Hispanic Students' Sense of Control in Relation to Postsecondary Outcomes: A Generalized Structural Equation Modeling Approach

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority population attending U.S. colleges and universities, having gone from 728,000 in 1993 to 2.2 million in 2013—a 201% increase over 10 years. Despite this rapid growth, however, Hispanics’ bachelor degree attainment lags behind other groups (Fry, 2004). Research has shown that students believe there are internal or external reasons for their academic successes and failures (Graham, 1997). Believing that academic success is within one’s control (i.e., possessing high internal locus of control beliefs) has been associated with positive academic outcomes, including exerting more effort in challenging academic settings (Perry, Hladkyj, & Pekrun, 2001). Thus, Hispanic students’ capability to enroll in—and persist through—college in the face of personal, academic, and financial challenges is likely predicated on their belief that they are in control of their academic futures. If they do not believe they are in control, they cannot be expected to persist in post-secondary settings. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of literature when it comes to examining the relationship between Hispanic students’ beliefs about their locus of control and subsequent post-secondary outcomes.

I utilize the Study of Deeper Learning (SDL) data to fill this important gap in the literature and examine the relationship between Hispanic students’ beliefs regarding locus of control and their persistence relative to post-secondary outcomes using a Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) Approach. I present preliminary results to the following research questions:

Research Questions, Hypotheses
• What is the direct relationship between Hispanic students’ locus of control and post-secondary outcomes, after controlling for their school’s support for post-secondary life and academic engagement?
• What is the relationship between Hispanic students’ locus of control as mediated by their self-efficacy, perseverance, self-management (e.g., time management), and previous academic achievement, after controlling for their school’s support for post-secondary life and academic engagement?

Author

• Stephen J. Aguilar, University of Southern California