A Less Well-Known Model of Student Retention

Tierney, W. G. (2000). Reworking the student departure puzzle. J. M. Braxton (Ed.). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Tierney, W. G. (1999). Models of minority college-going and retention: Cultural integrity versus cultural suicide. Journal of Negro Education. 68(1), 80-91.

I read these two articles today as I searched for a model of student departure that felt right for my sense of belonging article. I find the model that Tierney provides to be captivating and offering a special way to think about student departure. The Tinto model of student departure holds a place of dominance in the departure literature. Tierney deconstructs Tinto’s model by introducing the constructs of power, identity, cultural capital, and cultural identity.

One thing that Tierney points out is the foundational concept Tinto built his model upon which is Durkheim’s (1951) model of suicide. Holding this line of thinking, a student who drops out (commits suicide) is an individual making an individual decision without the involvement of a community or culture. As a matter of fact, dropping out of (committing suicide) is a lack of connection with a group or community-an absence of community.

According to Tinto’s model, entering college is a ritual or rite, making a transition point into a new culture. The individual is responsible and the center of the passage. However this contrasts to the true concept of rite of passage by Van Gennep (1???). Whereas the Van Gennep model utilizes rituals within cultures not between cultures. For example Apache children do not go through Eurocentric rituals but rather would go through Apache rituals.

Tierney proposes that the institution develop ways in which an individuals’ identity is affirmed and positively impacts the organization rather than having to accept the organization as is and students of color so they do not have to ”commit suicide” to kill their old identities in order to be assimilated into the main culture.

One aspect of the model Tierney proposes is to hold high expectations for students and convey to them these expectations. Further, a strengths-based philosophy would serve the model well as Tierney indicates that it is important to have a climate where the message is that individuals are valuable resources themselves and bring to the institutions gifts and talents.

Relationships with parents and families are fundamental for this model. The model proposes that if we want to improve the student’s academic engagement and success, a focus should be placed on the student’s identity and background.

These articles provide an interesting model for studying sense of belonging. The concept of biculturalism or dual socialization help explain how a sense of belonging may impact retention.