Perceived Vocational Students' Intentional Persistence / T. Nelson Ikegulu, Wilton A. Barham and Vernon L. Farmer.

A study investigated the distribution of attrition-related factors of 900 (351 male and 549 female) adult vocational students enrolled in selected postsecondary Louisiana vocational and technical institutions. Comparative, predictive, and ex-post facto designs were used. The outcome measure was students' perceived intentional persistence, which refers to the students' academic and career goals as evidenced by the holding power of the educational program, educational plans, or goals as reported by the students on a questionnaire. The study examined the effects of the following variables: demographic, precollege (high school performance, program requirements, and program prerequisite skill), institutional, environmental, and psychosocial. Results indicated that of the 900 participants, 633 (70 percent) were unintentional and 267 (30 percent) were intentional persisters. The 267 students who had the highest propensity for persistence had a mean of 3.48, whereas those with the least likelihood for retention had a mean intentional persistence of 2.84. Males were more likely to be retained than females. Single and separated students were more likely to withdraw than those who were married and widowed. Hence, gender and marital status, rather than minority and employment status, were more significant factors in students' intentional persistence in vocational institutions. (Contains 176 references.) (Author/KC)

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