| The years following high school graduation are often characterized by uncertainty with regard to career and continuing education decisions. This uncertainty often results in false starts and changes in direction that strain family resources and delay the start of the income-generating years. The literature reviewed during this study suggested that a period of meaningful work experience between secondary and post-secondary education might reduce this uncertainty.; Some of the literature reviewed suggested that high school graduates who choose to leave full-time, formal education for a period of time often return later with a greater sense of direction and motivation. This raised a question about the effect on undergraduate persistence of life and work experiences occurring during the period of absence from school. The purpose of the study was to explore the association, if any, between students' work experience (prior to completing a bachelor's degree) and their academic persistence to degree completion.; Data was extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Data (NLSY79), sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, and managed under contract by the Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) at The Ohio State University. The data was used to identify several predictor variables, which were analyzed for their effects on undergraduate persistence using binary logistic regression. The dependent variable was whether or not subjects earned a baccalaureate degree. The predictor variables included: (a) the presence or absence of an intervening work experience occurring between high school and college, (b) the annual income of the subject's family in the year of graduation from high school, (c) the number of dependents the subject had at the time of graduation from college, (d) the number of years required by the subject to attain the bachelor's degree after enrollment in college, (e) the age of the subject at the time of earning the bachelor's degree, (f) gender, (g) race, (h) SAT and ACT scores, and (i) whether or not the subject had active duty military experience preceding or coinciding with undergraduate study.; Some of the variables had interesting and unexpected effects. There was a significant difference between the likelihood of persistence of those subjects who had an intervening work experience and those who did not. However, the outcome was opposite that of the original hypothesis in that the likelihood of persistence of those who did not have the intervening work experience was about 12 times greater than that of those who had the work experience.; Another was the military variable, in that subjects who had no active duty military experience preceding or coinciding with undergraduate study were nearly 10 times more likely to persist to the earning of a bachelor's degree. The single predictor variable that appeared to validate the body of research literature (which suggested that older and returning students enjoy a high degree of academic success) was the variable that referred to the number of years it took a subject, from the time of first entry into college, to earn a bachelor's degree. With the addition of each such year, it appeared that subjects were approximately 2.3 times more likely to persist to eventually earn a bachelor's degree. This suggested that many non-traditional students reach their bachelor degree goals through combinations of entry, departure, and reentry into undergraduate studies, interspersed or combined with periods of full-time and part-time work and study. |
