Understanding The Relationship Between Student Identity Centrality And Academic Outcomes For College Students From Families With Low Income and Students Who Are First In Their Families to Attend College
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Authors
Sweeney, Kristin
Date
2022-08-30
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
graduation rates for students who come from families with low incomes (LI), students who are the first in their families to attend college (first generation, FG)
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF
Kristin Sweeney for the degree of Doctor of Education in Education, Learning, Leadership &
Community
Presented on July 27, 2022
Title: Understanding The Relationship Between Student Identity Centrality And Academic
Outcomes For College Students From Families With Low Income and Students Who Are First In
Their Families to Attend College
Abstract Approved:
Christie Sweeney, Ed.D., Dissertation Committee Chair
Too many students graduate high school and start and then stall in college before degree
completion. The college persistence and graduation rates for students who come from families
with low incomes (LI) and students who are the first in their families to attend college (first
generation, FG) are in stark contrast to those of their peers. The researcher’s intention in
conducting this research was to better understand and potentially improve persistence and
graduation inequities for LI and FG students. The purpose of this study was to discover the
influence of identity on persistence in college for students from LI and FG backgrounds. Past
research successfully posited that students who see themselves in college and possess a strong
identity as a college student, known as student identity centrality (Bowman & Felix, 2017), are
committed to the goal of persisting. This researcher hypothesized that there is a relationship
between first-year Keene State College students from LI and FG backgrounds with high student
identity measures and academic outcomes associated with persistence. The research design
consisted of a cross sectional collection of quantitative data from one point in time during the fall
of students’ first year in college. Using Holmes, Bowman, Murphy, and Carter’s (2019) student
identity scale instrumentation, data was collected. Statistical tests were used to compare the
identity measure against achieved academic outcomes. The research findings suggest that there is
a positive relationship between identity and academic outcomes related to persistence in college.
The results revealed that for the LI and FG students who had a high student identity centrality
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT IDENTITY CENTRALITY AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES iii
measure, they attempted and completed a higher percent of credits their first semester than their
peers with lower identity measures.