The purpose of this research was to explore
non-persistence by vocational students in the College of Career
and Vocational Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
A cohort of 156 students were identified and tracked from fall
1989 through spring 1992.
In the first part of the study, using the University of Alaska
Anchorage Institutional Research data base, demographic
characteristics of the cohort, their patterns of enrollment and
performance were identified. In the second part of the study, a
sample of 12 non-persisters within the cohort were interviewed
to learn about their motives for enrolling in postsecondary
vocational education, factors contributing to their withdrawal
and their perceptions regarding the quality of their educational
experiences.
Traditional-age (19 and under) students were the dominant
age group, representing 46 percent of the cohort. Eighty percent
of the students within the cohort were full-time students taking
12 or more credits. Over half (55 percent) of the students were
"early-leavers" who discontinued their education at some point
within the first year of the study. The graduation rate for the
cohort was 3.8 percent and, at the conclusion of the study,
7.1 percent of the original cohort had maintained continuous
enrollment, however, if students attending in stop-and-go
patterns were included, 14.7 percent were still persisting.
Implications for further study revealed by the interviews of
"early-leavers" (i.e., students who did not persist beyond the first
or second semesters of the study) included the following
questions:
1. What retention strategies, policies and procedures
can be implemented to encourage persistence of
vocational students beyond the first or second
semester?
2. How can the University of Alaska Anchorage assist
students with their career development and
decision-making?
3. How can the University of Alaska Anchorage encourage
the persistence of commuter students? / Graduation date: 1995
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35240 |
| Date | 22 July 1994 |
| Creators | Vinson, Julia Flory |
| Contributors | Suzuki, Warren N. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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