How College Graduates Decide to Remain in a Rural Community Post-Graduation

Rural Brain Drain is a critical issue facing hundreds of non-metropolitan communities across the country. Existing research that addresses the outmigration of college graduates from rural areas primarily focuses on the reasons the graduates leave, and not on what influences the decision making of those who stay. This study adds to existing retention research by; establishing an initial understanding of the influential experiences rural college students have that contribute to their decision to stay in the rural community post-graduation, and providing an emergent theory for practice to help coalitions better assess and strategize efforts to create improved pathways to rural talent retention. This research is important as it lays the groundwork that fills a noticeable gap in research around brain drain, and builds a basis for rural communities to combat workforce challenges, population decline, and outmigration of their college graduates. With data-informed practices, rural communities and their partners can collectively pursue actions that help retain educated individuals, build more resilient economies, and foster critical growth. To conduct this research, a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used. Nine graduates from a rural college whom remained in that rural community were interviewed twice each, providing the data on experiences that became the basis for analysis and conclusions. Through this process, five critical influence categories were identified: community based influences, accessibility based influences, mentorship based influences, engagement based influence and opportunity-based influences. These categories of student experience each played a role in their decision-making process that resulted in them staying in the rural community after graduation. Using these thematic categories, I provide recommendations for future research, and an initial emergent theory, the CAMEO Rural Talent Retention Model, which can provide rural communities with a scaffolding to curtail rural brain drain and foster rural growth. The results of this study contribute to the existing breadth of research on rural retention, and establish an asset-based approach that focuses on examples of success in retention, that further research can be modeled after, and that other communities can adapt to their own efforts in retaining college graduates from rural institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]