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Learning College

Learning College. Cultural Congruence and the Transition to Four-Year Institutions Among Students from Low-Income Backgrounds Derria Byrd Department of Educational Policy Studies La Follette School of Public Affairs University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Learning College

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  1. Learning College Cultural Congruence and the Transition to Four-Year Institutions Among Students from Low-Income Backgrounds Derria Byrd Department of Educational Policy Studies La Follette School of Public Affairs University of Wisconsin-Madison Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education -Presented by the Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011

  2. The Challenge: Completion Rates. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • College access increasing while completion is slowing • Persistently low college graduation rates • 2000 cohort: less than 60% graduated within 7 years (U.S. D.O.E) • 2004 cohort: more than 20% left without a degree within 3 years (U.S. D.O.E.) • Students from low-income backgrounds may experience additional risks that affect persistence (Goldrick-Rab & Pfeffer, 2009; DesJardins, Ahlburg & McCall, 2006)

  3. Research Interests. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 Institutional mechanisms that generate post-matriculation inequality Decoding “fit” in the interaction between students and institutions in terms of culture Organizational change and development in postsecondary education Mixing qualitative and quantitative data to capture the complexity of students’ experiences

  4. Approaches to Studying Student Characteristics & College Outcomes. • Tension in departure research: • Psychological vs. sociological explanations: too individual or too structural (Zarate et al., 2005; Lucas, 2001) • Alternative: Interaction between individual and educational context • Tinto’s (1987, 1993) theory of student departure: characteristics + commitments + integration = persistence decision • Range of critiques • Others emphasizes culture and institutional context (Warikoo & Carter, 2009)

  5. Schools and the Reproduction of Inequality Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Social Reproduction Theory: institutions reproduce existing power relations • Bourdieu’s (1977): field, habitus, and capital • Role of schools (Bourdieu, 1990) • Cultural Congruence • Habitus of individuals and institutions

  6. Research Questions. • Primary Interest: the role of cultural congruence in the transition to four-year institutions for students from low-income backgrounds • Leap for students from low-income backgrounds likely to be greater at four-year colleges (Ball et al., 2002; Watson et al., 2009) • Research questions: • Do university students from low-income backgrounds experience cultural congruence? If so, how? • What relationship, if any, does cultural congruence have with students’ postsecondary outcomes? • How consistent are these findings across methods of inquiry (i.e. interview or survey)?

  7. Data. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Sample: Students who were Pell Grant eligible during their freshman year at a four-year college • Embedded within the Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study • Data sources: • Interviews: Transcripts from biannual interviews with students attending two four-year institutions (N=15) • Surveys: fall 2008 and fall 2009, from students at four-year institutions (N=1210) • Employ data only from students who completed all items survey items of interest (N=566)

  8. Analysis Overview. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Multi-phase spiral: • Phase 1: Qualitative (emergent coding) • Phase 2: Quantitative (preliminary analysis) • Phase 3: Qualitative (emergent coding) • Phase 4: Quantitative (supplementary analysis) • Phase 5: Integrated findings

  9. Methods. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006) • Multiple regression analysis: • Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression • Logistic regression

  10. Interview Analysis. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Initial coding: • Interactions, Positive, Negative • Typology development • Transition types: Maintaining, Transitioning, Enhancing • Focused coding: • Applied sub-categories to initial codes within each transition type: Academic, Social, Psychological • Coding matrix: Compared findings across types of students and focused codes

  11. Survey Analysis. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Regression Analysis • Concept of interest: Cultural congruence • Outcomes: Enrollment fall 2009, GPA fall 2009, Increased or decreased degree aspirations between fall 2008 and fall 2009 • Controls to compare like students: • Time-use • Access to campus resources • Student background characteristics

  12. Findings (1 of 3). Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Typology of 4 college transition experiences • Maintaining (4 students): Had not planned to attend college, independent, connected to friends from home, campus involvement through sports or work • Enhancing (2): Fairly smooth transitions, pre-college skill development, college as a welcome get-away • Transitioning (Academic) (6): Academic encounters the most challenging during transition, exposure through pre-college programs, contact with advisors • Transitioning (Social) (3): Social aspect of transition most challenging, breaking ties with friends and family in non-college environments

  13. Findings (2 of 3). Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Enrollment and GPA: • 4 survey measures had relationship with fall 2009 enrollment and/or GPA: • Finding classes interesting: (-) relationship with enrollment, (+) relationship with GPA • Confidence about managing grades: (+) enrollment and GPA • Absence of confidence: (-) enrollment and GPA • Expecting to graduate with A-average: (+) GPA • Absence of expectation: (+) enrollment, (-) GPA • Having lower grades than expected: (-) enrollment, (+) GPA

  14. Findings (3 of 3). Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • Aspirations: • Students who found classes interesting were nearly 2 times as likely to have increased aspirations • Students who enjoyed college peers were 50% less likely to have decreased aspirations • Strength of relationships not affected by control variables (background, time-use, campus resources) • Cultural congruence composite measure: no relationship to any outcomes of interest

  15. Limitations. • Relevant differences between interview subsample and survey sample • Demographics: Age, race and ethnicity, gender • Family background: lower parent education, family income • Academic performance: lower in high school and college • Continuously enrolled between fall 2008 and fall 2009 • Perspective: more challenged, more optimistic • Busier: work, school, studying • Survey data limitations: • Only student-level data • Point-in-time • Missing data

  16. Implications. Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 • All students had academic adjustments, more difficult for some • Varied transition pathways (Cabrera et al., 1999) • Students learning how to “do college” (Wingate, 2007) • Understanding types of transitions can help colleges prepare more targeted support services (Deil-Amen & Goldrick-Rab, 2009) • Mandatory office hours with professional development for professors • Role of advisors as institutional agents • Complexity of college “success” beyond persistence or dropout (Goldrick-Rab, 2006)

  17. Thank You Affordability and College Attainment in Wisconsin Public Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison July 8, 2011 Questions? byrd2@wisc.edu

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