Academic Involvement and the Nontraditional Student

Abstract

This study expands upon previous research into academic involvement, which focused on youthful full-time university students, by surveying 213 adult part-time students. Two academic involvement measures were generally inversely related to absenteeism, although unrelated to final grade. However, those scoring high on these measures tend to be women and to have an internal locus of control, a need for achievement, and a strong Protestant work ethic. This research suggests that academic involvement is a valuable concept whose generalizability extends beyond the “college sophomore.”