Now Available – Professional File # 116, Alienation and First-Year Student Retention (Spring 2010) By Richard Liu, University of Minnesota - Duluth

The census survey of undergraduates attending a major research university system presents an opportunity to measure both disciplinary and institutional differences in students’ academic experiences. Results from nearly 60,000 responses from the 2006 administration found greater variance among majors within an institution than between equivalent majors across institutions. Cluster analysis techniques were employed to establish disciplinary patterns, with traditional distinctions between hard and soft sciences generally supported. Reporting practices called into question range from institutional comparisons that ignore academic program mix and discipline to campus performance comparisons that do not recognize pedagogical differences by major.

You can view or download PF # 116 from the AIR web site. Interested in having your manuscripts considered for the Professional File? Please send four (4) copies of each manuscript to the editor, Dr. Gerald McLaughlin (gmclaugh@depaul.edu). Manuscripts are accepted at any time of the year as long as they are not under consideration at another journal or similar publication. Please follow the style guidelines of the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th Edition.