Graduation Year
2026
Date of Defense
3-12-2026
Degree Name
Doctorate in Education (EdD) in Educational Leadership
Department
School of Education and Human Development
Document Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Karen Donoghue
Abstract
The decision to leave home to pursue higher education is both intimidating and exciting. Students embark on a new opportunity to explore their personal and academic goals as they move away from home and enter a new environment. Upon beginning their higher education career, transitioning into new academic and social systems of a university can be difficult. For some, the first-year challenges of being away from home can lead to the decision to transfer and drop out of higher education. The problem of first-year retention is not new in higher education and is an evolving field as higher education continues to adapt to a changing world. At a large northeast R1 university, the first-year retention of males who are coming from a distance is a problem that is growing without a clear answer.
This qualitative study looked at how eight male students from a distance decided to persist at a large northeastern university. The methodology used a narrative inquiry approach with the study participants to gather data through interviews. Data were analyzed by using thematic coding, and four themes emerged. The first theme showed how all participants were lonely in their first year but overcame this challenge and made meaningful connections. The second theme highlighted the importance of students being in a declared major. The third theme explained effective academic resources such as tutoring services and faculty and teaching assistant support. The final theme concluded the relation between the persistence of the participants and their distance from home. Several recommendations were suggested from the findings to better support male students from a distance through their first year.