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Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

College student persistence continues to be a vexing problem for colleges and universities. In Rethinking College Student Persistence (2014), Braxton, Doyle, Hartley, Hirshy, Jones, and McLendon explored the indirect role between cultural capital and first-year student persistence. The significance of this role becomes more important when one considers the impact first-year persistence has on the likelihood of graduation. The current article begins with an exploration of the indirect role of cultural capital in the persistence of first-year students, then shifts focus to examining currently-implemented practices and procedures at colleges and universities that are explicitly or implicitly designed to facilitate the development of cultural capital. These practices are recommended for institutions seeking to increase first-year persistence, especially primarily residential institutions.

Author(s)

Matthew S. Sinclair, M.Ed., is area coordinator for Warren and Moore College Halls Office of Housing and Residential Education, at Vanderbilt University.

Natalee M. Erb, M.Ed., is program coordinator for student initiatives, Office of the Dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, at Vanderbilt University.

John M. Braxton, Ed.D., has two major programs of research. One program centers on the study of college and university faculty members. Faculty scholarly role performance and the normative structures of undergraduate college teaching and research are the primary foci of this particular program of research. His other program of research focuses on the college student experience in general and the college student departure process in particular. Within this program of research, Professor Braxton conducts research on college student departure, assesses current theory on college student departure, and constructs and tests theory on this phenomenon. Professor Braxton has published over 110 publications in the form of articles in refereed journals, books, and book chapters. Of his books, 5 are full-length co-authored and 12 are edited books. His full-length books include Rethinking College Student Retention (with William Doyle, Harold Hartley, Amy Hirschy, Willis Jones, and Michael McLendon), Professors Behaving Badly (with Eve Proper and Alan Bayer), Faculty Misconduct in Collegiate Teaching (with Alan Bayer), and Institutionalizing a Broader View of Scholarship Through Boyer’s Four Domains (with William Luckey and Patricia Helland). Braxton is a recipient of the Research Achievement Award bestowed by the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the Contribution to Knowledge Award given by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA)–College Student Educators International. Both awards are for outstanding contributions to knowledge that advance the understanding of higher education. Professor Braxton served as the ninth editor of theJournal of College Student Development for 7 years, from 2008 to 2015. He currently serves as an associate editor for Higher Education: A Handbook of Theory and Research. He is also a past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

References

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Braxton, J.M., Hartley, H.W., and Lyen-Segosebe, D. 2015. Students at risk in residential and commuter colleges and universities. In Handbook on Strategic Enrollment Management, edited by D. Hossler and B. Bontrager. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Braxton J., Doyle, W., Hartley, H., Hirschy, A., Jones, W., and McLendon, M. 2014. Rethinking College Student Retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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