DIFFERENTIAL IMPACTS OF ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCES ON COLLEGE-RELATED BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES ACROSS DIFFERENT ETHNIC AND GENDER GROUPS AT4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

The results of the study indicated that institutional experiences, aca demic achievement, and environmental pull factors contributed the most to persistence decisions. Furthermore, analyses revealed that differe nces in the effects of these factors for different ethnic and gender g roups were important in explaining persistence decisions. No precolleg e factors (educational aspirations, prior academic achievement, attitu des toward learning, and support and encouragement to attend college) were found to improve the overall fit of the models for any of the gro ups in the study. For minorities, the biggest detrimental effects on d ropout behavior were derived from pull factors in the form of family r esponsibilities and working off-campus. No significant positive effect s from informal and formal interactions with faculty, close personal r elationships with peers, and academic experiences during their first y ear in college were found to negate the large negative influences from the pull factors. For females, the most significant positive effect o n college persistence came from mentoring experiences in the form of n onclassroom interactions with faculty.