What’s Taking You So Long? Examining the Effects of Social Origins on Time-to-Completion

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 19. Social Class, Sexuality, and Education: Session II

Abstract

Despite improved access in expanded postsecondary systems, the great majority of bachelor’s degree graduates are taking considerably longer than the allotted four years to complete their “four-year” degrees. Taking longer to finish one’s BA has become so pervasive in the United States that it has become the norm for official statistics released by the Department of Education to report graduation rates across a six-year window. While a growing body of research follows social groups who are at-risk of dropping out and failing to obtain their degree, comparatively fewer sociological studies have examined the relationship between social origins and the likelihood of completing a four-year bachelor’s degree on time. In this paper, we draw on the most recent cohort of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Survey (2008-09) to examine who completes their bachelor’s degrees on time. Our results indicate that a number of factors are at play. Despite controlling for academic performance, educational behaviors, program characteristics, and institutional characteristics, socio-economic status, race and gender continue to have direct effects on timely degree completion. These findings highlight another important, albeit less obvious, way where inequality is maintained in expanded postsecondary systems.

Authors

• David Zarifa, Nipissing University

• Jeannie Kim

• Bradley Seward

• David Michael Walters, University of Guelph