Exploring the Relationship between Transfer Students' Social Networks and their Experience of Transfer Shock

In this full student-led research paper, we investigate the social networks of both lateral and vertical engineering transfer students to determine how integrated they are at their current institution, and how their social connectedness can affect the extent of their transfer shock. Transfer shock is a decrease in GPA that a transfer student might experience at their receiving institution and can affect student retention and likelihood of graduation. The research questions we aim to answer are: 1) How do the social networks of lateral and vertical transfer students differ from one another? and 2) What is the correlation between a transfer student's social network and their experience of transfer shock? To answer the research questions, a survey was sent to all engineering undergraduate transfer students at a mid-sized, Mid-Atlantic university. The survey included basic demographic questions (age, race, gender, major), transfer status, perception of transfer shock, and questions regarding the participant's social network. The social network questions asked the participant to name up to 10 of their closest friends at the university and answer demographic questions about these friends (age, gender, major, and whether a friend is a transfer student). Participants then identified how they interacted with each friend and whether the friends they named knew one another in order to generate an ego network for each participant. Social network analysis was done using the software Cytoscape and during this analysis, the goal was to investigate ego network homophily, social capital, and network density. The homophily measure allowed us to determine the extent to which vertical and lateral transfer students form bonds with other transfer students compared to non-transfer students. Social capital is a measure of worth resulting from social interactions within a social network. For example, if a transfer student harbors friendships with students who can assist them academically or socially, they are more likely to succeed later on. Network density measures how interconnected an individual's social network is. Collectively, these questions should help with understanding differences between vertical and lateral transfer students' networks and how a transfer student's social network impacts their degree of transfer shock. The results of this study showed that there was little difference between the social networks of lateral and vertical transfer students in terms of network density. However, our analysis did show a significant negative correlation between the density of a transfer student's social network and their experience of transfer shock. These findings could provide insight to faculty and staff who support transfer students and may suggest interventions to reduce transfer shock.