Persistence In Higher Education Research Articles

Implementing open educational resources: Lessons learned

BackgroundOpen educational resources (OER) are associated with several positive outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students, both financially and academically. Financial benefits include a reduction in student debt and costs of attending college. Academic benefits include improved academic success, especially for students from populations historically underserved by higher education. PurposeThis article reviews strategies and lessons learned from an academic multi-campus school of nursing (SON) initiative on implementing OER. ApproachA team representing undergraduate and graduate nursing faculty, the library, and the Teaching and Learning Center set forth to improve faculty awareness of and interest in adopting OER and develop resource sites for disseminating information about OER. The team collaborated with partners within the university and with external academic partners to achieve our goals. OutcomesPresentations to SON faculty on OER identified faculty interested in adopting these resources. Two Masters of Nursing Education (MNE) students identified and shared resources; completed a student textbook survey; and, reported results and recommendations to SON faculty. A university resource site was created on OER. Further collaboration with university librarians to identify and implement OER for specific courses is ongoing. ConclusionsStudents identified cost as one barrier for pursuing higher education. Efforts to reduce cost through utilizing OER may eliminate this barrier, thus enhancing student enrollment and persistence in higher education. Adopting OER is a social justice action that has the potential to address educational inequities by allowing students to attend to their basic human needs such as housing and food.

Echoes of social experience: tracing the link between a sense of belonging in school physics classes and physics students’ persistence in higher education

The present study investigates on an exploratory level the extent to which the sense of belonging that university physics students experienced in their physics classes in secondary school impacts their intention to drop out or alter their course of study in higher education. Analysing data collected between April and June 2022 among first-year physics students at 20 German universities (N = 263), we find a significant and negative effect on the part of participants’ (remembered) sense of belonging in school physics classes on their intention to drop out or change their studies. Parallel mediation analysis further reveals that this effect is fully mediated by students’ current sense of belonging to physics and their university. Notably, the indirect effect via participants’ current sense of belonging to physics is approximately four times as high as the indirect effect via university belonging. These results emphasise the importance of social embeddedness in early physics experiences on students’ academic development in higher education. Limitations of these results as well as implications regarding a potential improvement of persistence and satisfaction within physics-related higher-education programs are outlined at the end of this paper.

Mi mamá es una mujer poderosa y inspiradora: Latina mother’s influence on Latina undergraduates’ academic persistence

We used the psychosociocultural framework to conceptualize, analyze, and narrate the perceptions of 10 Latina women about their mothers’ influence and role on their educational persistence in higher education. The Latina undergraduates were upper-division students who were of Mexican descent and sought educational success. To make meaning of the Latina women’s narratives, we implemented a multi-step content analysis of the qualitative data yielding five meta-themes: (1) Home Assumptions, (2) Para Honrar los Sacrificios de Ella, (3) Mujer Poderosa, (4) Tener Exito, and (5) New Story of What it Means to be Latina Women in Higher Education. The findings emphasized Latina mothers’ powerful role and salient influence on their daughter’s notion of themselves as Latina women in education. The Latina women shared how their mothers held expectations, provided support, made sacrifices for the family, desired excellence, and engaged at all costs with their daughters’ success in mind.

The impact of guidance counselling on gender segregation: Major choice and persistence in higher education. An experimental study.

Gender segregation in higher education is considered one of the main drivers of persistent economic gender inequality. Yet, though there has been considerable research identifying and describing the underlying mechanisms that cause gendered educational choices in higher education, little is known about how gender segregation in higher education could be changed. Accordingly, this article aims to determine the potential of educational interventions during high school to foster gender desegregation in higher education. We focused on two different processes that contribute to gender segregation in majors among higher education graduates: first, the selection into specific majors and, second, the selection out of specific majors. We investigated whether an intensive counselling programme leads to more gender-atypical choices among high-school graduates and examined whether intensive counselling supports several indicators of students' persistence in gender-atypical majors. Based on data from an experimental study of a counselling programme for German high-school students (N = 625), we estimated the programme's effect with linear probability models and intention-to-treat analysis. Our results show that high-school graduates are more likely to choose a gender-atypical major if they have received intensive counselling. This applies more to men than to women. In addition, the programme improved some persistence indicators for students in gender-atypical majors. Although we found a significant programme effect only for perceived person-major fit and student satisfaction, the coefficients of all aspects of students' persistence show a trend indicating that the programme was beneficial for students in gender-atypical majors. As experimental studies can also be affected by various types of bias, we performed several robustness checks. All analyses indicated stable results. In conclusion, we suggest that intensive counselling programmes have the potential to reduce gender segregation in higher education. More students were motivated to choose a gender-atypical major, and different aspects of student persistence were supported by the programme for students in gender-atypical majors.

What Can Data Tell Us?

Researchers have found that student engagement has an impact on student learning, retention, motivation, and persistence in higher education. However, faculty often experience challenges in maintaining high levels of student engagement in their classes. Data collected in class during activities, through learner generated reports, and at various points in students' academic careers can provide valuable insight into student engagement. This datum can be used to enhance instructional approaches and curricula to improve student academic gains and interest. Further, universities can use student engagement data to better support vulnerable student populations and improve institutional effectiveness. Because student engagement can have a profound effect on student engagement, this literature review highlights how universities can collect and analyze data to provide targeted instructional practices to augment student performance.

Student Academic and Social Engagement in the Life of the Academy—A Lever for Retention and Persistence in Higher Education

Research studies worldwide have focused on higher education dropout, persistence, and success. Given the profound changes in higher education that have taken place in recent decades, higher education institutions need to compete for students by attracting, retaining, and, ultimately, graduating them. Thus, higher education institutions increasingly offer actions that aim to foster student success. While a smooth and supported process of student transition from secondary to tertiary education is one of the key variables in higher education student retention and paramount for preventing student dropout, the student’s overall experience in higher education plays a pivotal role in their performance and success. This paper focuses specifically on higher education students’ academic and social involvement, notably through their engagement in extracurricular activities and decision-making processes, which are perceived as critical mechanisms in their persistence in higher education. The study used a qualitative approach with the analysis of four Portuguese higher education institutions. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with students and institutional leaders, complemented with document analysis, and explored through content analysis. The results reveal that, from the wide range of opportunities for involvement offered to students by the higher education institution, activities of an academic nature are the most sought after by students to complement their educational experience. However, students perceive involvement in extracurricular activities in general as critical, both to their overall education and preparation for the labor market and to an easier integration into the institutional environment. Hence, student involvement in cultural or recreational activities, alongside their involvement in institutional decision-making bodies and associative movements, is a privileged way of complementing students’ academic training and is perceived by them as important in their overall education, both as professionals and as individuals.

Academic Persistence Among Traditional and Non-Traditional Social Work Students at Fort Hays State University: A Bivariate Analysis

Although the Social Work program is one of the fastest growing programs at Fort Hays State University (FHSU), the faculty is focused on retention. According to Gloria and Kurpius (1996), evaluating the university environment appears to be a major factor in accounting for students’ persistence in higher education. This is particularly important for nontraditional students who often drop out of academic programs prior to degree completion (Miller, 2014) and have lower completion rates than their traditional counterparts (Shapiro, et. al., 2012). This study explored whether a significant difference exists in the way traditional and nontraditional social work students perceive the university environment.

Žene kao netradicionalni studenti u visokom obrazovanju u Nemačkoj i u Indiji

Over the past decades, the number of non-traditional students attending higher education has grown worldwide. Governments and institutions encourage underrepresented students to enroll, often with two main goals: to boost national economic competitiveness and to enhance social inclusion in higher education for traditionally excluded groups, like older students. There is neither a policy nor academic consensus on what constitutes a mature student (O'Shea & Stone, 2011). In this study, we define mature women students as being 21 years or older when starting a bachelor's degree. The analysis of seven interviews conducted in Germany and India compares their sociodemographic profiles, their motivation for university study, the barriers they had to overcome, and the mechanisms of support they could count on, following the comparative method developed by Egetenmeyer (2012). The results show how structural conditions can facilitate or hinder mature women's access to and persistence in higher education.

Secondary school mathematics and entrance into the STEM professions: a longitudinal study

BackgroundSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields are in high demand for qualified personnel worldwide, yet drop-out rates of a career path in STEM occur at various points in lifespan. Based on a big-data analysis of 534,590 records retrieved from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics for several points in time over one and a half decades, the study aims to examine the various pathways of which secondary school students take toward STEM-related careers, and to characterize each pathway based on various demographic and educational factors.ResultsThe study presents a three-tier tree, which highlights eight pathways leading to STEM or non-STEM bachelor's degrees. An important finding is the recognition of a non-linear pathway, demonstrating the biggest ‘leak’ from STEM in secondary school to non-STEM in higher education. Further, findings indicate that choosing advanced mathematics, majoring in physics and computer science in secondary school, and excelling in mathematics or science major at secondary school, have a lasting effect on STEM persistence in higher education. Additionally, males and non-minorities populations have the highest likelihood of choosing STEM for future studies.ConclusionsThe study contributes theoretically to broadening the conceptualization of various pathways toward pursuing a STEM career across important choice stages in people’s lifespan. Moreover, the study provides insight into the long-term effect of education choices made in secondary school, as well as demographic and educational factors, on future choice for study.

Raising student engagement using digital nudges tailored to students' motivation and perceived ability levels

AbstractParticipation in educational activities is an important prerequisite for academic success, yet often proves to be particularly challenging in digital settings. Therefore, this study set out to increase participation in an online proctored formative statistics exam by digital nudging. We exploited targeted nudges based on the Fogg Behaviour Model, highlighting the relevance of acknowledging differences in motivation and ability in allocating nudges to elicit target behaviour. First, we assessed whether pre‐existing levels of motivation and perceived ability to participate are effective in identifying different propensities of responsiveness to plain untailored nudges. Next, we evaluated whether tailoring nudges to students' motivation and perceived ability levels increases target behaviour by means of a randomized field experiment in which 579 first‐year university students received 6 consecutive emails over the course of three weeks to nudge behaviour regarding successful participation in the online exam. First, the results point out that motivation explains differences in engagement as indicated by student responsiveness and participation, whereas the perceived ability to participate does not. Second, the results from the randomized field experiment indicate that tailored nudging did not improve observed engagement. Implications for the potential of providing motivational information to improve participation in online educational activities are discussed, as are alternatives for capturing perceived ability more effectively.Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Participation in educational activities is an important prerequisite for academic success, yet often proves to be particularly challenging in digital settings. Students' internal barriers to online participation and persistence in higher education are lack of motivation and perceived ability. Nudging interventions tackle students' behavioural barriers, and are particularly effective when guided by a theory of behaviour change, and when targeting students who suffer most from those barriers. What this paper adds This study examines whether the Fogg Behaviour Model is suited to guide a nudging intervention with the aim to increase student engagement in online higher education. This study examines whether students with different levels of motivation and perceived ability vary in their online behaviour in response to nudges. This study experimentally evaluates whether targeted nudges—targeted at students' motivation and perceived ability—are more effective than plain (not‐targeted) nudges. Implications for practice and/or policy The results indicate the importance of motivation for performing nudged behaviours regarding successful participation in an online educational activity. The results do not provide evidence for the role of perceived digital ability, yet do show prior performance on a similar educational activity can effectively distinguish between students' responsiveness. Targeted nudges were not more effective than plain nudges, but the potential of other motivational nudges and how to increase perceived performance are discussed.

Exploring the Complexity of First-Year Student Belonging in Higher Education: Familiarity, Interpersonal, and Academic Belonging

Belonging is critical to first-year student success and persistence in higher education. However, differing definitions make it challenging to fully understand why belonging is significant. Foregrounding student voice, this research explored how first-year Australian university students talked about their belonging. Using Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) framework of student engagement as a lens, 18 students were interviewed weekly throughout the year. Students talked about belonging in three distinct but interrelated ways: familiarity, interpersonal belonging, and academic belonging. While all were important for student wellbeing and engagement, academic belonging, students’ sense that university, their discipline, and courses were “right” for them, was critical for perseverance. Unlike interpersonal belonging which tended to build through the year, academic belonging fluctuated for many students. The findings suggest framing belonging merely as about relationships limits understanding of this important construct. Contributing to scholarship by bringing a refreshed perspective to the nuances and complexity of belonging, the research suggests higher education providers need to monitor and foster academic belonging in first-year students.

Students’ Non-Cognitive Profiles and their Relationships with Academic Stress and Persistence in Higher Education

To reduce their attrition rates, institutions need to ensure that their students can manage the stressors they confront in their academic work and persist to complete their study programs. Given the significance of non-cognitive attributes in education, this study aimed to identify the non-cognitive profiles exhibited by students which related significantly to academic stress and persistence levels in the middle of a given academic year. Undergraduate students from one of the largest private higher education institutions in Singapore participated in two online surveys. A total of 565 and 122 students participated in the first and second surveys, respectively. Results indicated that three distinct non-cognitive profiles could be identified, which were associated significantly with students’ academic stress levels and their intentions to persist with their studies. Possible implications for enhancing student outcomes by offering students with opportunities to enhance their affective ‘readiness’ profiles are discussed.

Examining Motivator Factors of STEM Undergraduate Persistence through Two-Factor Theory

ABSTRACT This study investigates undergraduate STEM persistence through two-factor theory. Using nationally representative data and multinomial regression, we conceptualize known determinants of persistence as hygiene and motivator factors to test the persistence outcomes among college students who majored in STEM: earning a STEM degree, non-STEM degree, and degree non-completion. We propose that hygiene factors provide a baseline means of persistence in higher education, whereas the motivator factors improve the probability of student persistence in STEM majors. Our findings demonstrated that motivator factors improve the persistence model when added to hygiene factors. Hygiene factors were generally associated with STEM persistence by staying in college, while motivator factors mostly predicted persistence by remaining in the STEM major. Given the importance of motivator factors, we also tested the differential relationship between motivator factors and student persistence in STEM majors by gender and race/ethnicity due to underrepresentation in STEM fields.

Beyond survey measures: exploring international male graduate students’ sense of belonging in electrical engineering

PurposeAlthough a student’s sense of belonging is a key factor of persistence in higher education, research on international students’ belonging tends to rely on domain-agnostic survey measures and promote interpretations that focus mainly on social integration and adjustment. This paper aims to examine how male international graduate students in engineering understand and describe their sense of belonging and how they perceive its development at their institution.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted in-depth interviews with 12 male electrical engineering doctoral students at a selective research university in the USA. This interpretive approach allowed students to articulate their subjective understanding of belonging within a specific disciplinary context.FindingsContrary to the broad notion that the social domain is the primary locus of students’ sense of belonging, participants emphasized the academic domain when referring to their struggles with, and attempts to develop, a sense of belonging. Results suggest that the meritocratic culture of engineering education may influence students to prioritize the academic domain when conceptualizing and developing their belonging. Moreover, the strong academic motivation endemic to international students pursuing graduate education at a top American research university intensified this mechanism.Originality/valueThis study argues that universities seeking to enhance international graduate students’ sense of belonging can be more intentional in providing opportunities for students to establish positive academic identities. Furthermore, addressing students’ non-academic identity and marginalization as relevant and essential topics in engineering will expand their understanding of what means to belong.

Entrepreneurial hysteresis and persistence in higher education a quasi-experiment on academic innovation

How does entrepreneurial education impact the persistence and hysteresis of entrepreneurial intent? Survival analysis is used to answer this question based on a quasi-experimental design. Being a member of an incubator increases entrepreneurial hysteresis by 66%. Females who do not benefit from that experience are less likely to persevere as entrepreneurs while participating in an incubator increases their entrepreneurial persistence by 131%. A policy implication consists in rethinking higher education in general and in particular across gender lines.

Use of interprofessional simulation-based learning to develop perioperative nursing students’ self-efficacy in responding to acute situations

Self-efficacy is an essential concept regarding academic performance and persistence in higher education. Research indicates that interprofessional simulation-based learning influences participants’ self-efficacy and points to a need for more research on self-efficacy and its development. This study describes perioperative nursing students’ experiences with how interprofessional simulation-based learning contributes to self-efficacy in communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, and prioritising tasks in acute situations. Six qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with thirty-four perioperative nursing students from four universities and university colleges in Norway. Qualitative directed content analysis was applied in accordance with Bandura's social cognitive theory which specifies four sources influencing self-efficacy. Results showed that well-designed/prepared interprofessional simulation-based learning can develop self-efficacy concerning communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, and prioritising tasks in acute situations.

Teaching Feminism: Between Marginalisation and Feminist Persistence

The aim of this article is to gain insights into how feminist principles, content and practices persist in higher education in times of neoliberal ideology, post-feminism and the intensification of extreme-right wing politics. The main issue the article seeks to address is the state of gender-related and feminist topics in higher education. Their state should be addressed at the intersections of: 1) social context; 2) institutional settings (formalised and officialised gender-related curricula); and 3) intra-institutional practices, such as backlashes to and sanctions against feminist practices. In order to achieve this, we start by briefly sketching the beginnings of women’s studies worldwide, and the ambivalences of institutionalising feminist knowledge. We proceed by focusing our discussion on the contemporary social situation, significantly marked by right-wing politics and neoliberal ideology, aiming to constitute feminism as irrelevant on the grounds of an individualised ‘brave new world’, where everything seems possible, achievable and accessible. We continue by focusing our attention on the state of feminist topics in the context of Slovenian higher education. This part is based on document analysis of curricula of various universities in Slovenia (a description of their study courses and programmes: the research shows that gender-related topics are still marginalised within higher education as feminist topics remain rare and optional rather than obligatory. After discussing the barriers and obstacles facing feminism, we conclude with a discussion on feminist persistence and resistance in higher education: it is still persisting despite the backlashes that seek to extort a price for doing feminism, even if feminist practices are forced to take a more subtle form.

From Teen Parent to Student Parent: Latina Mothers’ Persistence in Higher Education

Less than half of adolescent mothers graduate from high school and fewer obtain a post-secondary degree. The purpose of this study is to understand how Latina mothers who experienced childbirth during adolescence transition to parenthood and higher education. We conducted 13 in-depth interviews with Latina mothers enrolled in higher education. We found that Latina mothers’ persistence in higher education is influenced by psychosocial factors, initial commitments, academic and social experiences in college, and final commitments.

The use of strategies from the social sciences to inform pipeline development programs for under-represented minority faculty and students in the health sciences.

Representation of under-represented minority (URM) faculty in the health sciences disciplines is persistently low relative to both national and student population demographics. Although some progress has been made through nationally funded pipeline development programs, demographic disparities in the various health sciences disciplines remain. As such the development of innovative interventions to help URM faculty and students overcome barriers to advancement remains a national priority. To date, the majority of pipeline development programs have focused on academic readiness, mentorship, and professional development. However, insights from the social sciences literature related to "extra-academic" (e.g., racism) barriers to URM persistence in higher education suggest the limitations of efforts exclusively focused on cognitively mediated endpoints. The purpose of this article is to synthesize findings from the social sciences literature that can inform the enhancement of URM pipeline development programs. Specifically, we highlight research related to the social, emotional, and contextual correlates of URM success in higher education including reducing social isolation, increasing engagement with research, bolstering persistence, enhancing mentoring models, and creating institutional change. Supporting URM's success in the health sciences has implications for the development of a workforce with the capacity to understand and intervene on the drivers of health inequalities.

High tech, high touch: The impact of an online course intervention on academic performance and persistence in higher education

Online courses are a growing part of the community college experience, but many students, particularly minority students or students who are more at-risk, face challenges in passing those courses. This paper presents results from an experimental study of an effort to redesign a set of core introductory online courses to include a set of technology tools and instructional practices designed to improve students' experiences in the online environment. Results from the study showed that treatment students were less likely to withdraw, and minority students, specifically, were more likely to pass the class and to persist to the next year of college.