Older, part-time, and commuter students have composed an increasingly larger portion of college student bodies. The reasons why these students drop out of school are not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rise in nontraditional enrollments, define the nontraditional undergraduate student, and develop a conceptual model of the attrition process for these students. The chief difference between the attrition process of traditional and nontraditional students is that nontraditional students are more affected by the external environment than by the social integration variables affecting traditional student attrition.

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Using data from 1,033 freshmen at a public urban university, this study examined the effect of the perceived quality of academic advising on student attrition in a model of the student attrition process. High-quality advising negatively influenced attrition through effects on GPA, satisfaction in the role of a student, the value of a college education for future employment, and intent to leave the university. Low-quality advising was related to greater attrition than was high-quality advising, but, on the other hand, low-quality advising was associated with less attrition than no advising at all. The effect size of the advising variables suggested that a more extensive provision of high-quality advising might be considered as one strategy in a multifaceted institutional effort to reduce freshman attrition.

h & of445 neu, psychdogy mqiors-and re@msesfmn 301 r d quertimmirer-we usai to (a) test and excmd a genericmaG.lforacadermcpathwcrystodae~&temctjul and (b) muescigate femini&on of the f & The model h o b hat a snLdmt's mm with basic collage psycholog)i courses is aRuciotelementleadingtoadecishto 'orin&field.Ourdara s w rhisfomtulaabn ~owem$!miniwim 74% o f~e applicmur uxre womm. As pups, houreuer, wmen and men w e not ~~y diffmrenr onfeacwes stech as & backgramdr, psychdogy course hkl~n'es, seIf&pod k-es on and certain reawns for the decision to mdjor, or p r fdlowing graduaam Feminizan'on am rhur evidenr in n&, MI academic chmaaerislics.In this article, we present information about a large sample of undergmduates who were recently accepted to the p3ychology major at hiiana U~versity-&due University at Indianapolis ( N W I ) , an urban public institution. We collected archival and self-report data concerning (a) a generic model for the academic paths leading to declaring the psychology major and (b) the so-called f e t i o n of psychology. These matters are introduced in turn. The Rajecki-Meher Majoring ModelRajecki and Metzner (1991) offered a narrative model for the academic paths leading to a declaration of the undergraduate psychology major. Using archival (uansctipt) data, they reached conclusions about several broad features of the model:Ow hypd-teacal, tra&tional paychology major . . . takes a vanew of course6 to h~llill pneral rcqulremmu. In doing so, the sndenr encountm pychology m a course and is dnwn ro the fiehi. Fairly soon there&, or one or rm, paycholoa, courses lam, the major is &dared. . . . A srudenr who follows this curricular prh is not n e c d y fleehg ~x n e orher kipline . . . [in this pmicular sample] 90% have nor previously entend a &gne.&r;mting ma. The s~dent is not nec&ly search~ng for an easy major; success m psy oholcgy is positively rekred to wcw in other academic domains for both men and women. (Rajecki & Ueaner, 191, p. 7)Our study tests and extends this model. -tion of the Field of PsychologySince 1950, there has been a sharp shift in the demographics of gender in the Aeld of paychology (Grady 1987; Howard, 1987). In 1976, 54% of hcheloZs degrees in psychology were awarded to women; 1987, that value had risen to 69% (McGovem, fiuumoto, Halpem, Kimble, & McKeachie, 1991). This pattern is also reflected at the doctoral level. In 1950. 15% of psychology PhDs were women. Women's representation had grown to about 50% by 1984 (Howard er al. , 1986) and to 58% in 1990 (" Task Force," 1992). -, feminization may he unique to psychology. In a study of majoring panems in humanities, social sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, and biology, Turner and Bowen (1990) found a general convergence in gender representation. However, pychology is the odv field in which difkrencer in gender have widened. Benveen 1950 and 1970. the p y c h o 1~ shares b r men and women were marly the same; by 1986, women were more than mice aa likely as men to major In dus Weld. . . . (Turner& Boweo. 1990, p....