COUNSELING CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
Differences in the
Transition to College by
Race, Sex and Educational.
Philosophy
Tammy Kirschner and William
E. Sedlacek
Research Report # 11 -
84
Computer time for this study
has been provided by the
Computer Science Center,
University of Maryland, College Park.
COUNSELING CENTER UNIVERSITY
OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK MARYLAND
Differences in the
Transition to College by Race, Sex and Educational Philosophy
Tammy Kirschner and William
E. Sedlacek
Research Report #11-84
SUMMARY
The purpose of this study was to examine students' perceptions of the transition from high school to college. Incoming freshmen expectations of what would be the most difficult adjustment to college were assessed and related to characteristics of these students.
The results showed that 78%
of the students expected academic adjustments (i.e., studying efficiently,
budgeting time, earning satisfactory grades, choosing a major/career) to be the
most difficult, while only 10% were most concerned about social adjustments
(i.e., meeting other students, getting involved in campus issues), and 8% were
most concerned about meeting financial expenses.
Sex differences were found,
with more females concerned about choosing a major/career, and more males
expecting studying and earning satisfactory grades to be the most difficult
adjustments. Differences were also found between white, black and Asian
students' expectations of adjusting to college. More whites and Asians than blacks
were concerned about studying efficiently and choosing a major/career. Black
students were more concerned about meeting expenses than any other group, while
Asian students were more concerned about meeting others.
Eight groups of students
were identified on the basis of what they expected to be the most difficult
adjustment to college. A discriminate analysis revealed two functions which
significantly differentiated between the groups. The items which contributed
most to the first function assessed certainty of vocational goals and pressure
to choose a major. Items contributing most to the second function assessed
expectations of participating in intramural sports, belief about the importance
of varsity sports on campus, and expectations of earning good grades.
3
Tautfest, 1961), housing
(Brickerhoff & Sullivan, 1982; Sagaria, et al., 1980) and location of and
familiarization with campus buildings and the university structure
(Brinckerhoff & Sullivan, 1982; Tautfest, 1961). Palladino and Tryon
(1.978) found that finances were of more concern to incoming freshmen in 1976
than in 1969, accompanied by an increased concern about one's educational and
vocational future.
The research on sex
differences in students' needs has revealed mixed results. For example, Brinkerhoff and Sullivan (1982) found
females to be more concerned about social relationships than males, while
Sagaria,
et al., (1981) found no sex
differences in perceived reeds. In terms of the number of problems endorsed by
students, several studies have found that females perceive themselves as having more needs and concerns
than males (Lowenthal, et al., 1975; Palladino & Tryon, 1978).
In general, with the
transition from high school to college, several academic, social, financial and
vocational needs become important for incoming freshmen. However, in order to
understand students' adaptation to transition, an examination of personal as
well as perceived transitional. characteristics is necessary. The purpose of
this study was to examine incoming freshmen's perceptions of the most difficult
aspects of transition while considering other characteristics of these
students, including sex, race, and educational philosophy.
A representative sample of 2758 students (54% males and 46% females) were administered a questionnaire prior to their entry to the University of Maryland, College Park. Data were analyzed using discriminant analysis and Chi Square at the .05 level of significance.
Transition to College
4
Results
In response to the question:
"What do you expect will be the hardest part of adjusting to
college?" 78% of the students chose academic concerns such as studying
efficiently (30%), budgeting time (19%), earning satisfactory grades (17%), and
choosing a major (11%). Ten percent of the students agreed that adjusting to
the social aspects of college, including meeting others (7%) and becoming
involved in campus issues (3%) would be most difficult; another 8% of the
students believed that meeting expenses would be their most difficult
adjustment; while 5% expected becoming a critical and independent thinker would
be the hardest part of adjusting to college.
While more than three-quarters of both males and females believed that academic adjustments would be the most difficult to make upon entering college., there were sex differences regarding which academic issues they were most concerned about. Table 1 shows that a significantly higher proportion of females than males believed that the hardest adjustment they would have to make in college involved choosing a major/career (14% vs. 8%). More males than females believed that studying efficiently (30% vs. 27%) and earning satisfactory grades (17% vs. 15%) would be the most difficult adjustments to make.
Differences were found between black, Asian and white students` perception of college adjustments As Table 1 indicates, a significantly higher proportion of white students (76%) and Asian students (72%) were concerned about academic adjustment. than were black students (64%) . White and Asian students were more concerned about studying efficiently (whites 34%, Asians
Transition to College
5
blacks 23%), and choosing a major/career (whites
11%, Asians 10%., blacks 8%) than were the black students. There were no
differences in the percentages of students in each group who believed that
earning good grades and budgeting time would be the most difficult adjustments
to make. In relation to social adjustments, however, more blacks (5%) were
concerned about getting involved in campus issues than either Asians (2%) or
whites (3%). On the other hand, a significantly higher proportion of Asian
students believed that meeting other students would be the hardest adjustment
to make in college (whites 7%, Asians 12%, blacks 6%). Finally, significantly
more blacks (17%) than whites (8%) or Asians (8%) believed that meeting the
expenses of college would be the most difficult adjustment.
Educational Philosophy
Four groups of students were identified on the basis of their perceptions of the purposes and goals of higher education (Clark & Trow, 1966): "Vocational" (35%) - these students believed that the purpose of college was to prepare for a career and viewed work experience as more important than intellectual discussions or extra-curricular activities; "Academic" (21%) this group viewed the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual growth and development as the most important aspects of higher education; "Collegiate" (38%) - these students believed that the social aspects of. college life contributed most to learning and emphasized extracurricular/social involvement; "Nonconformist (6%) - this group believed that higher education should emphasize personal development, identity and individual interests, and were generally critical of the college., faculty, and administration. Differences in what they saw as the most difficult adjustment to make in college were found among these groups and are listed in Table 1. Significantly more Collegiate students (80%) believed that the academic aspects of college
Transition to College
6
would be tree most difficult adjustments to make than did Vocational (75 %) students, Academic (67%) or Nonconformist (73%) students. Collegiate
students tended to be more concerned about studying efficiently and choosing a major/career than the other groups. However, significantly fewer collegiate students (7%) believed that social adjustments would be the most difficult to make in college compared to Vocational (10%), Academic (14%) or Nonconformist (13%) students.
Most Difficult Adjustment
Eight groups of students were identified on the basis of what
they expected to be the most difficult aspect of adjusting to college, using
discriminant analysis (see Table 2). The choices were : (1) becoming in
volved in campus issues, (2) thinking critically, (3) earning satisfactory grades. (4) meeting others, (5) meeting expenses, (6) budgeting time, (7) studying efficiently, and (8) choosing a career or major. Twenty-five likert items assessing vocational certainty, social, collegiate and personal attitudes and college related skills and expectations were used in a discriminant analysis. Two functions were Found to significantly discriminate among the groups. The cannonical correlations for the first and second functions were .38 and .19, respectively.
7
Two items loaded heavily on the first function: Certainly of vocational goals (.80) anal pressure to decide on an academic major (._361. This first function alone accounted for 61% of the variance. On the second function,
which accounted for 13% of
the variance, three items loaded heavily. These items
assessed the students' expectations of participating in intramural sports and
activities (.47), evaluation of the importance of varsity sports on campus (-.28),
and expectation of receiving high grades while in college (-.53).
Discussion
The present study sought to examine students' expectations of adjusting to the transition from high school to college. As Schlossberg (1987.) defines it: "A transition can be said to occur if an event or nonevent results in a change in assumptions about one's self and the world, and thus requires a corresponding change in one's behavior and relationships," (p.5). Additionally, while several variables affect adaptation to transition, an individual's characteristics play an especially influential role in the adaptation process. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between incoming college students' characteristics and their expectations of the most difficult aspect of the high school to college transition.
The results of this study, consistent with previous findings, showed that incoming freshmen were more concerned about the academic adjustments of college life. than the social ones. Study habits were consistently chosen as the most important concern, followed by time management, grades and major or career choice., respectively. It is interesting to note that, while in the past, grades were of primary concern to freshmen (Lokitz & Sprandei, 1916; Moser, 1955) , the students in this study were more concerned about studying efficiently and budgeting their time than they were about grades.
The results also indicated
that students expected meeting financial obligations to be more difficult than
adjusting to social changes. This
finding is consistent with the trend toward
increased concern for finances found by Palladino and Tryon (1978) between 1969
and 1976. Among social adjustments, students in the present study believed
that: meeting and getting to know other students would be much more difficult
than becoming involved in campus issues.
While both males and females
expected academic adjustments to be the most difficult ones to make upon
entering college, sex differences were found in terms of which academic
concerns were most salient. Generally, significantly more males than females
expected studying and grades to be the most difficult adjustments. Conversely,
significantly more females than males were concerned about choosing a
career/major in college. Socially, males and females were equally concerned
about meeting and getting to know other students but more females than males
expected involvement in campus issues to be a difficult aspect of the transition.
This greater concern for social adaptation among females is similar to
Brinkerhoff and Sullivan's (1982) findings in which females were more concerned
about social relationships than males.
Several race differences
were also found in students' expectations of adjusting to college life. Again;
all the students were much more concerned about academic adjustments than
social adjustments. However, more white and Asian students expected studying
and career/major choices to be most. difficult. than did black students. There
were no race differences in concern for grades and budgeting Lime, but blacks
were significantly more concerned than either
9
whites or Asians about meeting financial. expenses in college. Socially, Asian students were much more concerned about meeting and getting to know other students, while more blacks expected getting involved in campus issues to be the most difficult adjustment to make. Previous research on high school students' transition to college has little to say about race differences, and much more work needs to be done in this area before concrete conclusions can be drawn.
The present study also
examined the relationship of students' educational philosophy and expectations
of adjustment. Those students who believed that social and extra curricular
activities make the most significant learning contributions in higher education
expected to face the greatest difficulties in adjusting to academic life.
Naturally, this same group was much less concerned about social adjustments in
college. On the other hand, more of those students who emphasized either
intellectual or personal development as the goal of higher education expected
social adjustments to be most difficult.
Eight groups of students were identified on the basis of what they expected to be the most difficult adjustment to make in college (Table 2). The discriminant analysis revealed two functions which maximally discriminated between the groups. The items which contributed most to the first function related to certainty of vocational goals and pressure to decide upon a choice of major. Therefore this function could be labeled "Vocational Certainty". The data indicated that Group 1 (those who expected getting involved in campus issues would be most difficult) and Group 2 (those who expected becoming critical thinkers would be most difficult) were most certain of their vocational goals. Group 8 (those who expected the selection
Transition, to College
10
of a major/career would be most difficult) were least certain of their vocational goals. Also, Group 1 (those who felt deciding whether or how much to get involved in campus issues) and Group 5 (those who felt that meeting
expenses would be most
difficult) felt they were under the least amount of pressure to decide on a
major; while again, Group 8 reported the greatest pressure to decide on a major
course of study.
Three items contributed strongly to the second function, which might be labeled "Student Expectations.°° Two of these items included the expectation of participating in intramural sports and beliefs about bow strongly varsity sports should be emphasized on campus, while the-third item assessed students' expectations about receiving good grades. Group 2 (those who expected becoming critical and independent thinkers would be most difficult) most expected to participate in intramural sports, while Group 4 (those who expected meeting others would be most difficult) least expected to participate. Group 4 also agreed the most that varsity sports should be deemphasized on campus, while Group 7 (those who expected studying efficiently would be most difficult) agreed least with this idea. Finally, Group 1 (those who expected whether or how much to get involved in campus issues would be most difficult) most expected to earn high grades in college, while Group 3 (those who expected earning satisfactory grades would be most difficult) least expected to earn good grades.
The results of this study have several implications for
teachers, advisors and counselors on a campus: First, it has consistently been
found, in this and other studies, that incoming freshmen are primarily
concerned about adjusting to the academic pressures and requirements of college
life. This suggests that both the dissemination of academic information and
academic
Transitions to College
11
advising should continue to occupy central roles in pre-matriculation programs in secondary schools as well as colleges and universities. Additionally, the results of this study indicate that, at least initially, freshmen are more concerned about study habits than about grades or major choice, emphasizing the utility of offering study skills programs and counseling. Incoming freshmen also can be encouraged to enroll in study skill and survival courses during their first semesters in college.
The race and sex differences
revealed in this study are also relevant to academic advisors, counselors and
financial aid counselors. The results indicated that different racial-
groups of students do indeed have different concerns, but much more research is
needed in the area of race differences in students' expectations of the
transition to college.
While the present study examined students' expectations of the most difficult adjustments to college. it seems important to follow-up these results in order to see if these expectations are matched by reality. Future research could examine the actual adjustments students found most difficult after one or two semesters in college. It is also possible that various aspects of the transition become more important as the student progresses through school. For instance, Lokitz and Sprandel (1976) found that social concerns become more predominant than academic concerns during the freshman's second semester in college. It is possible that grades and choice of major, as well as social. issues, also become more important after a year or two in college. Such findings would necessitate sequential programming, developmentally designed to fit the changing academic and social concerns of students.
Transition to College
12
Finally, a more complete
understanding of the issues that most influence adaptation to this particular
transition is needed. While the present study attempted to examine some of the
characteristics of the individual as well as the transition, more research is
needed on the characteristics of the pre and post-transition
environments. These include such aspects as support systems and the physical
environment. With this information, counselors, faculty and student affairs staff
can plan programs that better meet the needs of incoming freshmen, and help
facilitate the students' transitions from high school to college.
Transition to College
13
Brinckerhoff,
D.B., & Sullivan, P.E. (1982). Concerns of new students: A pretest-posttest
evaluation of orientation. Journal of College Student Personnel, 23,
384-390.
Chapman,
D.W. & Baranowski, B.B. (1977).
College expectations of entering freshmen who completed college courses in high
school. Journal of College Student Personnel, 18, 188-194.
Chickening,
A. (1969). Education and identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Clark,
B.R., & Trow, M. The study of college peer groups. Chicago: Aldine.
Horowitz,
J.L., & Sedlacek, W.E. (1972). Freshman expectations of the University of
Maryland, 1971-72. Counseling Center Research Report it 9-72.
College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland.
Johnson,
D.H., & Sedlacek, W.E., (1981). A comparison of students interested in
different types of counseling. Journal of the National Association for Women
Deans, Administrators and Counselors, 44, (4), 26-29.
Lokitz,
B.D., & Sprandel, H.Z. (1976). The first year: A look at the freshman.
experience. Journal of College Student Personnel, 17, 274-279.
Lowenthal,
M.F., Thurnher, M., Chiriboga, D., & Associates (1975). The four stages
of life: A comparative study of women and men facing the transitions. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moore,
L.V., Higginson, L.C., & White, E.R. (1981). The priority of freshman needs
prior to college attendance. College Student Journal, 15, (1), 81-87.
Moser,
L. (1955). Analyzing some of the transitory fears of entering college freshmen.
College and University, 30, 282-283.
14
References, (continued)
Nault,
S.P., & Sedlacek, W.E. (1970). Differences between freshmen expectations of
the University of Maryland in 1968 and 1969. Counseling Center Research
Report # 15-70. College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland.
Palladino,
J.J., & Tryon, C.S. (1978). Have the problems of entering freshmen changed?
Journal of College Student Personnel, 19, 313-316.
Sagaria,
M.A.D., Higginson, L.C., & White, E.R. (1980). Perceived needs of entering
freshmen: The primacy of academic issues. Journal of College Student
Personnel, 21, 243-247.
Scherer,
C., & Wygant, N.S. (1982). Sound beginnings support freshmen transition
into university life. Journal of College Student Personnel, 23, 378-383.
Schlossberg,
N.K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The
Counseling Psychologist, 9, (2), 2-18.
Tautfest,
P.B. (1961). An evaluation technique for orientation programs. The Journal
of College Student Personnel, 3, 25-28.
|
Table 1: Students' Expectations of the Most
Difficult College Adjustments by Sex, Race, and Educational Philosophy |
||||||||||
|
Most Difficult Adjustment |
Males |
Females |
White |
Black |
Asian |
Vocational |
Academic |
Collegiate |
Nonconformist |
All Students |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Involvement |
3 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Critical Thinking |
5 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
|
Satisfactory Grades |
17 |
15 |
16 |
14 |
18 |
18 |
12 |
16 |
22 |
16 |
|
Meeting Others |
7 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
12 |
8 |
9 |
5 |
11 |
7 |
|
Meeting Expenses |
8 |
8 |
8 |
17 |
8 |
8 |
12 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
|
Budgeting Time |
19 |
19 |
19 |
20 |
16 |
17 |
22 |
20 |
17 |
19 |
|
Studying Efficiently |
30 |
27 |
30 |
23 |
28 |
30 |
23 |
32 |
26 |
30 |
|
Choosing a Major/Career |
8 |
14 |
11 |
8 |
10 |
11 |
10 |
12 |
8 |
11 |
|
Other |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Totals |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
16
|
Table 2: Students' responses to the questions:
"What do you expect will be the hardest part of adjusting to
college?" |
|
|
|
%* |
|
1. Deciding whether (or
how much) to get involved in campus issues |
3 |
|
2. Becoming a more
critical and independent thinker |
5 |
|
3. Earning satisfactory
grades |
16 |
|
4. Getting to meet and
know other students – both sexes |
7 |
|
5. Meeting Financial
Expenses |
8 |
|
6. Budgeting time |
19 |
|
7. Studying efficiently |
30 |
|
8. Selecting a field of
study and/or a major |
11 |
*Note: The percentages may not add to 100% due to
rounding or "other" responses.