Vincent Tinto (1987) Leaving College Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition

Review
Author(s): Stanley Schwartz
Review by: Stanley Schwartz
Source: Academe, Vol. 73, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 1987), pp. 46-47
Published by: American Association of University Professors
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40250027
Accessed: 24-02-2016 06:06 UTC

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standnineexceptionalwomen. MaryE. ing the other women in UnequalCol- psychiatric social work, was in part
Wooley, president of Mount Holyoke leaguescenteron an additionaldifficul- predicated on Victorianstandards of
Collegefrom 1901to 1937,joined with ty. In medicine, biomédicalresearch, fferommalkenmoowdiensgtyththe a''tmpryesctleurdieesd"woof mpreon-
membersof her faculty,especiallyBer- andpsychiatricsocialwork,the medical creationand sexuality.DorothyReed's
tha Putnum and Nellie Neilson of the profession, with its exclusionaryphi- relativesbelieved that she had "loose
losophy and institutions, held back
historydepartment,to createan intel- these women despite the high quality morals"because she was a physician.
lectualenclaveforwomen scholarsand of theirwork and theircommitmentto Similarproblemsmust have confronted
meritocraticgoals. In its endeavor to AliceHamiltonin herworkin industrial
theirdisciples.DorothyReed(Menden- raise the status, income, and prestige
hall) and Anne WalterFearnwere in- of M.D.'s, the medical profession medicine, as well as femalepsychiatric
novators in the medical profession, severely limited access to medical socialworkersin a field dominatedby
establishing, respectively, the federal schools and sought to reducethe num- a Freudianmodel of human behavior.
Children's Bureau and a hospital in ber of institutions accreditedto teach
China.FlorenceR. Sabinof the Rocke- medicine. Similarly, the person most The argumentaboutVictorianobstacles
responsible for starting this exclu- to women's professional successes
feller Institute for Medical Research sionary process, Abraham Flexner, rings true but is also highly idiosyn-
broughtintoquestionthe verypossibili- cratic, limited to medicine and allied
and, earlier,JohnsHopkins,sharedthe ty thatpsychiatricsocialworkcouldbe fields. Despitethe narrowrangeof pro-
lonely frontiersof biomédicalresearch a profession, and at least partly con- fessions considered by Glazer and
with Alice Hamilton, the first woman tributed thereby to the professional Slater, however, they have written a
facultymemberatthe HarvardMedical subservienceof psychiatricsocialwork book that bears reading by feminists
School nearly thirty years before to psychiatry,a specialtyof the medical who hope thattheirstruggleforequali-
women were admitted as students profession.Indeed,the roleof the med- ty in the professionswill leadto perma-
icalprofessionin blockingthe advance- nent improvementsforthe nextgenera-
there.Finally,MaryC. Jarrettand Ber- ment of women occupiesa largepartof tion of women. The frustrationsand
tha C. Reynoldsbuilt a new women's the Glazerand Slaterstudy, and thus
professionat the SmithCollegeSchool limits somewhat the generalizations hardshipsencounteredand enduredby
for Social Work during the period thatmightbe madefromthisbookcon- these nine pioneering women during
roughly from 1919to 1938. cerning the professional history of the firsteraof women'sprofessionaliza-
women. Obviously, however, other tion arepoignantlyevoked in theirlet-
Theprofessionalandpersonallives of professions (e.g., law, dentistry, and ters and memoirs, and Glazer and
these women differedconsiderablyb, ut engineering) have been equally in- Slaterareat theirbest in bringingthese
the professional obstacles they en- hospitableto havingwomen advancein documents to life. The authors have
counteredwere remarkablysimilarand their ranks. alsorevieweda vastamountof primary
indeed persist today. Two formidable source materialsto give us a convinc-
obstacles, avoided by the Mount Glazer and Slater argue that early ing portraitnot only of these important
Holyoke scholarsfor some time, con- discriminationagainst women, in the women but also of the hostile profes-
stitutea majorexplanationfor the lack medical profession especially and the sionaland often personalenvironment
of women's professionaladvancement relatedfieldsof biomédicalresearchand in whichtheyworkedto establisha pro-
put forwardby Glazerand Slater:mar- minentrole for themselvesand women
riage and motherhood. Even for the in general.
"superperformers"describedin Une-
qual Colleagues,marriage still led to LeavingCollege: Rethinking develops a new theoreticalmodel of
diminishedsuccess, resentment,and a the Causes and Cures of student departure,and offers a sensi-
distracting tension in their personal Student Attrition ble and practicalapproachto retention
lives. In contrast, men at this time planningthatis distinctlydifferentfrom
found marriagehad numerous advan- VincentTinto,ChicagoU: niversityof the frenzied reactive approachesthat
tages in theirclimbup the professional ChicagoPress,1987,203pp. have been tried and that have failed
hierarchy, while childbearing fell to
theirwives. TheMountHolyokeenvir- STANLEY SCHWARTZ nationwide.
onment furnished the material and It is no secretthat many of the three
Tinto's book, Leaving
emotional equivalent to marriagefor College,is scholarly and pro- thousand or so institutions of higher
many of the faculty,yet the demise of vocative.In it he describesand learningin the UnitedStateshaveiden-
this separatistwomen's scholarlycom- examinesthe problemof students'early tifiedandhave been copingwith prob-
munitycame aboutas the resultof the departurefromcollege, a problemthat lems of student attrition.Historically,
marriageof many of its facultyand the has plaguedinstitutionsof higheredu- the diversityand heterogeneityof col-
marital aspirations of a depression- cation for the last fifteen years. This lege populations dates to the period
conscious student body. book provides a synthesis of Tinto's following WorldWarII and it has in-
earlierworkwith thatof otherscholars, creased since then. Changes in the
Glazerand Slaterattributethis desire StanleySchwartzis directorC. areerDe- economyboth athome and abroad,the
for marriage on the part of Mount velopmenCt enterS, tateUniversitoyfNew internationalizatioonf politicsandbusi-
Holyokefacultyand students to broad Yorkat Albany. ness, the post-war baby boom, the
economic and social conditions of the after-effectsof the oil crisisof the 1970s,
and numerous otherfactorshave con-
1930s that, Glazer and Slater argue, tributedto the creationof a system of
were particularly hard on women. highereducationthatis verylarge,both
However, the desire for marriagemay physicallyand in termsof facultysize,
have been due equally to the serious
decline in the academiclabor market
that accompaniedthe depression, for
positionsfornew facultywere scarcely
open for men or women.

The debilitatingconditionsconfront-

4£ ACADEME November-Decemb1e9r87

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and that is kept alive through the an- have a clearsense of the academicpro- potential students.
nual enrollmentof new students. Stu- gramtheywillpursue,let alonea career Tinto'sapproachto solvingproblems
beyondcollege.Whileit maybe argued
denttuitionin theprivatesectorandthe that one of the desired outcomes of a associatedwith earlydepartureis that
numberof FTEstudents in the public generaleducationis to assist students institutionsmustbe trueto theireduca-
sectorare the key factorsin most col- in becoming more mature and being tionalpurposes and missions and that
leges' fundingpictures.When student betterableto articulatethe evidencefor these loyaltiesmust supersederetention
numbers fall short of expectationsor their maturity,Tinto's analysis shows goals. Further,Tintofeels thatthosein-
when students do not persist as we us thatthis outcomemayneverhappen stitutionsthatgain self-knowledgeand
hope, institutionsmust respond, often unless some interventionoccurs early self-confidence will go a long way
under crisis conditions. on. He does not say so, but it is not dif- toward attracting and retaining stu-
ficult to conclude that high school dentswho areparticularlwy ellmatched
Manyapproachesto dealingwith re- guidance counseling and initial aca- with them. This has been the case for
tention and attritionhave been tied to demic advisement sessions in college a number of very successful institu-
seem to be missing importantoppor- tions. Whethersuch an approachcan
applying marketingtechniques to at- tunités to help students better under- be generalizedand whetherit is possi-
tractingand enrollingstudents. Often standacademicand careerpossibilities. ble foreachinstitutionto find orcreate
these approaches led to identifying its own niche, to be true to it, and to
segments of the marketthat were dis- Thefreshestmaterialin Tinto'sbook findadequatenumbersof studentswho
tinctlydifferentfrom a college's tradi- focuseson the developmentof a theory share that vision remainsto be seen.
tionalpopulationbutthatwere present of studentdeparture.Tintooffersa syn-
in large enough numbersto be worth thesisof the workof the anthropologist Clearly there are numerous ap-
pursuing.Unlikebusinesses that have ArnoldVanGennepon theroleof ritual proaches to retention problems that
long recognized the need to adapt and rites of passage in primitivesocie- havebeen triedby a largenumberof in-
themselves, their products, and their ties, and the work of EmileDurkheim stitutions. Many of these approaches
servicesto marketplacerealities,many on suicide. Recognizingthat the work have arisenfromsuggestions and con-
colleges and universities have con- of bothof these scholarsrequiresan in- clusions in Tinto's earlier work. The
tinued simply to offertheir traditional tellectualstretchiftheyareto be applied most importantconclusion presented
fare in the same way. Programshave to studentdeparturesfromcollege,Tin- here is that those institutionsthattake
not been redesignedto meet part-time to advancesthe notionthatgoingto col-
students' needs. Minority students lege is a passage from an existing and the timeto planstrategiesandtestideas
have not seen many minority faculty knownset of communitiesto a new and arefarmore likely to succeed than are
members,whose presenceon the cam- unknown set of communities. In this those thatuse an approachof crisisin-
pus, researchsuggests, is importantfor tervention. It is also abundantlyclear
retainingthese students.Frequentlythe context, the speed and thoroughness that those institutionsthat continually
desires of adult students have been with which a student becomes inte- justify their existence by bringing in
shrugged off or demeaned. Is it any large numbers of new students each
wonder that attrition has become a grated and feels that he or she is a year only to have to replace a large
memberof the new set of communities percentageof them the following year
problem? will have a majorimpactupon thatstu- will not be able to succeed in the long
Tintopointsto the importanceof col- dent's staying in college. If this is the run.
case, students must select colleges
lege choice in the constellation of based upon their academic, career, LeavingCollegeis well organized,well
reasonsfor student departure.He ad- social, and intellectual goals, their written,thoughtprovoking,and, most
mits, however, thathe does not devote abilities, and their personal histories. importantly,useful to all of its poten-
as muchattentionto this processas he And collegesanduniversitiesmustpre- tialaudiences. It is a worthwhileaddi-
should. Sincethe proceduresfollowed sent themselvesaccuratelyandfairlyto
in decidingwhy to pursuehigheredu- tion to any academician'slibrary.
cation,what kind of educationto pur-
sue, and where it might be done most NJIT invites applications and nominations for chairperson, department of Humanities. The department offers
profitablyengage the student in con- courses in history, literature, philosophy, and the arts; supports a Science. Technology and Society degree
frontingthe two essential elements in program; plans other majors and minors. Expansion to include social science disciplines is contemplated.
predicting persistence, i.e. intention Qualifications: Ph.D. in relevant humanities discipline; scholarly publications; undergraduate teaching experience;
andcommitment,it is unfortunatethat ability to lead expanding department and develop new and existing programs. Excellent salary, commensurate
Tinto does not say more about this. with experience.

In discussing intentionand commit- NJIT is the comprehensive technological university of New Jersey with 7.700 students enrolled in baccalaureate
ment, Tinto makes the point that the through doctoral programs within three colleges: Newark College of Engineering, the School of Architecture, and
mature and focused individual who the College of Science and Liberal Arts.
sees the possibilitiesand potentialsof NJITdoes not discriminate on the basis of sex. race, color, handicap, national or ethnic origin, or age in employment
a futurethatincludes(perhapsrequires)
a college degree- preferablyfrom the Send resume and letter of application: Personnel Box CHSS.
institutionin which he or she initially
enrolls- is farmorelikelyto persistthan VHE^JJ New Jersey
the student who vacillates, cannot KSlTU Institute of Technology
decideon a major,minor,orcareer,and
is committedneitherto educationalnor Hj^^^j^^J^H NewarkN, ewJersey07102
careeror life goals. Without question
this is an accurateassessment thathas
been supportedby decadesof research
findings. However, only a very small
numberof students who enter college

ACADEME November-Decemb1e9r87 47

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