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Running the STEM Gauntlet: The Complicity of Four-Year Universities in the Transfer Penalty

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Abstract

Students who transfer between institutions of higher education often experience a transfer penalty or a decrease in the odds of degree completion. While the transfer pathway is deemed a responsibility shared between 2- and 4-year institutions, failures in the transfer process are typically attributed to community colleges. The aim of this study was to examine the post-transfer experiences of STEM community college transfer students with particular emphasis placed on how institutional policies and practices at 4-year institutions contributed to the transfer penalty and poorer attainment rates of this population. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.

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This study was supported by a Fidler Grant from the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

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  1. School of Education, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Old Main, 404, Kutztown, PA, 19530, USA

    Diane Cárdenas Elliott

  2. Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology, School of Education, Auburn University, 072 Haley Center, Auburn, AL, 36849-5218, USA

    Joni M. Lakin

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Correspondence to Diane Cárdenas Elliott.

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Elliott, D.C., Lakin, J.M. Running the STEM Gauntlet: The Complicity of Four-Year Universities in the Transfer Penalty. Res High Educ 61, 540–565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09586-4

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