Richardson’s ABC Model Explaining

Attrition/Completion Rates of Graduate Students

Updated: 10 November 2010

 

Given the concern about increasing time to degree as well as non-completion rates,

it might be useful to reflect on the affective, behavior, and cognitive components of

attribution or completion rates among graduate students.

Here's what an analytical review of the literature suggests:

 


DV                         IV1 + IV2 + IV3 +  where

  

DV = Attrition/Completion

 

IV1 = affective variables:

         

Concepts

Operationalized as:   (Source)

 

 

Ambiguity, Tolerance of

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

Attitude, Personal

(Green, 1997)

Caring Adviser

(Ferrer de Valero, 2001)

Commitment to Program

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

Community, Sense of

(Lovitts, 2001)

Connection to Adviser, Sense of

(Lovitts, 2001)

Idealism

(Lovitts, 2001)

Inadequacy/Insecurity, Feelings of

(Baird, 1993; Lovitts, 2001)

Independence, Sense of

(Kluever, 1997)

Initiative/Drive

 

Interest/Desire

(Lovitts, 2001)

Isolation/Integration, Sense of

Individualized instruction or non-cohort programs (Baird, 1991, 1997; Solórzano, 1993; Lovitts, 2001)

Motivation, Strength of

 

Perfectionism

(Green, 1997)

Perseverance

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

Personality (Style)

MBTI (in general, Green, 1997)

Persistence

(Ferrer de Valero, 2001)

Procrastination

(Green, 1997)

Responsibility, Personal

(Kluever, 1997)

Role Conflict

(Anderson & Swazey, 1998)

Satisfaction (with interactions)

(Lovitts, 2001)

Stress, Feelings of

(Goplerud, 1980)

 

IV2 = behavioral variables:

 

Concepts

Operationalized as:   (Source)

 

 

Academic Preparation

GPA (Lovitts, 2001)

Adviser, Selection Process

Presence/Absence; Assigned/Selected; Early/Late (Lovitts, 2001)

Adviser, Friendly and Respectful

(Anderson, 1996)

Acceptance of Faculty Direction

(Baird, 1993)

Demanding Program

(Tinto, 1993)

Finances/Financial aid

Loans (Nerad & Cerny, 1993); Dollars Received: Assistantship or Fellowship (Smallwood, 2004)

Focus

Presence/Absence (Baird, 1993)

Handbook

Presence or Absence

Intelligence

(Baird, 1991, 1993)

Interactions, Social (with adviser, peers, and family)

Quantity and Quality; Collabor-ativeness (Baird, 1993; Nerad & Cerny, 1993; Tinto, 1993; Golde, 2000; Lovitts, 2001)

Orientation

Attendance or not

Reception

 

Research productivity

Number of articles, etc.

Workshops

Attendance or not

 

 

IV3  = cognitive variables:

 

Concepts

Operationalized as:   (Source)

 

 

Departmental Culture

Pressure & expectation (Baird, 1991); environment (Nerad & Cerny, 1993)

Disciplinary Culture

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

Expectations, Knowledge of

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

Fit, Adviser-Advisee

Research expertise and interest (Golde & Dore, 2001; Lovitts, 2001)

Socialization

Mentoring, Journals subscribed (Lovitts, 2001)

Value Systems

(Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992)

 

 

PLUS INSTITITIONAL VARIABLES: Accountability (i.e., recruitment allocation correlating with retention rates, mentoring programs attended (Nyquist, 2002); facilities (Nerad & Cerny, 1993); salary, promotion and tenure decisions (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Lipschutz, 1993).

 

 

SOURCES:  The ABC Model was originally inspired by sessions held during the Council of Graduate School’s Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 3-6 December 2003; Claudia Mitchell-Kernan’s presentation to UCLA’s Graduate Council, 21 January 2005; and “To the Editor,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 February 2004, B4. More recently, CGS and ETS have produced a 2010 study entitled "The Path Forward."

 

For the many additional concepts and all of the sources, see chapter 2, “Literature and Theory,” in Ellen Bara Stolzenberg, “The Dynamics of the Doctoral Student-Faculty Advising Relationship: A Study Across Academic Disciplines,” UCLA Doctoral Dissertation Proposal, 11 April 2005.

 

 

Revised: 10 November 2010.