background characteristics examined were gender, race/ethnicity, first-generation college student status, high school GPA, and type of high school attended. Four constructs from the CIRP Freshman Survey were used to examine student self-perceptions: (a) Habits of the Mind, (b) Academic Self-concept, (c) Social Self-concept, and (d) Likelihood of College Involvement. This study utilized data from the CIRP Freshman Surveys administered to first-time, full-time students entering the institution in the study during the Fall of 2007 and the Fall of 2009 as well as institutional data collected by the university's Institutional Research Office. The final sample included 436 first-time, full-time students. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Three of the demographic/background characteristics were found to be statistically significant in the study. High school GPA and type of high school attended positively influenced persistence to the second year of college while first-generation student status negatively influenced persistence to the second year of college. From the four CIRP constructs, Academic Self-concept and Likelihood of College Involvement both were found to be statistically significant with both constructs positively influencing persistence. The findings of this study have implications for both practice and policy at the institution where the study was conducted and possibly at other similar institutions.
Author: Rebecca Jean Lambert
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2253816042