How Social and Relational Identities Shape Community College Transfer Students’ College Pathways

Abstract

Given inequities in transfer student success, emerging research about transfer students has focused on students’ familial relationships and identities including race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. This qualitative study uses the reconceptualized model of multiple dimensions of identity to explore how social and relational identities influence the college transfer pathways of both pre- and post-transfer students in North Carolina. Findings detail how students’ identities and contextual influences shaped educational decisions and can be leveraged as strengths.