The institutional integration and persistence of first-year university students during the Covid19 Pandemic with a focus on first-generation students

Abstract

The relationship between institutional integration and persistence was investigated in 218 first-year undergraduate students (87 first-generation students and 131 continued generation students in their first semester of study). Participants responded to two online surveys (early fall 2020 and late fall 2020) about their institutional integration and dropout intentions. It was found that participants with higher levels of institutional integration were more likely to persist at university. It was also found that first-generation students had lower persistence than continued generation student, highlighting the need to provide more support to first-generation students. This study also explored the possible effects of Covid19 on first-year university students.