Poverty and Persistence A Model for Understanding.pdfVIP

International Journal of Doctoral Studies Volume 9, 2014 Cite as: Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. J., Spaulding, L. S., Swezey, J., A., Wicks, C. J. (2014). Poverty and persistence: A Model for understanding individuals’ pursuit and persistence in a doctor of education program. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 9, 181-190. Retrieved from /Volume9/IJDSv9p181-203Rockinson0606.pdf Poverty and Persistence: A Model for Understanding Individuals’ Pursuit and Persistence in a Doctor of Education Program Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Lucinda S. Spaulding, James A. Swezey, and Carolyn J. Wicks Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, USA aszapkiw@; lsspaulding@; cwicks3@; jaswezey@ Abstract The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to extend the theoretical foundations of self- determination theory (Deci Ryan, 1985, 2008), Tinto’s (1993) integration model of graduate persis- tence, and the framework of resilience (Cefai, 2004; Luthar, Cicchetti, Becker, 2000) to generate a theoretical model explaining how doctoral candidates from backgrounds of poverty persist through to successful admittance to doctoral candidacy. The proposed theoretical model provides an account for the relationship among significant losses in childhood that are subsequently transformed into positive attrib- utes that motivated participants’ pursuit and persistence in a doctoral program. This study produced two new constructs contributing to the empirical and theoretical literature addressing persistence:familial in- tegration and altruistic motivation. With high attrition rates across disciplines, this study makes an impor- tant contribution to the theoretical and empirical literature addressing doctoral persist