Race and Gender Differences in the Transfer Student Experience

The expectations, self-perceptions, past academic behaviors, and attitudes of transfer students were examined in this study. Participants were 2,492 incoming transfer students (53% female, 14% African American, 14% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 6% Hispanic/Latino/a, and 65% White, and had a mean age of 21.8) at a midAtlantic doctoral extensive public university. During their university orientation, students completed the Transfer Student Survey (Wawrzynski, Kish, Balón, & Sedlacek, 1999). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed differences by race and gender for expectations, academic behaviors, and learning outcomes. The use of noncognitive variables was discussed in the context of the various findings and implications.