“Can I really do this?”: Understanding the experiences and choice to persist of underrepresented conditionally admitted first-year college students
Date
2021-08Author
Engelman, Sophia A.
Publisher
“Can I really do this?”: Understanding the experiences and choice to persist of underrepresented conditionally admitted first-year college students
Advisor(s)
Vianden, Jorg
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Research lacks insight into how the transition to college affects conditionally admitted
college students and what may influence their stress levels, academic performance, or
persistence rates. The purpose of this phenomenological study with nine conditionally
admitted students to a Midwestern small private Christian university was to explore and
understand the lived experiences of college students who are conditionally admitted to
their institution and how this status may influence their perceptions of their success.
Specifically, this study focused on first-generation, low socioeconomic (SES), and Black,
Indigenous, students of color who represent a disproportionately high percentage of
conditionally admitted students across the country (Heaney & Fisher, 2014). The essence
of conditional admission was summarized into five components e.g., skill building,
confusion with admission status, stressors influencing transition, and relationship
building. Connecting the discussion to empirical and theoretical literature, this research
suggests providing clear and consistent communication about the conditional admission
status may minimize CA students' confusion and stress levels, focus on out-of-classroom
validation is critical for creating inclusive limits, and early and positive rhetoric related to
conditional admission can increase positively related to this status.
Subject
College students
Education, Higher