Psychosocial Adjustment and Intentions to Persist for Transfer Students in the Psychology Major at a Four-Year Urban Research Institution

1 online resource (90 pages) : PDF

2015

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

This study examined factors related to the psychosocial adjustment and intentions to persist of transfer students in the psychology major at a large urban research institution in the southeastern United States. Psychosocial adjustment was operationalized as sense of belonging at the receiving institution. A correlational design was used to explore two related research questions, based on responses from a questionnaire administered to psychology transfer students (n=39) near the end of the second semester of study. First, the extent to which experiences and preparation prior to entering the institution (transfer capital) and experiences during the first year at the institution (university experiences) were related to a sense of belonging was estimated using a multiple regression model. Next, the researcher used logistic regression to estimate the extent to which transfer capital, university experiences, and sense of belonging were related to the likelihood of strong intentions to persist and graduate with a degree from the institution. The findings indicated that transfer capital and university experiences contribute significantly to a sense of belonging, however, only university experiences was significant in increasing the odds of intentions to persist to graduation at the institution. These findings emphasize the importance of accessibility of departmental faculty and staff, and student responsibility to prepare for and participate in class during the first year after transfer as instrumental in psychosocial adjustment and in plans to continue to graduation.

doctoral dissertations

Education, Higher
Psychology

D.Ed.

Adjustment
Transfer Students

Educational Leadership

Dika, Sandra

D'Amico, Mark
Shore, Rebecca
Demakis, George

Thesis (D.Ed.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2015.

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OReilly_uncc_0694D_10900

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1357