Relationship of Self-Beliefs, Social Support, and University Comfort with the Academic Success of Freshman College Women

The relationships of self-beliefs, social support, and university comfort with the academic persistence decisions and first-year grade point averages of 527 first semester female undergraduates were examined. Data were gathered in 56 classes or group meetings. These three constructs predicted academic persistence decisions, with social support as the strongest predictor, followed by self-beliefs, and then university comfort. Although there were no differences between Euro-American women and women of color on initial academic persistence decisions, Euro-American women had higher first-year GPAs than did the women of color. Research-informed practice and policy implications for increasing the persistence decisions and academic success of first-year female college students are discussed.

[1]  Vincent Tinto.  Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research , 1975 .

[2]  K. Heller,et al.  Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies , 1983, American journal of community psychology.

[3]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  Predicting Freshman Persistence and Voluntary Dropout Decisions from a Theoretical Model , 1980 .

[4]  S. Schwartz,et al.  Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition , 1987 .

[5]  Tabbye M. Chavous,et al.  Racial Ideology and Racial Centrality as Predictors of African American College Students' Academic Performance , 1998 .

[6]  Scott E. Maxwell,et al.  Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data: A Model Comparison Perspective , 1990 .

[7]  Nancy K. Schlossberg,et al.  Marginality and mattering: Key issues in building community , 1989 .

[8]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[9]  Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius,et al.  The Validation of the Cultural Congruity Scale and the University Environment Scale with Chicano/a Students , 1996 .

[10]  S. Kurpius,et al.  African American Students' Persistence at a Predominantly White University: Influences of Social Support, University Comfort, and Self-Beliefs. , 1999 .

[11]  D. J. Lee.  Society and the Adolescent Self-Image , 1969 .

[12]  T. Tracey,et al.  A comparison of white and black student academic success using noncognitive variables: A LISREL analysis , 1987 .

[13]  J. T. Austin,et al.  The Relationship of Gender and Academic Performance to Motivation: Within-Ethnic-Group Variations , 2002 .

[14]  Bambi N Burgard.  AN EXAMINATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES OF FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO CHOOSE TRADITIONAL VERSUS NONTRADITIONAL ACADEMIC MAJORS , 2003 .

[15]  J. Ancis,et al.  A Preliminary Analysis of Counseling Students' Attitudes Toward Counseling Women and Women of Color: Implications for Cultural Competency Training , 2000 .

[16]  Betsy Davis,et al.  Self-Efficacy and Hispanic College Students: Validation of the College Self-Efficacy Instrument , 1993 .

[17]  T. Daugherty,et al.  A longitudinal study of academic and social predictors of college attrition. , 1999 .

[18]  Mary E. Kite,et al.  Changing times, changing gender roles: Who do we want women and men to be? , 2001 .

[19]  L. Sax,et al.  The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2000. , 2000 .

[20]  Tamara A. Ho,et al.  Environmental, Social, and Psychological Experiences of Asian American Undergraduates: Examining Issues of Academic Persistence , 2003 .

[21]  R. Abouserie,et al.  Sources and Levels of Stress in Relation to Locus of Control and Self Esteem in University Students , 1994 .

[22]  R. A. Bailey.  Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data: a Model Comparison Perspective, 2nd edn , 2005 .

[23]  S. McCabe,et al.  Ecstasy use among college undergraduates: gender, race and sexual identity. , 2003, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[24]  A. Gloria,et al.  Influences of self-beliefs, social support, and comfort in the university environment on the academic nonpersistence decisions of American Indian undergraduates. , 2001, Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology.

[25]  Catherine A. Taylor,et al.  Mentoring College-Age Women: A Relational Approach , 2002, American journal of community psychology.

[26]  Effectiveness.  Common Data Set , 1999 .

[27]  K. Kanoy.  Predicting College Success of Freshmen Using Traditional, Cognitive, and Psychological Measures. , 1989 .

[28]  M. Rosenberg.  Society and the adolescent self-image , 1966 .

[29]  Paul A. Gore,et al.  Discriminant and Predictive Validity of Academic Self-Concept, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Mathematics-Specific Self-Efficacy. , 1997 .

[30]  K. Sher.  The course of psychological distress in college: A prospective high-risk study. , 1996 .

[31]  M. Glachan,et al.  An Evaluation of Factors Influencing the Academic Self-concept, Self-esteem and Academic Stress for Direct and Re-entry Students in Higher Education , 2001 .

[32]  Nancy K. Schlossberg,et al.  Improving Higher Education Environments for Adults: Responsive Programs and Services from Entry to Departure , 1989 .