Leadership Studies Ed.D. Dissertations

Examining the impact of a pre-matriculation social belonging intervention on the academic achievement of incoming first-time, full-time college students

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Judy Jackson May (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Hee Soon Lee (Other)

Third Advisor

Patrick Pauken (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Julia Matuga (Committee Member)

Fifth Advisor

Charlene Alexander (Committee Member)

Abstract

The current study examined the impact of a pre-matriculation social belonging intervention on the academic achievement of incoming first-time, full-time college students at a four-year public university in the Midwestern United States utilizing a secondary analysis of existing data. The theoretical framework was viewed through the lens of Bandura’s (1997) Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) which focused on social and cognitive abilities with an emphasis on social influences, self-efficacy, and motivation. Bandura’s (1986) Triadic Reciprocal Determinism Model undergirded the study as the conceptual framework and captured learning as (a) behavioral, (b) personal, and (c) environmental. The secondary analysis of existing data included College Transition Collaborative (CTC) pre-matriculation social belonging intervention data, student demographic and achievement data. Given the large dataset and variability in data, the final sample population (N = 2,138) was collapsed and randomly equalized based on the treatment condition (standard, customized, and CTC control) and no-treatment control groups to create a unique custom secondary analysis of existing data to analyze the research questions. Additionally, race and ethnicity data were collapsed into White and non-White student groups. Factorial analysis of covariance (factorial ANCOVA) was used to examine if there were statistically significant main effects or individual impact of each independent variable (race and ethnicity, gender and CTC Intervention) on the dependent variable (first-year cumulative GPA). Additionally, the researcher examined if there was a statistically significant two-and three-way interaction effect or influence of the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variable. Overall, the results of the current study suggested that students who participated in the CTC pre-matriculation social belonging intervention saw a positive difference in first year cumulative GPA compared to students who did not participate in the intervention. The current study and related results are important for higher education institutions to explore the role of social belonging and belonging interventions on campus and leverage interventions to improve social and academic outcomes for students, particularly, non-White student groups.

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