Navigating the Shapeless River: Institutional Contexts and Information-seeking Behaviors of Transfer-intending Community College Students

• In Event: 2169 - School Context

Abstract

Community colleges entrants face a low probability of transfer to a four-year college and many enrollees fail to meet their educational aspirations. Research highlights the structural barriers at community colleges, but often fails to consider the interaction between how students individually approach transfer and the institutional support they receive to navigate the process. This study leverages longitudinal interviews of transfer-intending community college students, interviews with their advisors and transfer personnel, and field observations of transfer events. After analyzing students’ experiences navigating the transfer process and the perspectives of transfer personnel, we develop a typology of navigational approaches among community college students. We then examine the conditions both external and internal to the college that shape whether students end up with adequate information to facilitate transfer. By examining the experiences of students, the points of confusion they face, and the perspective of advisors, we highlight areas of misalignment in information and expectations that contribute to difficulty in transferring. By examining the institutional contexts, we consider how students’ background and effort combine with organizational arrangements to produce transfer outcomes. We find evidence that the students with the best odds of gathering sufficient information to navigate transfer are those who “curate” resources, seeking information from multiple sources, rather than relying solely on the advising staff at their college. While complying with advice from one institutional agent can be sufficient for some students, it has a high rate of misinformation for students who need to compare and contrast several different transfer options (either various majors or various destinations). This means students need to seek and triangulate information from universities (who may or may not want to talk to them), online, and from multiple agents at their own institution.

Authors

• Lauren Schudde, University of Texas-Austin

• Huriya Jabbar, University of Texas-Austin

• Catherine Hartman, University of Texas-Austin