Theoretical Frameworks in Student Success
In this section, we provide a starting list of cited theoretical frameworks in student success research. These frameworks offer theory-driven, research-based arguments for thinking about student success in a more holistic way. If you are wondering how to frame or support your research or evaluation questions, these frameworks offer a great starting point for those reflections. Many of these frameworks embed the student experience in larger cultural systems, thus offering a more robust understanding of students' lived experiences.
For each framework, we offer a summary of the argument (Overview) and a link to the original source for more reading (Frameworks). For copyright purposes, we do not include an image of the authors' conceptual models. However, we do summarize the research work and include links to scholarly articles to provide access to this important information.
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Overview
Cultural Relevance Theories
Cultural relevance theories challenge traditional views of student success as a one-size-fits-all model. These models emphasize that students from minoritized backgrounds (e.g., low-income, first-generation, and/or students of color) bring valuable assets with them that are often ignored or not reflected in mainstream institutions. They argue that institutions should create a culturally engaging environment for students with diverse backgrounds to live and thrive.
- Community Cultural Wealth Model (Yosso, 2005)
- The Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model (Museus, Yi, & Saelua, 2017)
- Cultural Mismatch Theory (Stephens, Fryberg, Markus, Johnson, & Covarrubias, 2012)
Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Organizational Identities
The Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) organizational identities models focus on what it means to adopt an identity as an emerging HSI. These models define and distinguish between the terms Latinx-enrolling and Latinx-serving, and outlines a framework for understanding servingness.
- Framework for Studying Organizational Identity of HSI (Garcia, 2013)
Sense of Belonging & Engagement
These frameworks examine how students from diverse backgrounds experience campus life as they work to integrate with academic institutions. They identify the importance of the sense of belonging in the process of integration and discuss various activities critical for fostering students' sense of belonging.
- A Conceptual Schema for Dropout from College (Tinto, 1975)
- A Conceptual Schema for Dropout from College (Tinto, 1993)
- Model of Sense of Belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997)
- Sense of Belonging in Schools (Strayhorn, 2018)
Systems and Cultures
Systems and culture models focus on the important roles of multiple contexts for students, especially for underserved students. Scholars argue that underserved students experience and navigate multiple worlds as they interact with their academic institutions, and as educators, we should deepen our consciousness of educational and social inequalities that can shape student success, and adopt a model that’s multi contextual and inclusive of multiple social identities and standards.
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Adapted Bronfenbrenner’s Developmental Ecology Model (Jehangir, Stebleton, & Deenanath, 2015)
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Interactive Model of Success for Underserved Students (Rendón, 2006)
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Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments (the DLE Model) (Hurtado, Alvarez, Cuillermo-Wann, Cuellar, & Arellano, 2012)
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The Bridging Multiple Worlds Theory (Cooper, Cooper, Trinh, Wilson, & Gonzalez, 2012)
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The Culture Cycle (Fryberg, Covarrubias, & Burack, 2018)
- The Mutual Constitution of Cultures and Selves (Markus & Kitayama, 2010)
Frameworks
Community Cultural Wealth Model
Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8:1, 69-91.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Utilizing critical race theory (CRT) as a framework, Yosso (2005) conceptualized community cultural wealth (CCW) as challenging traditional interpretations of cultural capital. CCW provides a guiding lens to move away from a deficit view of low-income communities of color to recognizing their multiple strengths. Yosso questioned White middle-class communities as the standard by which all other communities are judged. Yosso further contended that an asset-based view of minoritized students (focusing on what they bring rather than what they lack) serves a larger purpose of struggle towards social and racial justice.
Cultural Mismatch Theory
Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Johnson, C. S., & Covarrubias, R. (2012). Unseen disadvantage: How American universities' focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of personality and social psychology, 102(6), 1178.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0027143 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Stephens et al. (2012) argued that institutions are not culture-neutral contexts but contexts that privilege particular ways of being and knowing, namely those of middle-to-upper class families. This institutional privileging contributes to a persisting social class achievement gap in U.S. universities. Across four studies that utilized diverse research methods, they tested and proposed a cultural mismatch theory that argues that middle-class norms of independence in U.S. university culture advantages those with shared norms and disadvantages those with socialized under different norms, like first-generation college students.
The Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model
Museus, S. D., Yi, V., & Saelua, N. (2017). The Impact of Culturally Engaging Campus Environments on Sense of Belonging. The Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 187-215.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2017.0001 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Museus, Yi, and Saelua (2017) argued that sense of belonging is a related factor that affects this minoritized students' educational experiences and outcomes. The Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE) Model aims to examine student success for racially and ethnically diverse student populations. This model includes nine indicators related to cultural relevance and cultural responsiveness, emphasizing that students’ access to culturally engaging campus environments is positively associated with individual influences on the success that lead to an increased probability of succeeding in college.
Framework for Studying Organizational Identity of Hispanic Serving Institutions
Garcia, G. A. (2013). Challenging the manufactured identity of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs): Co-constructing an organizational identity (Doctoral dissertation, UCLA).
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1fx9t1d0 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Garcia (2013) described that with increasing Latinx populations in postsecondary institutions, and a growing number of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), educators must consider what it means to serve Latinx students. Using a case study design, this study revealed the process of organizational identity construction for an HSI, and offered four core values of the organization: regionally focused, committed to the community, dedicated to access, and serving of a diverse population. Garcia (2013) suggested that both sensemaking and sense giving are important in the construction of an organizational identity while challenging the notion that the HSI identity is driven by enrollment.
Typology of Hispanic-Serving Institution Organizational Identities
Garcia, G. A. (2017). Defined by outcomes or culture? Constructing an organizational identity for Hispanic-Serving Institutions. American Education Research Journal, 54(1S), 111S-134S.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216669779 Links to an external site.
Summary:
With an increasing number of Latinx students enrolled in colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Garcia (2017) conducted an in-depth investigation of a public four-year institution through interviews, focus-groups, examination of documents, and non-participant observations. Garcia (2017) found that participants construct HSI identity based on six indicators, including graduation, graduate school enrollment, employment, community engagement, positive campus climate, and support programs. She further described the multifaceted nature of organizational identities at HSIs, that they are constructed along two axes: one focused on institutionalized measures of success, and one focused on deeply embedded assumptions and values. Proving the typology of HSI organizational identities, she argued that for an organization to have a Latinx serving identity, it should have high productivity and provide a culture that enhances the experience of Latinx students.
A Conceptual Schema for Dropout from College (1975)
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45, 89-125.
https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543045001089 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Tinto (1975) argued that previous research on student dropout in higher education failed to differentiate the different populations of dropouts (academic dismissal or voluntary withdrawal), and failed to conceptualize the process of dropout, both of which have a significant impact on questions of policy in higher education. Through reviewing and synthesizing recent research in the field, Tinto (1975) provided a theoretical model that explains the processes of interaction between the individual and the institution that lead differing individuals to drop out, and that also distinguishes between those processes that results in different forms of dropout behavior.
A Conceptual Schema for Dropout from College (1993)
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition, 2nd(ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.oca.ucsc.edu/lib/ucsc/detail.action?docID=3038692
Summary:
Building on his own model, Tinto (1993) continued to explore the different processes and reasons for students to drop out of postsecondary institutions through a longitudinal study. By adding more elements into his model, Tinto (1993) argued that students’ departure from institutions is a process of longitudinal process of interactions between individuals who come in with various backgrounds and dispositions, and integration with the institution that has its own cultural and social system. Students’ entry commitment has an important impact on their interaction and integration with the institution, and this interaction and integration subsequently affect their goals and educational outcomes.
Model of Sense of Belonging
Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students' sense of belonging. Sociology of education, 324-345.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2673270 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Hurtado and Carter’s (1997) work focused on measures of students’ sense of integration in multiple communities in the college environment to understand which activities contribute to an overall sense of belonging or cohesion among diverse students, especially for racial and ethnic minority students. Analyzing part of the National Survey of Hispanic Students (NSHS) data with factor analysis, they argued that activities such as discussions of course content with other students outside class and membership in religious and social-community organizations contribute to students’ overall sense of belonging and positive campus experiences. They then offered a model of sense of belonging that emphasizes the importance of minority students’ subjective sense of integration, temporal sequencing of college experiences, and new avenues for understanding students’ adjustment to college.
Sense of Belonging in Schools
Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Strayhorn (2018) first examined extensive literature researching the concept of sense of belonging and provided his own definition, which consists of both cognitive and affective elements. Strayhorn (2018) argued that sense of belonging reflects how an individual feels connected to and needed by a group (p. 28), and it is a basic human need and motivation that’s sufficient to influence behavior. He further outlined seven core elements of sense of belonging and integrated them with Maslow’s hierarchy of basic human needs.
Adapted Bronfenbrenner’s Developmental Ecology Model
Jehangir, R. R., Stebleton, M. J., & Deenanath, V. (2015). An Exploration of Intersecting Identities of First-generation, Low-income College Students (Research Report No.5). Columbia, SC. The University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED558986 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Drawing on data from a focus-group study, Jehangir, Stebleton, & Deenanath (2015) examined the overall college experience of low-income, first-generation (FG), upper-division college students (a large portion is immigrant students) in a large research institution. Building from Bronfenbrenner’s developmental ecology model, they argued that these students possess multiple identities and navigate across multiple contexts. Due to their perceived lack of control over their worlds, they sought to negotiate the discomfort they experience at home and at school and to develop a nuanced view of the institutional and systemic forces that both supported and constrained them. They further noted that while efforts in recruiting more FG students have merits, institutional support is vital for their retention.
Interactive Model of Success for Underserved Students
Rendón, L. I. (2006). Reconceptualizing success for underserved students in higher education. National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Studies.
Summary:
Rendón (2006) argued that success for underserved students needs to be reconceptualized. In order to fully understand success for underserved students, we need to deepen our consciousness of educational and social inequalities, unspoken assumptions, and the unique factors that shape success for them. In the analysis of five papers commissioned by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC), she proposed an interactive model that captures the multiple systems underserved students might go through and suggests this model should be modified to be context- and student population-specific.
Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments (the DLE Model)
Hurtado, S., Alvarez, C. L., Cuillermo-Wann, C., Cuellar, M., & Arellano, L. (2012). The scholarship on creating and assessing conditions for student success. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Netherlands: Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2950-6_2 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Hurtado et al. (2012) first critically summarized modifications from previous climate models and shifts in underlying assumptions, then argued that multiple contexts influence and comprise the campus climate for diversity and educational outcomes. These summarized this argument in the Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments (the DLE Model). This model emphasizes the pervasiveness of the climate, the contextual nature of the position of institutions, the individual-level dynamics within institutions, and outcomes for individuals and society. Hurtado et al. (2012) argued for the importance of adopting a model that’s multi contextual and inclusive of multiple social identities of students, faculty, and staff.
The Bridging Multiple Worlds Theory
Cooper, C. R., Cooper G. R., Trinh, N. M., Wilson, A., & Gonzalez, A. (2013). Bridging multiple worlds: Helping immigrant youth from Africa, Asia, and Latin America on their pathways to college identities. In Grigorenko, E. L. (Ed.), U.S. immigration and education (pp. 301-322). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
https://bridgingworlds.ucsc.edu/docs-pdfs/Cooper%20et%20al.%202013.pdf
Summary:
Cooper et al. (2012) examined the cultural backgrounds, aspirations and identities, academic pathways, challenges, and resources of different immigrant groups in the United States. They found that culturally diverse youth have distinct experiences navigating across worlds of families, peers, schools, and communities. They offered the Bridging Multiple Worlds Theory to examine how youth develop their identities as they navigate pathways from childhood through school. This model focuses on how these culturally diverse youth manage to build their pathways to college and future careers without giving up their ties to families and cultural communities.
The Culture Cycle
Fryberg, S. A., Covarrubias, R., & Burack, J. A. (2018). The ongoing psychological colonization of North American indigenous people: Using social psychological theories to promote social justice. In P. L. Hammack (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social psychology and social justice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199938735.013.35 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Fryberg, Covarrubias, & Burack (2018) argued that Indigenous people experience a disruption of traditional cultural cycles, or a cultural disconnect between their past and future, through the illustration of ongoing colonization in media and education systems. Then they offered a theory of culture change which works towards cultural continuity by considering how each level of the cultural cycle - cultural ideas, institutional practices, everyday interactions, and individual experiences - impacts psychological well-being. The focus of this theory moves from the individual mind to all levels of the cultural cycle to decolonize cultural contexts for Indigenous people. Research-based action items were also offered to showcase how school intervention could be undertaken to decolonize at school sites for Indigenous populations.
The Mutual Constitution of Cultures and Selves
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual constitution. Perspectives on psychological science, 5(4), 420-430.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610375557 Links to an external site.
Summary:
Markus and Kitayama (2010) provided the Mutual Constitution of Cultures and Selves model to explain how culture influences our ideas about our selves and how our selves influence ideas about culture. They documented a mutual constitution process whereby culture and self reinforce one another and argue that these is how culture is maintained. They also offered two types of selves that get reinforced: an independent sense of self and an interdependent sense of self.