New Research on Sophomore Success

I colloborated to co-author a new research article which appears in the Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention with my colleague Dr. Shelley Price-Williams (University of Nothern Iowa). In this study led by Dr. Price-Williams, we examined the problem of student sucess in which institutional departure is an issue of sophomore persistence. A large proportion of undergraduate students (18-23) depart or stopout after their second or sophomore year. In this quanitative study, we examined sophomore college students’ self-efficacy and intent to persist in higher education using Bandura’s (1997) framework for self-efficacy and the College Self-Efficacy Inventory. Higher levels of self-efficacy were reported by participants who self-identified as heterosexual compared to participants who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning/unsure There were no significant differences were found for gender, race, and ethnicity for overall self-efficacy (Capik & Schupp, 2023). No significant differences in overall self-efficacy were found based on housing status or whether the participant was a transfer or first-generation student. These findings have implications for practice for first-year seminar, development of other student seminars, and academic and faculty relationships.

The article is available as open-access (link).