Academic Stress and Persistence Decisions Among Diné Students Attending Diné College

Abstract

Abstract:Within an ecological systems framework, this study explored psychosociocultural factors related to academic success among American Indian students attending a tribal college. Specifically, the relation of financial concern, family support for education, cultural involvement, ethnic identity, and academic self-efficacy to academic stress and persistence decisions among 209 Diné students attending Diné College on the Navajo Nation was examined. More financial concern and lower academic self-efficacy predicted greater academic stress, while stronger private-regard ethnic identity and higher academic self-efficacy predicted more positive persistence decisions. These findings highlight the importance of understanding both supports and challenges to the academic success of Diné and similar American Indian students attending a tribal college.