IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reihed/v57y2016i7d10.1007_s11162-016-9409-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Happens (Outside of College): Non-College Life-Events and Students’ Likelihood of Graduation

Author

Listed:
  • Bradley E. Cox

    (Florida State University)

  • Robert D. Reason

    (Iowa State University)

  • Samantha Nix

    (Florida State University)

  • Megan Gillman

    (Florida State University)

Abstract

Students’ lives outside of college can have dramatic effects on academic outcomes (e.g., grades, persistence, graduation). However, the manner in which students’ lives outside of college are referenced in college-effects models suggests some uncertainty among scholars as to which, and how, student experiences outside of an institution affect college student outcomes. Using longitudinal data from a racially diverse sample of 3914 students (997 White, 1051 Black, 915 Hispanic, and 951 Asian) attending 28 institutions, this study employs logistic regression models to examine relationships between three types of non-college life-events and students’ likelihood of graduation. Specifically, we examine the impact of financial disruptions, grieving a friend’s or family member’s death, and other family situations that likely cause psychological distress for students. Results suggest that major life-events are both common (i.e., affecting over 52 % of students) and consequential (i.e., negatively affecting graduation rates), thus warranting increased attention from researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradley E. Cox & Robert D. Reason & Samantha Nix & Megan Gillman, 2016. "Life Happens (Outside of College): Non-College Life-Events and Students’ Likelihood of Graduation," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(7), pages 823-844, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:57:y:2016:i:7:d:10.1007_s11162-016-9409-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-016-9409-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11162-016-9409-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11162-016-9409-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristen A. Renn & Karen D. Arnold, 2003. "Reconceptualizing Research on College Student Peer Culture," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(3), pages 261-291, May.
    2. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Daniel R. Sherman, 1987. "Employment While in College, Academic Achievement, and Postcollege Outcomes: A Summary of Results," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 22(1), pages 1-23.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thyden, Naomi Harada & Slaughter-Acey, Jaime & Widome, Rachel & Warren, John Robert & Osypuk, Theresa L., 2023. "Family deaths in the early life course and their association with later educational attainment in a longitudinal cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tao, Hung-Lin, 2014. "Height, weight, and entry earnings of female graduates in Taiwan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 85-98.
    2. Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd R. Stinebrickner, 2003. "Working during School and Academic Performance," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 449-472, April.
    3. Andreas Behr & Katja Theune, 2016. "The causal effect of off-campus work on time to degree," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 189-209, April.
    4. Arulampalam, Wiji & Naylor, Robin A. & Smith, Jeremy, 2012. "Am I missing something? The effects of absence from class on student performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 363-375.
    5. Ehrenberg, R.G.Ronald G., 2004. "Econometric studies of higher education," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 19-37.
    6. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 735-776, October.
    7. Tjaša Bartolj & Sašo Polanec, 2018. "Does Work Harm Academic Performance of Students? Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 401-429, June.
    8. Orazem, Peter F. & Gunnarsson, Victoria., 2003. "Child labour, school attendance and academic performance : a review," ILO Working Papers 993665413402676, International Labour Organization.
    9. Kroupova, Katerina & Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana, 2024. "Student Employment and Education: A Meta-Analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    10. Glocker, Daniela, 2011. "The effect of student aid on the duration of study," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 177-190, February.
    11. Stijn Baert & Olivier Rotsaert & Dieter Verhaest & Eddy Omey, 2016. "Student Employment and Later Labour Market Success: No Evidence for Higher Employment Chances," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 401-425, August.
    12. Charlene Kalenkoski & Sabrina Pabilonia, 2010. "Parental transfers, student achievement, and the labor supply of college students," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 469-496, March.
    13. Light, Audrey, 2001. "In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, January.
    14. Christian Dustmann & Arthur Soest, 2008. "Part-time work, school success and school leaving," Studies in Empirical Economics, in: Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Stephen Machin (ed.), The Economics of Education and Training, pages 23-45, Springer.
    15. Franz Buscha & Arnaud Maurel & Lionel Page & Stefan Speckesser, 2007. "The Effect of High School Employment on Educational Attainment : A Conditional Difference-in-Differences Approach," Working Papers 2007-40, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    16. Charles L. Baum & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "The Changing Benefits of Early Work Experience," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 343-363, October.
    17. Ivana Cavar, 2018. "Characteristics of Student Employment in Croatia," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 16(1), pages 60-70.
    18. Kevin Fosnacht & Alexander C. McCormick & Rosemarie Lerma, 2018. "First-Year Students’ Time Use in College: A Latent Profile Analysis," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(7), pages 958-978, November.
    19. Hakkinen, Iida, 2006. "Working while enrolled in a university: does it pay?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 167-189, April.
    20. Victoria Gunnarsson & Peter F. Orazem & Mario A. Sánchez, 2006. "Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 31-54.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:57:y:2016:i:7:d:10.1007_s11162-016-9409-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.