Saras, Allison
(2016)
FROM FAMILY BACKGROUND TO SOCIALIZATION TO POST GRADUATE PLANS: A CASE STUDY EXAMINING
THE MCCARL CENTER FOR NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT SUCCESS.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This case study examines the McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success at the University of Pittsburgh and studies how the socialization processes of nontraditional undergraduate students’ influences their plans, career and academic, upon graduation. Within the study, my research questions focus on how the individual attributes and family background, socialization processes (interaction, integration and learning), normative contexts (majors, peer groups and co-curriculum) and personal communities (family, friends and employers) contribute and influence a nontraditional student’s motivations and aspirations upon graduation. The conceptual framework used to structure this study was Vincent Tinto’s (1975, 1993) student integration theory and John Weidman’s (1984, 1989) socialization model. To study this particular phenomenon, I used a case study (Yin, 2013) as my methodological approach and the tool for collecting my data was phenomenological interviewing (Seidman, 2013). I conducted 19 personal interviews with nontraditional students associated with the McCarl Center at the University of Pittsburgh. After analyzing the interview data collected, I found that nontraditional students have individualized situations that influence their socialization processes on and off campus and the aspirations to continue onto graduate study is a strong and likely possibility. However, after graduation nontraditional students first want to enter the workforce before enrolling in a graduate study program to ease student debt, gain work experience or to simply take a break from higher education. In conclusion, my study has several implications on today’s nontraditional student experience, existing policy and procedures, and the setting in which this study was conducted, the McCarl Center.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Member | Bickel, William | | | | | Committee Member | DeAngelo, Linda | | | | | Committee Member | Brown, Sherry | | | | | Committee Chair | Gunzenhauser, Michael | | | | | Jacobs, Richard | | | |
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| Date: |
9 September 2016 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
18 July 2016 |
| Approval Date: |
9 September 2016 |
| Submission Date: |
2 September 2016 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
154 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Administrative and Policy Studies |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Nontraditional, veterans, graduate study, socialization, ambitions, motivations, social integration, academic integration |
| Date Deposited: |
09 Sep 2016 18:41 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 14:36 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29452 |
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