One third of undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities are considered nontraditional as defined by the single criterion of being aged 25 years and older. Nontraditional students have significantly lower graduation rates than traditional students. Using a role theory perspective this mixed-methods study examines the factors influencing persistence among a sample of 494 nontraditional men and women undergraduates attending a large public university in the southeastern United States. In this study, persistence rates did not differ between men and women although the factors influencing persistence did. Grade point average and confidence in graduating positively influenced persistence for both men and women. Women enrolled part-time were more likely to persist than those enrolled full-time. Although interrole conflict leads many women to consider withdrawing from school, most do not. Instead they exhibit a will to persist that enables them to overcome obstacles and ultimately graduate.

Undergraduate social science research methods courses tend to have higher than average rates of failure and withdrawal. Lack of success in these courses impedes students’ progression through their degree programs and negatively impacts institutional retention and graduation rates. Grounded in adult learning theory, this mixed methods study examines the factors that influence student achievement in these courses among a sample of 724 social science students. Quantitative results indicate math self-concept, the belief that being good at math is necessary for success in the course; anxiety; attributions of course utility; learning approach; and GPA predict perceived learning. Qualitative results suggest students’ research self-concepts shape whether they take a deep learning approach (leaning in) or a surface learning approach (resistance) to the course. Course instructors also impact students’ perceptions of learning.

The prevalence of multiple chronic illnesses is increasing dramatically, especially among those in middle adulthood, yet much prior research has focused on the experience of multiple morbidity among older adults. We examined the online illness narratives (blogs) of 10 men and women aged 36 to 59 to better understand the experience of living with multiple chronic illnesses at midlife. Multiple morbidity presents distinct challenges to those at midlife: (a) diagnosis and management of multiple illnesses, (b) need for information, (c) identity dilemmas and threats to self-image, and (d) stigma and social rejection. Relinquishing the work identity was especially difficult for participants because it threatened to foreshorten middle adulthood and push them prematurely into late adulthood. Participants used their blogs to revise their identities, alleviate isolation, and inform and guide others.

For almost fifty years researchers have endeavored to identify the factors that influence individuals’ performance of environmentally significant behavior, with inconsistent results. This quest has become even more urgent as newly released scientific reports provide mounting evidence of global climate change and other types of anthropogenic environmental degradation. In order to change individuals’ behavior on a large scale, it is necessary to change their habits of thinking. Using insights from Grid-group cultural theory and cognitive sociology, this mixed-methods study examined the factors that influence pro-environmental behavior among a nationally representative US sample (n = 395). Qualitative results indicate that individuals develop culturally-specific environmental socio-cognitive schemas which they use to assign meaning to the environment and guide their environmentally significant behavior. Quantitative results indicate cultural orientation, pro-environmental orientation, environment identity, and environmental influence predict pro-environmental behavior. Applying these combined theoretical perspectives to the social problem of environmental degradation could facilitate the development of targeted strategies for bringing about impactful behavioral change.