Who stays? who leaves? an examination of sex differences in staying and leaving

Abstract

This article examines some of the major variables associated with the “staying” and “leaving” process, particularly as it operates similarly or differentially for male and female adolescents. Sixty attitude statements about aspects of school, parents, peers, teachers, and value orientations were obtained from 796 adolescents and factor analyzed. This subset of independent variables, together with a set of personality and ability measures, was then used to predict “staying” or “leaving” status. The discriminant analysis was undertaken using “leaving” status and sex (LVSEX) as the dependent variable. Using a stepwise solution method of discriminant analysis, two significant functions were identified-the first suggesting a sex dimension, the second a stayer-leaver dimension.