This study examined the persistence of students with a GED in four-year institutions. Qualitative research methods were employed to better understand the experiences of GED recipients relative to their progress towards baccalaureate degrees. The theoretical framework
for this study was symbolic interactionism.
Data were collected in two phases. After a pilot study, Phase I data collection consisted of two focus group interviews with three participants each from two institutions in Louisiana. For Phase II, 10 GED recipients at each university were engaged in semi-structured, in-depth interviews, photography, photo elicitation interviews, and document analysis of studentsrecords.
The data were analyzed using Lincoln and Gubas (1985) Constant Comparative Method. The themes that evolved from the data were (1) quitting is not an option, (2) I just cant go back,
(3) family influences, (4) faculty influences, (5) age, (6) math anxiety, (7) developmental
education, (8) time on task, and (9) spirituality.
Comparatively, I just cant go back was only prevalent with most of the African American males. The need to support a family was stated by more female GED recipients than males. The older GED recipients were persisting in college for more idealistic reasons, such as their desire to change the world and make it a better place. Overall, most of the GED recipients were academically integrated into the university setting, with very limited social integration.
Yet, the participants of this study provided rich evidence that GED recipients have many diverse
experiences that affect their persistence in four-year institutions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-02112004-132337 |
| Date | 12 February 2004 |
| Creators | Stubblefield, Luria Shaw |
| Contributors | Becky Ropers-Huilman, Laura Hensley, Eugene Kennedy, Faik Koray, James Wandersee |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-02112004-132337/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds