Date of Award
1-1-2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
Morgridge College of Education, Higher Education
First Advisor
Franklin A. Tuitt, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Lyndsay J. Agans
Third Advisor
Lynn Gangone
Fourth Advisor
Susan Manning
Keywords
Critical race feminism, Grounded theory, Nontraditional students, Persistence
Abstract
While women maintain a numerical majority in undergraduate college enrollments and degrees earned, they also represent the numerical majority among students over 29 years old, students of color, students who are in the lowest income category, students who are single parents, and students who attend college part-time (Peter & Horn, 2005; Planty, et al., 2008). The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) has identified seven characteristics that place students at risk of not completing an undergraduate degree; (a) delayed enrollment between high school and college, (b) part-time enrollment, (c) financial independence, (d) students with dependents, (e) students who are single parents, (f) students who work full-time while enrolled, and (g) students who completed a GED as opposed to earning a high school diploma (Choy, 2002; Dickerson & Stiefer, 2006; Horn & Premo, 1995). The above characteristics overlap with the categories where women have a numerical majority, thereby placing women in greater jeopardy of not completing a bachelor's degree.
A review of the existing persistence literature demonstrates a lack of research devoted to understanding the persistence experiences, challenges, strategies, and decisions of nontraditional undergraduate in favor of the "traditional" undergraduate student (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Reason 2003). For this doctoral dissertation, I have based the research on a critical race feminist framework, informed by my experience working with the population of nontraditional undergraduate women at a women's college and employed a critique of the persistence literature as sensitizing concepts. Using a modified grounded theory research design, I collected and analyzed data which led to the development of a grounded theory of nontraditional undergraduate women's persistence. The emergent concepts of commitment, environment, and support interact in a theory of academic momentum and I offer a critical race feminist reading of the findings and theory to expose race neutrality, honor the voices of women of color, and deconstruct the evidence presented. The implications of this research include student, institutional, and inclusive excellence approaches to increasing the persistence of nontraditional undergraduate women and contribute to the success of this unique population of learners.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Danielle Ferioli Sulick
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
283 p.
Recommended Citation
Sulick, Danielle Ferioli, "Persisting to Graduation: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Nontraditional Undergraduate Women's Enrollment" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 935.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/935
Copyright date
2011
Discipline
Higher Education