A Focal Examination of Integration, Commitment, and Academic Performance: Three Subsystems from the Integrated Model of Student Persistence with Sociostructural Background Variable Effects.

An examination of three focal subsystems regarding the integrated model of student persistence (Sandler, 1999) is made. Of the 23 variables in the nonrecursive structural model investigated, the explained variance of five endogenous variables, academic integration (18%), social integration (27%), institutional commitment (39%), cumulative GPA (11%), and goal commitment (12%) are examined. The effects of financial satisfaction and goal commitment on the integration subsystem are new to the persistence literature. As a response to the problem of adult student retention at two-year and four-year urban colleges, a new structural model entitled "Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Perceived Stress, and an Integrated Model of Student Persistence" has been identified to better explain the integration, finances, behavior, and career development of nontraditional students (Sandler, 1999). Five endogenous variables at the heart of the model are examined in this paper and draw upon three theoretical subsystems of path linkages that elucidate the decision-making challenges first conceptualized by Tinto (1975;1987; 1993) and that adults confront in a student-learner context. The complete structural model investigated includes 23 variables. As a focal examination for this paper, three particular subsystems at the core of the integrated model of student persistence are explored (Sandler, 1999). The cross-sectional survey research reported in this paper investigates critical constructs. Five endogenous variables are embedded in an environmental and social cognitive framework of student decision-making and social adaptation that lead to persistence. It includes the academic and social feelings adult students' experience in being a part of the enterprise of learning in college, as one subsystem. The relationships engendered between this variable subsystem and the commitments of personal goal and the institution, a second variable subsystem, are examined. With these two subsystems operative, the capacity for academic performance by adult students, a third subsystem, is evaluated within a larger structural matrix of social cognitive learning and persistence that the model encompasses. The triadic reciprocal causation axiom of Bandura (1986; 1997) is dynamically considered within the three subsystems presented. The reviews of the literature and metanalyses of Kasworm (1990) and Braxton et al. (1997) are theoretically interwoven with the specification of the hypothetical model and subsequent findings. In addition, eleven exogenous variables are included and observed. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RELATED LITERATURE The integrated model of student retention of Cabrera et al. (1993) was in turn modified in this research investigation to include new constructs germane to nontraditional students. Careful attention was given in the development of a new model to: 1) the five perceptual "domains of reality" of Kasworm (1990) that provided a qualitative and conceptual summary regarding the diverse research conducted prior to 1990 about nontraditional students, 2) the empirical investigation of Kasworm and Pike (1994) that challenged the appropriateness of the inclusion of academic performance in a traditional model of student satisfaction, 3) the meta-analysis of Braxton et al. (1997) that evaluated a compendium of research related to the theory of student departure of Tinto (1975; 1987; 1993), 4) the review of the literature compiled by Baker and Velez (1996) that examined an evolution of critical socioeconomic considerations affecting students, and 5) new evidence provided by the Department of Education report, "Answers in the Toolbox" (Adelman, 1999) that dovetail with an array of conclusions that Baker and Velez (1996) entertained and with the sociodemographic findings of this research investigation. Self-Efficacy and the Theory of Planned Behavior -A Conceptual Bridge for Model Integration Two complementary attitudinal frameworks act as a conceptual overlay or bridge for model integration. With a new explanation of adult adjustment conceptual variables are theoretically incorporated and related in a structural model by means of the social cognitive theories of selfefficacy and planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Bandura & Cervone, 1983, Bandura, 1997). As an enriched social cognitive framework, the availability of resources is considered to be a critical component in the theory of planned behavior and is shown to be of importance to endogenous variables of the model and the principal target behavior in question, persistence. The deployment of the theory of planned behavior is similarly adapted as the theory of reasoned action of Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) was conceptually integrated by Bean and Metzner (1985) in a conceptual examination of nontraditional student attrition. Career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE), a career planning and development construct was included to permit a richer explanation of the planned decisions that adults develop regarding their vocational futures while continuing their studies for an undergraduate degree (Taylor & Betz, 1983; Betz, Klein & Taylor, 1996; Peterson, 1993a). Most importantly, the effects of three nuclear subsystems, one of integration, a second of commitments (Tinto, 1975; 1987; 1993), and a third of academic performance are centrally examined in this paper. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Perceived Stress, and an Integrated Model of Student Persistence: An Examination of Three Focal Subsystems of Hypothetical Linkages Involving Integration, Commitment, and Performance from a Structural Model By elaborating the integrated model of student retention of Cabrera et al. (1993) with the constructs of CDMSE, perceived stress, and financial attitudes/difficulty, an attempt is made to better explain the variance observed regarding three central variable subsystems within a structural model as follows: integration, commitment, and performance. The impact of the constituent variables of the resource subsystem that includes perceived stress, and the effects of other endogenous variables on the innermost and fundamental subsystems of integration, commitment, and academic performance within the model are focally examined in this paper. The integration subsystem is composed of the endogenous variables of academic integration and social integration and the path effects measured within the structural model presented, as derived from Tinto (1975; 1987; 1993) and subsequently conceptualized by Cabrera et al. (1993) and Sandler (1999). The commitment subsystem included the endogenous variables of goal 2 5 commitment and institutional commitment and bears antecedent reference to Tinto (1975; 1987; 1993), and to a degree to Bean and Metzner (1985), as conceptualized and measured by Cabrera et al. (1993) and Sandler (1999). The performance subsystem is composed of the single endogenous variable, academic performance, defined as cumulative GPA (Bean & Metzner, 1985) to whom Kasworm and Pike (1994) express concern regarding its deployment with nontraditional populations. Other critical exogenous variable parameters with sociodemographic import are structurally integrated and observed. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Population and Sample The population for this research investigation was composed of adult undergraduate students 24 years of age or older studying in a two year and four year degree bearing program for adult students. A survey questionnaire was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 937 adult students enrolled. After a 63 percent survey response and listwise deletion, the sample for data analysis comprised 469 adult students. From these data sources, a total of 23 variables were included in this research study. Degree program, one exogenous variable, differentiates between two-year and four-year degree programs and serves as a control. Instrumentation Two instruments were integrated and adapted for the sample being examined: the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Short Form (CDMSE-SF) scale (Betz, Klein & Taylor, 1996; Betz & Taylor, 1994; Taylor & Betz, 1983) and the "Student Experiences Survey" (Cabrera, 1988) employed in "integrated model of student retention" (Cabrera et al., 1993) (instruments used by permission). As an amalgam of these two instruments, a single survey questionnaire, the Adult Student Experiences Survey (ASES) was administered to collect attitudinal data and self-reported background characteristics. As tested, the reliability of scales employed in large part matched or surpassed the levels reported by their respective developers. Variables in the Study The predictor endogenous (independent) variables included: career decision-making selfefficacy (CDMSE), family encouragement, perceived stress, financial attitudes/satisfaction, financial attitudes/difficulty, academic integration, social integration, cumulative GPA (Grade Point Average), institutional commitment, goal commitment and intent to persist. The exogenous variables of the model included eleven variables that pertained to student background: gender, race/ethnic affiliation, household income, relatives/dependents, financial aid, parents' educational level, academic degree aspirations, student type, degree program, curriculum hours