ERIC Number: EJ1250021
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-1546
EISSN: N/A
College-Going Trajectories across Early Adulthood: An Inquiry Using Sequence Analysis
Journal of Higher Education, v91 n3 p402-432 2020
Though the diversification of pathways through higher education is widely recognized, little is known about longer-term patterns of undergraduate participation and attainment. I used sequence analysis to examine college-going across early and middle adulthood in nationally-representative data. Clustering of sequence data revealed four latent groups of college-goers: "marginal students," "rapid completers," "lifelong students," and "delayed completers." Rapid completers cleaved closest to "normal" college attendance, though even among this group non-standard practices were evident. I also examined how employment, marital, and parental transitions vary among these clusters. Rapid completers were most distinctive, and had the most uniform employment and family trajectories. Other clusters had trajectories that were less uniform and involved earlier transitions than rapid completers, but were more uniform and had later transitions than those who never attended college. Findings support the contention that non-standard pathways through higher education are a mechanism for the reproduction of inequality among college-goers.
Descriptors: Nontraditional Students, Undergraduate Students, College Attendance, Time to Degree, Lifelong Learning, Educational Attainment, Young Adults, Equal Education, Employment, Marriage, Parents, Family Relationship, Longitudinal Studies, National Surveys, Enrollment Trends, Socioeconomic Status, Student Responsibility, Income
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A