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…

Students with health impairments represent a growing sector of the college population, but health-based disparities in bachelor's degree completion persist. The classes students pass and the grades they receive during the first year of college provides signals of degree progress and academic fit that shape educational expectations, potentially…

This article reports on a study that explored whether diversity experiences influence students' attitudes toward literary activities during the first year of college. Interactional diversity and attending a diversity workshop had a positive net influence on the outcome measure. Exposure to curricular diversity, however, had only a chance effect on…

A study examined the social integration aspects of Tinto's model and conceptions of college student "rites of passage" through interviews with 25 freshmen. Findings generally support the model's propositions but indicate that postmatriculation experiences external to the institution are more important to social integration than the model…

A study drew on observation and interview data to examine the early encounters of traditional-age first-year students with campus bureaucracy, focusing on their definitions and coping strategies. Though frustrated by lines, impersonal treatment, and "runarounds," most accepted bureaucracy with superficial equanimity. Results help explain how…

This article offers a model of college student integration that emphasizes how students shape their college experiences by pursuing specific life tasks over others. A study of 311 first-year college students found that school persisters tended to focus more on academics during their first semester and social and personal needs during their second…

A study of 1,789 female and 1,870 male students at college entry and exit compared self-ratings of abilities, social and political views, and goals and aspirations. Results show gender a contributing factor in all three areas. Gender differences in student attitudes were evident at both college entry and four years later. (MSE)

A survey of 117 freshman and 113 junior women investigated their perceptions of the personal adjustment issues they faced and the solutions they arrived at during their experience at a university. Four areas of adjustment are discussed: underestimation of financial expenses; unfamiliar teaching techniques; large classes; and disillusionment with…

A study investigated the relationship of role strains, life events stresses, and minority status (Arfican American, Chicano, Latino, or Pillipino) on the psychological and academic adjustment of 163 minority first-year students at a major university. Results confirmed the hypothesis that minority status confers additional stress and is associated…