Who changes university majors and when? Patterns for first-generation college-going students

• In Event: Bridges and Barriers: Factors Shaping Students' Resilience and Persistence

Abstract

Changes in university major may lead to delayed graduation and increased dropout rates. First-generation students may face greater challenges in navigating decisions along university pathways, resulting in later and more frequent changes in major. To address this research gap, this paper compared the frequency and timing of changes in major for first-generation and continuing-generation students using a population of students at a single university (N = 24,401). First-generation students change their majors from undeclared or a different field more often than other students, and they tend to change their majors later than their peers. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Authors

• Jeffrey M. DeVries, University of California - Irvine

• Nayssan Safavian, University of California - Irvine

• Yannan Gao, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

• Anna-Lena Dicke, University of California - Irvine

• Sirui Wan, University of Mississippi

• Luise von Keyserlingk, University of Tübingen

• Jutta Heckhausen, University of California - Irvine

• Jacquelynne S. Eccles, University of California - Irvine