Study Abroad Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-Degree

252 Pages·2017·1.15 MB·English

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations,
Educational Administration, Department of
and Student Research
4-2011
Go Abroad and Graduate On-Time: Study Abroad
Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-
Degree
Heather Barclay Hamir
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]
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Go Abroad and Graduate On-Time:
Study Abroad Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-Degree

by

Heather Barclay Hamir

A DISSERTATION

Presented to the Faculty of
The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska
In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements
For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Educational Studies
(Educational Leadership and Higher Education)

Under the Supervision of Professor Larry Dlugosh

Lincoln, Nebraska
April, 2011
Go Abroad and Graduate On-Time:
Study Abroad Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-Degree

Heather Barclay Hamir, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska, 2011

Adviser: Larry L. Dlugosh
Over the last four decades, participation in postsecondary education has grown,
yet degree completion rates have not risen at a proportional rate (Bound, Lovenheim &
Turner, 2009; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2008; Turner, 2004) and the
length of time to graduation is increasing (Tinto, 1993; Turner). At the same time, the
benefits of degree completion for the individual and society are well documented
(McMahon, 2009). Significant research since the 1970s explored factors related to
student retention and attrition in an effort to understand and intervene in these processes.
Building on Astin’s (1984) Theory of Student Involvement, Kuh and associates (2005)
investigated practices and activities employed by institutions to promote student
engagement using degree completion as a measure of institutional success. Study abroad
is among these practices.
Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined degree completion rates
and time-to-degree for the 2002 entering cohort of first-time-in-college freshmen at The
University of Texas at Austin (7,845 individuals). Rates were compared for three groups
of students: students who had participated in a study abroad program (participants),
students who applied but did not participate (applicants), and students who did not apply
to participate or study abroad (non-participants). Applicants were included to
approximate the motivational factors which may distinguish study abroad participants
from non-participants.
Results indicated that study abroad participants graduated at higher rates than
either applicants or non-participants, and that participation increased the predicted
probability of graduating in five years by 64% and in six years by 202%. In addition,
time-to-degree was slightly shorter for participants when compared to all non-
participants, although the effect size was small. No significant difference existed in the
predicted time-to-degree of participants and non-participants. Analyses of degree
completion rates and differences in time-to-degree between participants based on
program type, length, and classification at the time of participation also yielded multiple
significant results. Interviews with alumni from this cohort provided greater insight into
factors which influence or inhibit study abroad participation at the university.
Copyright 2011, Heather Barclay Hamir
Acknowledgement
Many individuals have offered support, encouragement, and advice throughout
the nine year journey of this Ph.D. program, particularly over the last 18 months while I
wrote my dissertation. I owe the completion of this degree to three people in particular:
my husband, Zubair, who encouraged me to continue, and who made numerous trips to
Houston with our children, Zain and Tennyson, so that I could have marathon writing
sessions, and his parents, Almas and Amir, who welcomed them and made these
extended visits seem like we were doing them the favor. I could not have completed this
degree without such generous and caring support.
I would like to thank my advisor, Larry Dlugosh, for his patience, humor, and
enthusiasm for my topic. Our regular phone meetings were an invaluable source of
guidance and encouragement as I pursued a tight timeline to complete my research this
last year. I owe Alan Seagren, my first advisor and a member of my committee, for my
continuation in the program when other commitments made me doubt my ability to
persist. I also appreciate the thoughtful comments and feedback from Harriet Turner and
Ron Joekel, who served on my committee and whose feedback allowed me to develop a
stronger study.
In addition, I would like to thank Heather Thompson, who figured out how I
could get the dataset I needed for this research, David Mok, whose technical wizardry
actually created it, and Michael Mahometa, who provided guidance on appropriate
statistical methods and data interpretation.
i

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 -- Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
Purpose Statement ........................................................................................................... 3
Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 5
Definition of Terms ......................................................................................................... 6
Assumptions .................................................................................................................... 8
De-limitations and Limitations........................................................................................ 9
De-limitations. ............................................................................................................. 9
Limitations ................................................................................................................. 10
Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 10
Chapter 2 – Review of the Literature ................................................................................ 12
Benefits of Improved Retention and Degree Completion Rates ................................... 12
Degree Completion and Time-to-Degree ...................................................................... 14
Individual Factors that Affect Degree Completion ....................................................... 16
Academic Preparation and Performance ................................................................... 17
Gender ....................................................................................................................... 18
Race/Ethnicity ........................................................................................................... 20
Socioeconomic Status ................................................................................................ 23
Other Factors ............................................................................................................. 24
Institutional Factors that Affect Student Retention ....................................................... 25
Theoretical Foundations: From Student Departure to Student Engagement ................. 27
The Growing Emphasis on Study Abroad ..................................................................... 33
Patterns of Enrollment in Study Abroad ....................................................................... 34
Who Goes, Who Stays: Intent, Motivation, and the Decision-Making Process ........... 36
Intent to Study Abroad .............................................................................................. 37
Motivation and the Decision-Making Process........................................................... 41
The Effect of Study Abroad on Learning and Development ........................................ 45
The Effect of Study Abroad on Retention, Time-to-Degree, and Degree Completion . 49
ii
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 55
Chapter 3 -- Methodology ................................................................................................. 57
Overview ....................................................................................................................... 57
Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 58
Research Design ............................................................................................................ 59
Population and Groups .................................................................................................. 61
Data Collection and Preparation Procedures ................................................................. 63
Quantitative Data Collection and Preparation Procedures ........................................ 64
Qualitative Data Collection and Preparation Procedures .......................................... 67
Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 69
Chapter 4 – Results ........................................................................................................... 70
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 70
Describing the Participant, Applicant, and Non-Participant Groups ............................ 71
College of Admission and Graduation ...................................................................... 71
Gender and Race/Ethnicity ........................................................................................ 74
SAT Composite Score and Grade Point Average at Sophomore Standing ............... 76
Study Abroad Program Type, Length, and Classification at Participation ............... 78
Research Question 1: Study Abroad Participation and Degree Completion ................. 84
Research Question 1.a. .............................................................................................. 84
Research Question 1.b. .............................................................................................. 88
Research Question 1.c. ............................................................................................ 104
Degree completion by program type ................................................................. 1104
Degree completion by program length ............................................................... 106
Degree completion by classification at participation .......................................... 112
Summary of Research Question 1 Results .............................................................. 110
Research Question 2: Study Abroad Participation and Time-to-Degree .................... 111
Research question 2.a. ............................................................................................. 111
Research Question 2.b. ............................................................................................ 115
Research Question 2.c. ............................................................................................ 119
Time-to-degree by program type ........................................................................ 119
iii
Time-to-degree by program length ..................................................................... 121
Time-to-degree by classification at participation ............................................... 123
Summary of Research Question 2 Results .............................................................. 123
Research Question 3: Alumni Perceptions of Study Abroad ...................................... 124
Research Question 3 ................................................................................................ 124
Describing the respondent groups ....................................................................... 129
Interest in study abroad and the decision-making process .................................. 130
Benefits of participation and satisfaction with participation decision ................ 142
The effect of participation on time-to-degree ..................................................... 149
Summary of Question 3 Results .............................................................................. 151
Chapter 5 – Discussion and Recommendations .............................................................. 152
Discussion of the Population ....................................................................................... 154
Characteristics of the Three Groups ........................................................................ 154
Characteristics of Study Abroad Participants .......................................................... 156
Summary of Findings and Discussion ......................................................................... 158
Differences in Degree Completion Rates between Groups ..................................... 158
Differences in Time-to-Degree between Groups ..................................................... 164
Differences in Degree Completion and Time-to-Degree among Participants ......... 167
Program type ....................................................................................................... 168
Program length .................................................................................................... 169
Classification at participation ............................................................................. 170
Alumni Perspectives on Study Abroad .................................................................... 171
Implications of the Research ....................................................................................... 176
Recommendations for Further Research ..................................................................... 181
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 184
Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 194
Appendix A: IRB Approval Letters ................................................................................ 195
Appendix B: Informed Consent Forms ........................................................................... 203
Appendix C: Recruitment E-mail ................................................................................... 206
Appendix D: Interview Protocols and Questions ............................................................ 208
iv
Appendix E: Descriptive Statistics: Participants in Multiple Programs ......................... 213
Appendix F: Crosstabulations: Degree Completion Pairwise Comparisons by Study
Abroad Status .................................................................................................................. 216
Appendix G: Crosstabulations: Degree Completion Pairwise Comparisons by
Program Type.................................................................................................................. 223
Appendix H: Crosstabulations: Degree Completion Pairwise Comparisons by
Program Length .............................................................................................................. 226
Appendix I: Crosstabulations: Degree Completion Pairwise Comparisons by
Classification at Participation ......................................................................................... 231
Appendix J: Crosstabulations: Time-to-Degree Pairwise Comparisons by Program
Type ................................................................................................................................ 236
Appendix K: Crosstabulations: Time-to-Degree Pairwise Comparisons by Program
Length ............................................................................................................................. 238