An Empirical Analysis of Students’ Involvement and Exit Behaviors in College Organizations: The Case of Nanjing Agricultural University in China

Student organization is considered an important approach for the sustainable development of ideological and political education, and it helps construct learning style and campus culture. This research studies college students’ motivations for their involvement and exit behaviors. Using a binary choice model, we analyze critical factors affecting the involvement and exit behaviors of college students based on social cognition theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and expectancy theory. On the one hand, our results show active cognition is most influential for the involvement behavior, followed by personal interest. Meanwhile, active cognition is positively affected by mother’s higher education level and senior students’ influence. Respondents who agree that joining organizations brings closer relations with teachers and other students as well as promoting heterosexual communication are more likely to join. On the other hand, the most influential factor for the exit behavior is unclear promotion mechanisms. Low-quality activities and wasting time with organizations cause students to quit. Moreover, lack of training opportunities and professional guidance dampens members’ enthusiasm. Complicated interpersonal relations, bureaucratic style, entering a higher grade and changing psychology cause some members to quit and further affect organizational learning. We provide additional insights on management strategies towards organization sustainability, such as improving leader selection and building harmonious interpersonal relations.