A latent class analysis approach to the identification of doctoral students at risk of attrition

被引:3
作者
Stevens, Samantha M. [1 ]
Ruberton, Peter M. [1 ]
Smyth, Joshua M. [2 ]
Cohen, Geoffrey L. [3 ,4 ]
Greenaway, Valerie Purdie [5 ]
Cook, Jonathan E. [1 ]
机构
[1] Penn State Univ, Dept Psychol, University Pk, PA 16801 USA
[2] Penn State Univ, Dept Biobehav Hlth, University Pk, PA USA
[3] Stanford Univ, Dept Psychol, Stanford, CA USA
[4] Stanford Univ, Grad Sch Educ, Stanford, CA USA
[5] Columbia Univ, Dept Psychol, New York, NY USA
来源
PLOS ONE | 2023年 / 18卷 / 01期
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE; SELF-EFFICACY; IDENTITY; ACHIEVEMENT; AFFIRMATION; EDUCATION; VALIDATION; PREDICTORS; ENGAGEMENT; PSYCHOLOGY;
D O I
10.1371/journal.pone.0280325
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
To advance understanding of doctoral student experiences and the high attrition rates among Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) doctoral students, we developed and examined the psychological profiles of different types of doctoral students. We used latent class analysis on self-reported psychological data relevant to psychological threat from 1,081 incoming doctoral students across three universities and found that the best-fitting model delineated four threat classes: Lowest Threat, Nonchalant, Engaged/Worried, and Highest Threat. These classes were associated with characteristics measured at the beginning of students' first semester of graduate school that may influence attrition risk, including differences in academic preparation (e.g., amount of research experience), self-evaluations and perceived fit (e.g., sense of belonging), attitudes towards graduate school and academia (e.g., strength of motivation), and interpersonal relations (e.g., perceived social support). Lowest Threat students tended to report the most positive characteristics and Highest Threat students the most negative characteristics, whereas the results for Nonchalant and Engaged/Worried students were more mixed. Ultimately, we suggest that Engaged/Worried and Highest Threat students are at relatively high risk of attrition. Moreover, the demographic distributions of profiles differed, with members of groups more likely to face social identity threat (e.g., women) being overrepresented in a higher threat profile (i.e., Engaged/Worried students) and underrepresented in lower threat profiles (i.e., Lowest Threat and Nonchalant students). We conclude that doctoral students meaningfully vary in their psychological threat at the beginning of graduate study and suggest that these differences may portend divergent outcomes.
引用
收藏
页数:27
相关论文
共 80 条
[1]   Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy white women [J].
Adler, NE ;
Epel, ES ;
Castellazzo, G ;
Ickovics, JR .
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY, 2000, 19 (06) :586-592
[2]   NEW LOOK AT STATISTICAL-MODEL IDENTIFICATION [J].
AKAIKE, H .
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, 1974, AC19 (06) :716-723
[3]  
[Anonymous], SURV EARN DOCT
[4]  
[Anonymous], 1991, Anxiety Research, DOI [10.1080/08917779108248762, DOI 10.1080/08917779108248762]
[5]   When white men can't do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat [J].
Aronson, J ;
Lustina, MJ ;
Good, C ;
Keough, K ;
Steele, CM .
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 1999, 35 (01) :29-46
[6]   The relationship between organisational change and being a perpetrator of workplace bullying: A three-wave longitudinal study [J].
Baillien, Elfi ;
Griep, Yannick ;
Vander Elst, Tinne ;
De Witte, Hans .
WORK AND STRESS, 2019, 33 (03) :211-230
[7]   Robustness of Stepwise Latent Class Modeling With Continuous Distal Outcomes [J].
Bakk, Zsuzsa ;
Vermunt, Jeroen K. .
STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING-A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, 2016, 23 (01) :20-31
[8]   Theoretical, Ethical, and Policy Considerations for Conducting Social-Psychological Interventions to Close Educational Achievement Gaps [J].
Binning, Kevin R. ;
Browman, Alexander S. .
SOCIAL ISSUES AND POLICY REVIEW, 2020, 14 (01) :182-216
[9]   Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention [J].
Blackwell, Lisa S. ;
Trzesniewski, Kali H. ;
Dweck, Carol Sorich .
CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 2007, 78 (01) :246-263
[10]  
Blascovich J., 2001, Feeling and Thinking: The Role of Affect in Social Cognition, Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction, P59