The Impact of Colleges and the Involvement of Male and Female Students

Male and Female Pathways Through Four-Year Colleges

“…Although Anderson (1988) found that marriage had a significantly more negative impact on persistence through to college graduation for women compared to men in the 1970s, this relationship may have been attenuated in the past several decades as more opportunities developed for women to balance family and work roles (Goldin, 2006). It is important to note, however, that the small number of students who married or had children early limits the statistical power to detect any relationships between these variables and the outcomes.…”

“…Precollege characteristics can be divided into two groups-background characteristics and high school performance. Consequential background characteristics include race and Sex Stratification in Higher Education ethnicity, sex, SES, educational goals, and encouragement from family and friends (Anderson, 1988;Berger & Milem, 1999;Cabrera, Nora, & Castaneda, 1993). Studies of college pathways identify the importance of these background characteristics as well, particularly highlighting the association between lower SES and more disruptive pathways (Goldrick-Rab, 2006;Hearn, 1992;King, 2003).…”

“…Although some poorly performing college students may choose to take time off or enroll part-time to reduce academic strain, it is important to remember that some students may follow disrupted pathways involuntary, for example when students do not perform academically and are asked to leave by the institution (Goldrick-Rab, 2006). Bean (1983) argued for the importance of factors external to the institution for persistence, and Anderson (1988) confirmed that involvement outside of school that detracts from a student's ability to integrate into the college community and takes away from time devoted to studying, such as family obligations, limits persistence. Early family formation and working while enrolled may also limit a student's ability to attend college continuously if students reduce hours or take time off in order to work a job or balance the demands of family and school.…”

College student involvement and cognitive outcomes: a study utilizing the CSE and the COMP

“…Astin (1985, p. 156 In this study, two student background variables were significant predictors of COMP: the freshman COMP score and SES. Many studies including several cited in this study (Anderson, 1988;Feltz and Weiss, 1984;Cooley and Lohnes, 1976;Lavin, 1965) have demonstrated a strong, persistent, significant relationship between SES and academic outcomes.…”

“…Research is also needed which measures involvement and cognitive outcomes with standardized measures (Pascarella, 1985a;Anderson, 1988). The commonly used measure of cognitive outcomes, the GPA, is not sufficient because its meaning varies from department to department and from institution to institution.…”