The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and the Persistence of First-Generation Hispanic Millennial College Students

Authors

Anthony Cruz, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Major/Program

Higher Education

First Advisor's Name

Benjamin Baez

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Glenda Musoba

Third Advisor's Name

Marc Weinstein

Fourth Advisor's Name

Lisa Stolzenberg

Keywords

Hispanic, Parental Involvement, Persistence, College Students, First-Generation, Millennial

Date of Defense

3-20-2012

Abstract

This dissertation was undertaken to answer the following research question: What is the relationship between parental involvement and college generation status with the persistence of Hispanic Millennial college students? Social capital theory (Coleman, 1988) was used as a theoretical framework to analyze and gain a greater understanding of the factors that correlated with the persistence of first-generation Hispanic Millennial college students. This dissertation used an ex post facto with hypothesis research design. The research hypothesis was that parental involvement would be positively related with the second-year persistence of first-generation Hispanic Millennial college students.

This dissertation used the data collected from 1179 Hispanic students who participated in the ELS: 2002 and enrolled in college. Logistic regression analysis of data from 972 of the students with completed surveys were used to examine the relationship between the dependent variable, which was student persistence to the second year, and the following independent variables: socio-economic status, family income, high school grade point average, gender, financial aid, highest degree ever expected, academic engagement, social engagement, college generation, and parental involvement.

This dissertation’s findings show that parental involvement was not statistically associated with persistence to the second year of college, but that high school grade point average, highest degree expected, academic engagement, and the interaction between parental involvement and college generation were. While the findings do not support the hypothesis, they provide some evidence that may be supportive of the argument that recommendations that may affect degree expectations, high school GPA, and academic engagement of first generation Hispanic Millennial college students may be positively related to their college persistence.

Identifier

FI12041114

Recommended Citation

Cruz, Anthony, "The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and the Persistence of First-Generation Hispanic Millennial College Students" (2012). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 563.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/563