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In STEM education, many 4-year colleges and universities now get most of their students from community colleges. Students who transfer from community colleges, especially those who are underrepresented, often face problems, such as deciding whether or not to transfer, getting academic and non-academic support during the transfer, and finding a job. Also, program advisors at both 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities face problems because they need to know how their students make transfer decisions and how to help them be successful post-transfer. A data-driven and survey-based study will help establish a solid understanding of the underlying elements contributing to these challenges. In this paper, the researchers first conduct a literature review to identify the critical personal and academic factors that influence the transfer decision, particularly for students from traditionally disadvantaged groups. Secondly, an exploratory analysis of these factors was performed by inviting a small group of computing major students from both community colleges and universities to participate in a survey that includes a wide range of questions, from demographics and pre-transfer decisions to post-transfer performance. The preliminary findings indicated that financial challenges, university reputation, university location, job prospects, and family expectations are the primary factors influencing student transfer decisions. The findings of the study can be beneficial to underrepresented transfer students, their advisors, and other stakeholders in higher education.
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Thriving or Simply Surviving? A Qualitative Exploration of STEM Community College Students’ Transition to a Four-Year University
Community colleges expand access to higher education and play a key role in efforts to increase and diversify the future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. While community colleges increase access to higher education and millions of students attend them for some portion of their education, the experiences of transfer students remain relatively understudied. Transferring during an academic journey can compound the barriers that students already face when pursuing a STEM degree. This study uses Schlossberg’s model for analyzing human adaptation to transition to understand how STEM community college transfer students navigate and adapt to the 4-year university. Five semistructured focus groups were conducted with STEM community college transfer students attending an urban university. Analysis of the focus groups resulted in a new model: the amended model of adaptation to transfer transition, or AMATT, which illustrates various factors that played a role in STEM community college transfer students’ adaptation a university. Analyses illumined two broad pathways that students tend to diverge into during their transitions—thriving or simply surviving. This work provides a framework for understanding factors influencing the transfer process and ideally will inform institutions and students as they consider maximal transfer student success.
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- PAR ID:
- 10402301
- Editor(s):
- Vemu, Sheela
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- CBE—Life Sciences Education
- Volume:
- 21
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1931-7913
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-09-0261
