IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reihed/v61y2020i6d10.1007_s11162-020-09588-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Non-cognitive Variables in Identifying Community College Students in Need of Targeted Supports

Author

Listed:
  • Loris P Fagioli

    (Irvine Valley College)

  • Rachel Baker

    (University of California, Irvine)

  • Gabe Avakian Orona

    (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract

Non-academic characteristics and traits, such as academic self-efficacy and conscientiousness, have maintained the interest of higher education researchers for decades. A considerable amount of research has found that these non-cognitive variables (NCVs) are generally predictive of undergraduate success. However, most prior studies have focused on the use of NCVs in 4-year colleges, and understanding if and how these measures predict the academic trajectories of community college students has received less attention. As past work has indicated that NCVs are differentially predictive for students from different backgrounds, such an examination is needed. Drawing on data from two diverse community colleges, our study addresses this need by exploring if seven popular NCVs predict both short and longer-term student outcomes, how these measures are related to help-seeking behaviors, and their utility in identifying students at risk of serious academic failures. We find statistically significant relationships between NCVs and GPA outcomes but conclude that their practical utility appears trivial.

Suggested Citation

  • Loris P Fagioli & Rachel Baker & Gabe Avakian Orona, 2020. "The Role of Non-cognitive Variables in Identifying Community College Students in Need of Targeted Supports," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(6), pages 725-763, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:61:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s11162-020-09588-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-020-09588-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11162-020-09588-7
    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/s11162-020-09588-7?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. Kevin Fosnacht & Keeley Copridge & Shimon A. Sarraf, 2019. "How Valid is Grit in the Postsecondary Context? A Construct and Concurrent Validity Analysis," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(6), pages 803-822, September.
    2. Regina Deil-Amen, 2011. "Socio-Academic Integrative Moments: Rethinking Academic and Social Integration among Two-Year College Students in Career-Related Programs," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(1), pages 54-91, January.
    3. Martin D. Dooley & A. Abigail Payne & A. Leslie Robb, 2012. "Persistence and Academic Success in University," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 38(3), pages 315-339, September.
    4. Shelly Lundberg, 2013. "The College Type: Personality and Educational Inequality," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(3), pages 421-441.
    5. John Bound & Michael F. Lovenheim & Sarah Turner, 2010. "Why Have College Completion Rates Declined? An Analysis of Changing Student Preparation and Collegiate Resources," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 129-157, July.
    6. Eric P. Bettinger & Brent J. Evans & Devin G. Pope, 2013. "Improving College Performance and Retention the Easy Way: Unpacking the ACT Exam," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 26-52, May.
    7. Jonathan Smith & Kevin Stange, 2016. "A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 11(4), pages 369-403, Fall.
    8. Beattie, Graham & Laliberté, Jean-William P. & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2018. "Thrivers and divers: Using non-academic measures to predict college success and failure," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 170-182.
    9. George D. Kuh & Ty M. Cruce & Rick Shoup & Jillian Kinzie & Robert M. Gonyea, 2008. "Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement on First-Year College Grades and Persistence," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(5), pages 540-563, September.
    10. Claire Tyler, 2016. "The role of non-cognitive and cognitive skills in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of 'top job' status," DoQSS Working Papers 16-03, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    11. Brad Hodge & Brad Wright & Pauleen Bennett, 2018. "The Role of Grit in Determining Engagement and Academic Outcomes for University Students," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 448-460, June.
    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. Jill Denner & Susan Potter & Pamela Anderson & David Torres, 2023. "What Predicts the Momentum of Information and Communications Technologies Students in Community College?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(5), pages 623-653, August.

    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. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "The determinants of university dropout: A review of the socio-economic literature," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Beattie, Graham & Laliberté, Jean-William P. & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2018. "Thrivers and divers: Using non-academic measures to predict college success and failure," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 170-182.
    3. Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, "undated". "Access to Four-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion," Working Paper 175226, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    4. Saltiel, Fernando, 2020. "Gritting it out: The importance of non-cognitive skills in academic mismatch," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Edwards, Rebecca & Gibson, Rachael & Harmon, Colm & Schurer, Stefanie, 2022. "First-in-their-family students at university: Can non-cognitive skills compensate for social origin?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Valerie Bostwick & Stefanie Fischer & Matthew Lang, 2022. "Semesters or Quarters? The Effect of the Academic Calendar on Postsecondary Student Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 40-80, February.
    7. Hsun-Yu Chan & Xueli Wang, 2018. "Momentum Through Course-Completion Patterns Among 2-Year College Students Beginning in STEM: Variations and Contributing Factors," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(6), pages 704-743, September.
    8. Silva, Pedro Luís & Sá, Carla & Biscaia, Ricardo & Teixeira, Pedro N., 2022. "High School and Exam Scores: Does Their Predictive Validity for Academic Performance Vary with Programme Selectivity?," IZA Discussion Papers 15350, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Carmen Aina & Chiara Mussida & Gabriele Lombardi, 2023. "Are Business and Economics Alike?," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 557-585, July.
    10. Hinrichs, Peter, 2014. "Affirmative action bans and college graduation rates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 43-52.
    11. Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, 2017. "Access to 4-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(3), pages 829-867.
    12. Pedro Luis Silva, 2024. "Specialists or All-Rounders: How Best to Select University Students?," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 227-271.
    13. Nick Huntington-Klein & Andrew Gill, 2021. "Semester Course Load and Student Performance," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(5), pages 623-650, August.
    14. Daniel A. Collier & Dan Fitzpatrick & Chelsea Brehm & Keith Hearit & Andrea Beach, 2020. "Structuring First-Year Retention at a Regional Public Institution: Validating and Refining the Structure of Bowman’s SEM Analysis," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(8), pages 917-942, December.
    15. Goodman, Joshua & Hurwitz, Michael & Smith, Jonathan, 2015. "College Access, Initial College Choice and Degree Completion," Working Paper Series rwp14-030, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    16. Lelys Dinarte-Diaz & Maria Marta Ferreyra & Tatiana Melguizo & Angelica Sanchez, 2023. "The Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10262, CESifo.
    17. Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Franco Hernandez,Andrea & Melguizo,Tatiana & Sanchez Diaz,Angelica Maria, 2020. "Estimating the Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9424, The World Bank.
    18. Pugatch, Todd & Wilson, Nicholas, 2018. "Nudging study habits: A field experiment on peer tutoring in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 151-161.
    19. Black, Sandra E. & Lincove, Jane & Cullinane, Jennifer & Veron, Rachel, 2015. "Can you leave high school behind?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 52-63.
    20. Nicholas A. Wright & Puneet Arora & Jesse Wright, 2024. "I Promise to Work Hard: The Impact of a Non-Binding Commitment Pledge on Academic Performance," Working Papers 2411, Florida International University, Department of Economics.

    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:61:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s11162-020-09588-7. 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.