Abstract
A review of the peer-reviewed papers in the top higher education journals in the last 20 years suggests that the field is relying heavily on Tinto’s (1993, Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press) theory of student departure. The fact that there is limited empirical support for Tinto’s theory (Braxton, Sullivan, & Johnson, 1997, Handbook of Theory and Research, 12, 107–164) suggests the need to expand the theoretical grounding of the field, and use a broader set of theories or conceptual frameworks. The main objective of this study is to provide a thorough review of the different theories and conceptual frameworks that have been developed and/or applied in education, economics, sociology, and psychology to study the process of college persistence and attainment. The chapter contributes to the literature by providing an in-depth description of the theories that have been developed in other social sciences in the last four decades. This review would hopefully encourage scholars and graduate students in the field to expand the theoretical grounding and as a result address a broader set of research questions that need to be explored to gain a better understanding of the complexities of the process of college persistence and attainment.
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Notes
- 1.
I use the definition of theory provided by Kerlinger (1986) and cited by Braxton et al. (1997): “Kerlinger (1986) defines theory as logically interrelated constructs that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relationships among variables, with the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena (p. 9) …. Theoretical models move one step beyond the abstract parameters of theory, expanding these to more concrete explications of constructs. Theories and theoretical models provide scientific tools for researchers and practitioners to gain greater understating of complex phenomena.” I use the terms theoretical models, theoretical frameworks, and conceptual frameworks interchangeably. For a more thorough description of the difference between theory and conceptual framework see Perna (2006) and Perna and Thomas (2008).
- 2.
The table is available at the author’s webpage and will also be available upon request. It is important to mention that this review does not cover the work by higher education scholars such as Terenzini and Pascarella (1977) in the late 1970s and 1980s. For those interested in the earlier applications to Tinto’s model see Braxton et al. (1997) for a thorough review.
- 3.
- 4.
Their critique is described in more detailed in the section describing the psychology literature.
- 5.
For a detailed description of his contributions see Heckman (2001).
- 6.
It is important to remind the reader that this is not a comprehensive review of Bourdieu’s theory. It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe in detail the complexity of his theory. The goal of this section is to provide a first good understanding with the hope that scholars will study his work along the book by Swartz (1997) that presents a more accessible review.
- 7.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Kevin Dougherty, Laura Perna, and Bill Tierney for reading this chapter and providing insightful and helpful feedback. Special thanks to Hazel Giusto for her research assistance in compiling the information in Table 10.1.
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Melguizo, T. (2011). A Review of the Theories Developed to Describe the Process of College Persistence and Attainment. In: Smart, J., Paulsen, M. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 26. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0702-3_10
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