Examining the impact of institutional integration and cultural integrity on sense of belonging to predict Intention to persist for Native American students at non-native colleges and universities

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Symphony D. Oxendine (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Deborah Taub

Abstract: Higher education scholars have examined various factors affecting student retention, yet few scholars have focused on Native American student persistence. The purpose of this study is to examine the contributions of institutional integration and cultural integrity to Native American college students' sense of belonging within the campus community and their intention to persist. This quantitative multi-institutional research design used Tinto's (1987; 1993) theory of student departure and Hurtado and Carter's (1997) sense of belonging model as guiding frameworks to explore the issue of sense of belonging and intention to persist. The researcher utilized the North American Indigenous College Student Inventory (Marroquin & McCoach, 2014) to measure cultural integrity and the Institutional Integration Scale-Revised (French & Oakes, 2004) to measure institutional integration. Results of the regression analyses showed that institutional integration and cultural integrity contributed significantly to Native American students' sense of belonging. Furthermore, sense of belonging predicts, although not to a large extent, intention to persist for Native American college students. This study revealed that social support and peer-group interaction are the most significant factors contributing to sense of belonging for Native American college students. In addition, staff support and lack of social isolation were also significant contributors to sense of belonging. This study expands the body of knowledge regarding the Native American college student experience, specifically helping shed light on factors contributing to their success. In addition, the results of this study can be used to help influence culturally relevant policies and practices for institutions and higher education professionals providing services for Native American college students.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2015
Keywords
Cultural Integrity, Higher Education, Institutional Integration, Intention to Persist, Native American Students, Sense of Belonging
Subjects
Indians of North America $x Education (Higher) $z United States
Indian college students $z United States
College attendance $z United States
College dropouts $z United States

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