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Organizational Influences on College Student Persistence

其他書名	Antecedents to Social Integration
出版	Vanderbilt University, 2005
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=m4oTtwAACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋Vincent Tinto's theory of voluntary college student departure (1975; 1987; 1993) centers on a student's integration with the academic and social realms of the institution. The reliable influence of social integration on students' subsequent commitment to their colleges and universities presents an opportunity for faculty, student affairs administrators, and other college personnel to target intentional efforts to help students succeed in college. Students experience social integration if they feel a sense of normative congruence and social affiliation with members of the college or university community. Using a longitudinal panel design in eight private colleges and universities (n = 408), this study assesses the predictive value of three organizational constructs on student social integration: Institutional Commitment to the Welfare of Students, Institutional Integrity, and Communal Potential. Faculty, staff, and administrators display institutional commitment to student welfare if their actions reflect concern for students' growth and development. Institutional integrity refers to the extent the actions of its administrators, faculty, and staff are consistent with the mission and goals stated by the institution. Communal potential pertains to the degree that students can perceive the possibility of social connection with a subgroup of their peers. Findings reveal that two of the three constructs tested--communal potential and institutional commitment to the welfare of students--significantly relate to social integration. Further, institutional commitment to the welfare of students significantly associates with a student's subsequent commitment to the institution, a reliable link to persistence. Revising Tinto's theory to include these organizational constructs increases the understanding of antecedents to social integration and allows researchers to more effectively focus their efforts to explain the college student departure process. Recommendations to campus leaders identify purposeful ways (such as policies, practices, and interactions with students) through which they can foster social integration into the college community. With a greater understanding of the organizational factors that influence persistence rates of college students during their first year of enrollment, it is more likely that environmental adjustments can effectively support more students in their quests for higher education.