Factors Predicting Student Athlete Retention And Attrition In Higher Education

Download or read book Factors Predicting Student-Athlete Retention and Attrition in Higher Education written by Jong Eun Lee and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 91 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there has been a growing body of research on student-athlete retention in higher education, no studies to date have conducted a meta-analysis for investigating predictors of student-athlete retention and attrition. Moreover, the results of existing literature indicate that the factors impacting collegiate athletes' retention are mixed. Since student-athletes are from various backgrounds and different types of schools (e.g., Division I, II, III schools, or community colleges), it is crucial to address a generalized and coherent evidence of numerous factors from the multiple independent studies. Toward that end, conducting a meta-analysis is necessary and critical at this stage. Meta-analysis is the most valuable and effective statistical technique to better understand the factors predicting retention for this specialized subgroup of the higher education student population because it illustrates a quantitative summarization of various factors. Furthermore, meta-analysis allows researchers to compare differences between the retention predictors within a group of collegiate student-athletes from diverse backgrounds and different institutions.A total of 85 independent effect sizes were obtained from the 30 studies on various predictors of collegiate student-athlete retention and attrition. The results of the meta-analysis indicate that personal characteristics of student-athletes, including gender and race are strong predictors of their retention and attrition. The characteristic of the institutions in which student-athletes enroll in public or private schools is also important moderators of retention. Academic variables (standardized tests, high school GPA, high school rank, college GPA, and academic integration) are found to significantly correlate with retention and attrition. When it comes to athletic variables, sport types, changing coaches, playing time, and team success are discovered as moderators. Lastly, institutional supports and services are shown to be predictors of retention and attrition.The study aims to provide school administrators, educators, policymakers, and scholars with generalized evidence for promoting student-athlete retention. The findings of this research will allow them to objectively evaluate factors, their effectiveness, and for whom and under what conditions they are effective. Ultimately, practitioners and educators will be able to implement the outcomes of this study to increase collegiate student-athletes' retention in their educational setting.