Date
4-7-2023
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Chair
Eric G Lovik
Keywords
discrimination, diversity, faculty, higher education institution, inequity, minority, White, non-White
Disciplines
Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Mondal, Hridya C., "Predicting the Relationship between Student, Faculty, and Institutional Diversity with Graduation Rates in Higher Education" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4245.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4245
Abstract
The importance and significance of diversifying higher education are undeniable. Research has examined that diversifying higher education may produce more graduates, predominantly minority students. However, more literature is needed on how diversifying faculty and students relate to and impacts overall undergraduate graduation rates in higher education in the United States. This study aimed to gauge the predictive relationships between student diversity, faculty diversity, institutional locale, enrollment size and admissions selectivity and construct a relationship with graduation rates. The study examined a random sample of 291 Title IV, four-year postsecondary institutions, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) employed for the data collection process. From IPEDS, the researcher obtained six years of cohort data from 2015-2020 for race and ethnicity of students and faculty, enrollment, admissions, and 2016-2021 graduation rates data, combined, averaged, and used for analysis. The study utilized a quantitative predictive correlational research design, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the data. A significant predictive relationship was found (F = 29.985, r = .623, p < .001) between student diversity, institutional locale, enrollment size, admissions selectivity, and graduation rates. However, no significant predictive relationship (p = .568) was found between faculty diversity and graduation rates. The effect size was large (R=0.623), and the null hypothesis was rejected at the .05 alpha (α) significance level. Future research should be conducted to include more institutions from towns and rural areas to assess the further impact on minority students’ graduation rates.
