Examining Individualism in College Student Retention Theory and Practice

College student retention and completion rates correlate with the production of societal benefits such as community engagement, human capital, diverse campus communities, and social mobility. While ideas vary, most contemporary retention practices and strategies rely on foundational studies that focus on individualism, the student-institution relationship, and inhibiting factors to student integration into a collegiate environment. This meta-synthesis examines the individualistic nature of foundational historic and contemporary retention theories and practices as well as recommends a collectivist, culturally-responsive alternative paradigm for retention theory and strategy development moving forward.

Queering College Student Retention

Retention literature and concepts warrant examination through the lens of queer theory, a poststructural body of thought about sexuality and gender, to understand their implications for queer students. Five themes found in the retention literature are addressed from a queer perspective: framing retention as an economic and labor problem; campus climate; the focus on programs, policies, and services; psychological traits; and positivistic approaches. Queering retention involves deconstructing retention binaries; problematizing the production of normative subjects through retention theory; focusing on institutional transformation; and examining retention as heteronormative domination. Queer failure and futurity are offered as possible new frames for retention. This essay seeks to raise questions, tensions, and complexities with no clear or simple solutions. Tentative and limited implications for practice and research are offered; however, they raise more questions than provide answers.

The role of career concerns and workplace friendship in the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link

Orientation: The demand for retaining top talent in the highly competitive and turbulent working environment has made retention research relevant and important. A central question in retention research revolves around the psychological factors that drive employees to remain at an organisation. Research purpose: This research explores the mediating and conditional (moderating) processes underlying the link between employees’ job embeddedness and satisfaction with organisational retention practices. Motivation for the study: Several research studies are available with regard to the association between job embeddedness and retention practices. However, there seems to be a paucity of information available on the psychological process of workplace friendship underlying the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link, as well as the boundary conditions of this process as set by employees’ career concerns. Research design, approach and method: The study followed a cross-sectional, quantitative research design. Data were collected from a convenience sample of (N= 200) permanently employed staff members within a South African higher education institution. Moderated-mediation analysis was performed to achieve the research objective. Main findings: The findings indicated career concerns as important boundary conditions for the psychological (mediating) process of workplace friendship in the job embeddedness–retention practices satisfaction link. Practical/managerial implications: Enhancing work conditions and practices to support the evolving career development needs and concerns of valuable employees may be key to maintaining person–environment correspondence and retaining them. Contribution or value-add: The findings extend retention theory by adding new insights into under what circumstances employees’ job embeddedness positively influences their satisfaction with organisational retention practices. The study provides new evidence of the important role of employees’ career development needs in retention theory and practice.