Research Blog #2: Preliminary Research

Where things stand right now

After some consideration I decided to go with my first research proposal, since it is more personal to me and has a lot more avenues to pursue. I am sure the history of college will remain relevant to the discussion of college gap years and dropping out regardless.

I have also considered narrowing my research topic to exclude college transfers. I think all three topics (gap years, dropping out, transferring) are somewhat interconnected and can bring about an interesting synthesis of ideas, but I am worried I'm taking too broad of an approach that can leave all three topics underdeveloped in the final research paper.

Researching articles

Using just some general keywords like "dropping out," "transferring college," and "gap year," I was able to find a lot of useful information for my research paper. A lot of the articles I saw related to students taking gap years or even dropping out due to COVID-19, for both financial and personal reasons. Like I suspected, a lot of students have testified to taking a gap year because of their complaints against the structure of online classes. I also came across an interesting article detailing the most common reasons why students take gap years or drop out, which could be a good starting point for my own paper. An important point one college adviser makes is how college gap years can be an enriching experience, but if you're taking a gap year just to work at a low-income job, you're at a much higher risk of dropping out altogether.

For the transfer pathway, I found a very comprehensive article examining all the pitfalls of why many college transfers don't work out. Out of the three topics I'm pursuing, I had the least amount of prior knowledge going into this one, so it was fortunate that I found this. There were three major pitfalls to college transferring I gleaned from this reading:

  1. Falling behind in credits
  2. Lack of advising and direction towards important college resources
  3. Isolation from college culture
These varied issues surrounding college transfers somewhat renewed my interest in this topic, so I may end up sticking with it after all.

The scholarly articles I skimmed through provided some more in-depth information to supplement what I already learned in the normal articles. There were a few articles I found that provided more substantial evidence of how financial status directly contributes to college retention rates, which I definitely plan to mine for information in the future. Another study I found provided a comparative analysis between different majors to determine the early-warning predictors of a student at risk of dropping out. The research conducted in this paper uses advanced prediction models such as machine learning to deduce their results, and I hope to use some of their findings in my own essay.

New ideas and resources

 From the brief research I conducted on my topic, it seems that this area of study is examined mostly under an economic lens. The dominating reason people seem to take a gap year, drop out, or transfer colleges is because of financial concerns, so it will probably be a focal point for my own essay. Going down this route will also let me explore how college promotes social stratification by forcing less affluent students to take less favorable pathways.

A potential resource I stumbled upon in my research was a hotline to a "gap-year specialist." Speaking to a specialist or even just an adviser at Rutgers could also be a good jumping off point for my research paper. Another resource I found was advice given to students to dissuade them from dropping out. It seems relevant to me that there are few resources out there for what to do if you decide to drop out, but a lot of information on why you shouldn't. The website lists offices you can contact and resources you can seek out, which can help position myself to better understanding the psychology of why students seek such an extreme option.

Potential complications?

Of course, this topic can't only be viewed from an economic lens. Students often take gap years to travel abroad or learn new skills, and some of the most successful people in the world started their fortunes after dropping out of college. This isn't anything surprising, but it does complicate the general thesis I am trying to construct somewhat.

Another point of contention I have is about the topic of dropping out. Aside from a few exceptional cases, dropping out is commonly seen as a step towards downward mobility, leaving you with no degree and a lot of debt. I want to seek out advice from professionals about the best path to seek out after dropping out of college, assuming you don't have some million dollar business venture with the parental support to fund it.

Links:

Articles:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-07/u-s-college-students-on-covid-gap-years-are-taking-big-financial-risks

https://www.the74million.org/article/thats-not-a-gap-year-thats-just-not-going-to-college-covid-19-erodes-equity-gains-of-first-generation-college-goers/ 

https://www.yearon.com/blog/5-reasons-students-drop-out-of-college-and-how-to-prepare-yourself-for-them

 Scholarly Articles:

Running out of STEM: a comparative study across STEM majors of college students at-risk of dropping out early 

Gender, Debt, and Dropping Out of College

Student Loans, Financial Stress, and College Student Retention 

Resources:

Gap Year Specialist Hotline: 1 (510) 985-9711

More information and advising about gap years: https://www.gapyearassociation.org/

Preventing student drop-outs: https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/preventing-students-dropping-out/ 


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