LITERATURE REVIEW: Theories on Student Attrition :: Essays Papers

LITERATURE REVIEW Theories on Student scrape Since the early 70s theorists have pondered the causes of college dropout. Generally referred to as schoolchild attrition, this problem has spurred legion(predicate) causal theories and theoretical models. Vincent Tinto led the look for with his revolutionary 1973 study, which he subsequent revised (1987) amid criticism from other luminaries in the field, most notably Bean, Astin, Terenzini, and Pascarella. It is on the work of these scholars (including also Tinto) that all modern look in the scholarly person attrition field is based. I found and impart review in brief some of the extensive research from Tinto to the present, including the basic criticisms therein. I will further explain the steps some colleges are currently pickings to counteract this increasingly important issue. Little or no research was conducted on assimilator attrition prior to Tinto, and every piece of research I found contained several references to him and his work. Ishitani and DesJardins claim that the majority of research on the subject has been based on Tintos model (7), as does Metz in his research review (4). Metz, however, goes on to assert that Tintos main computer address was a certain Rites of Passage, by Arnold van Gennep. Focusing on the anthropological perspective of kind-hearted rites of passage, van Genneps study elucidates the basic human nature behind much of the college experience. Tinto primarily utilizes the chapter entitled Initiation Rites in his model, a chapter in which van Gennep claims that physiological pubescence and social puberty are essentially different (Gennep 65). Tinto sees the transition from high school to college as a form of this social puberty. Tinto further argues that the ichor process is marked by three distinct phases or stages, each with its own narrow down ceremonies and ritualseach serving to move individuals from youthful participation to full adu lt membership in society (Tinto 92). College, according to van Gennep and Tinto therefore, is simply part of this sociological maturation process. Tintos original theory involved five specific factors that contributed to student retention (1) a students pre-entry attributes (prior schooling and family background) (2) goals and commitment (the students individual aspirations in the institution) (3) experience at the institution (academics and dexterity and peer interactions) (4) external commitments while at the institution (5) integration two academically and socially (Metz 4).