Understanding Community College Student Persistence Through Photovoice

Abstract

Because it has been noted that a more educated workforce is necessary to meet the demands of the future workplace, community colleges have experienced significant pressures to generate more graduates. High instances of attrition and low rates of credential obtainment among students, however, have historically been tenuous issues for community colleges. The purpose of this article is to put forward, in the form of a constructivist grounded theory, a model of community college student persistence based on the findings from a photovoice project aimed at understanding the educational lives of community college students. The Emergent Model of Community College Student Persistence has the potential to assist community college faculty, administrators, policy makers, and other stakeholders understand student persistence decisions.