Interconnected Nontraditional Student Characteristics and Resilience: A Strength-Based Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Agency, Resilience, and Motivation: Strategic Responses to Barriers in Education

Abstract

Nontraditional college students are predominantly studied through deficit-based frameworks emphasizing barriers and challenges. This study examined how intersecting nontraditional characteristics relates to psychological resilience, using data from 224,803 undergraduate students in the ACHA-NCHA III. We created composite scores based on five characteristics: age 24+, part-time enrollment, working 20+ hours, having children, and first-generation college status. Contradicting deficit expectations, students with more nontraditional characteristics demonstrated significantly higher resilience, F(5, 223692) = 359.586, p < .001. Mean resilience increased systematically from 5.97 (traditional) to 6.27 (3+ characteristics). Working 20+ hours (β = .051) and age 24+ (β = .047) showed the strongest effects. Significant interactions revealed that older first-generation students demonstrate particularly high resilience. Results challenge single-characteristic approaches by revealing how intersecting identities serve as sources of strength, suggesting institutions should adopt strength-based rather than deficit-focused approaches.

Authors

• Sangmin Park, California State University - Sacramento

• Sanga Kim, University of Houston