The National Center for Education Statistics reports that single mother college students are nearly three times as likely to drop out of college during their first year of study compared to single females without children. Qualitative studies on single mothers indicate that financial problems and demands of parenthood are reasons that precipitate voluntary withdrawal from college. These studies also indicate that being able to academically and socially integrate into the collegiate atmosphere increases the chance of completing a degree. Considering the various obstacles facing single mothers, it becomes important to examine why some single mothers graduate from college while others leave without degrees. Therefore, the focus of this study was to examine how potential factors impacted degree completion for single mothers. To understand the magnitude of how potential factors impacted degree completion, comparisons with married mothers were performed. Although vast amounts of higher education research have been conducted on degree completion, little attention has been given exclusively to student-mothers attending college, particularly those who are single. This study utilized data provided in the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01 – restricted level) employing logistic regression to investigate the influence of the integration process (academic integration and social integration), degree type (certificate, associate, and bachelor), and pertinent external factors (age of child, financial difficulties, and family difficulties) on degree completion for single and married mothers as separate groups. Findings revealed that the proposed model of degree completion operated similarly for single and married mothers. This study validated concepts from Tinto's (1993) model of institutional departure for single and married mothers. With the exception of having a child under the age of five, degree type, the integration process, and external factors predicted degree completion as hypothesized. Results from this study filled the gap in knowledge by becoming the first to examine factors that impacted degree completion on nationally representative samples of student-mother undergraduates. Results from this study could inform educational administrators, advocates for single mothers, and educational policy makers about the on-campus and off-campus experiences of single mothers so that better educational and advocacy decisions can be enacted. This was significant, not only for single mothers but also, for the 73% of nontraditional students attending postsecondary institutions in America. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / October 21, 2008. / Vincent Tinto, Single Mothers, Higher Education, Secondary Data Analysis / Includes bibliographical references. / Dina Wilke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Xu-Feng Niu, Outside Committee Member; Melissa Radey, Committee Member; Karen Randolph, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_180806 |
| Contributors | McLaughlin, Alicia Nicole (authoraut), Wilke, Dina (professor directing dissertation), Niu, Xu-Feng (outside committee member), Radey, Melissa (committee member), Randolph, Karen (committee member), College of Social Work (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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