Examining the impact of financial circumstances and disciplinary field of study on seniors’ participation in high-impact educational practices at research-intensive universities

Abstract

This study is comprised of two phases: (1) examining construct validity evidence of self-reported financial circumstances (household income and social class student survey responses) and (2) modeling the influence of financially dependent seniors’ financial circumstances on participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) after controlling for ethnicity, sex, parental education, and academic discipline. Phase one descriptive evidence suggested that while financially dependent students under-estimated parental household income, on average, parental income (as measured on the FAFSA) and SERU income item responses were positively related. Stepwise logistic regression was used to model the influence of financial circumstances and academic discipline on HIPs participation (after controlling for race/ethnicity, sex, and parental education). Financial circumstances did not have a significant main effect on HIPs participation. Main effects were observed for academic discipline, with students majoring in STEM fields having greater odds of participating in research with faculty relative to social science students. Relative to social science majors, communications, business, and engineering majors were more likely to participate in internships; and arts and humanities, communications, and engineering students were more likely to participate in senior theses. Education students were less likely to participate in senior thesis/capstone experiences than social science students.