| dc.description.abstract | As graduate student attrition hovers around 50%, scholars are beginning to study what is leading to these high attrition rates (Wao, 2010). As there has been little theoretical work done on graduate student retention, a review of the literature related to undergraduate student engagement and retention provides a starting point for developing theories of graduate student engagement and retention. One theory of undergraduate student engagement and retention relates to feelings of mattering. Mattering is a sense that other people care about you as it involves facets of feeling important to others, being noticed by others, that others are proud of you, and that others rely on you (Elliot, et al., 2004; Rosenberg and McCullough, 1981). Undergraduate student theories on engagement and retention have found that as students’ sense of mattering increases, they are more likely to be engaged in their education and more likely to complete their degrees (Elliott, et al., 2004; Rosenberg and McCullough, 1981).
The purpose of this study is to apply the theory of mattering to a graduate student population by using a survey tool to measure mattering developed by France (2011). While the tool was developed for use with undergraduate students, it holds promise as a tool to be used with graduate students. Along with testing France’s (2011) mattering survey tool with graduate students, this study explores the influence of mattering on three persistence variables: the importance to finish, the inclination to transfer, and the inclination to dropout. In addition to the mattering survey, the survey instrument included a brief satisfaction survey (Judge, et al., 1998) and part of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI; Kristensen, et al., 2007).
The application of a CFA led to the finding that France’s UMUM15 (2011) need to be reduced to 12 items along with allowing for three correlations errors resulting in a new survey, the GSUMUM-12. Using a GSEM analysis, mattering was found to either directly or indirectly affect the three persistence variables for the graduate students participating in the survey. | en_US |
