Mangum, M., Grabsch, D. K., Waddell, Z., & Barta, J. (2023). Transfer-student entry to the university: Experiences of mattering and marginalization. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 35(2), 53-75.

Students who matriculate into a new institution after transferring from a two-year or four-year college experience specific challenges throughout their transition. An important part of the transition is the entry of the student at the new institution. Specifically, a transfer student’s first semester can influence how the student perceives fitting into their
new environment and mattering to someone on campus. This study used a qualitative, deductive, hermeneutic, phenomenological approach to conduct six mini focus groups with transfer students. The purpose was to understand the undergraduate transfer-student entry experience and, specifically, the lived experiences contributing to perceptions of mattering and marginality. Our content analysis organizes the transfer-student experience into the categories of ego-extension, importance, attention, appreciation (mattering) and invisibility, belonging, confliction, and isolation (marginality). Recommendations are offered for academic advising, student affairs professionals, and other academic leaders.

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