A study of 1,130 transfer students (757 female, 373 male; 479 Latino/Hispanic, 267 Asian or Asian American, 125 European American, 73 African American, 58 Middle Eastern, and 66 "other") at a 4-year public university indicates that psychosocial variables are important in relation to the success of students who are diverse by many factors. Cluster analysis of academic self-efficacy, college commitment, support of peers, personal/career motivation for attending college combined with age and first-quarter GPA created 5 distinct student profile groups: a young achieving group, a mature achieving group, a low peer support group, a young low-achieving group, and a low confidence/commitment group. The groups differed significantly with regard to ethnic makeup and in subsequent trajectories of academic achievement and retention.

Philosophies of science are perhaps the most covert yet significant forces influencing the direction of change within disciplines. Although the era of logical positivism has waned for many disciplines, newer philosophies may not be satisfactory, especially for the applied disciplines. This article describes an alternative philosophy of science with special significance for nursing. This philosophy was influenced by several of the major existing philosophies, but especially by the paradigmatic view espoused by Thomas Kuhn. The generative philosophy of science was named because of its focus on generating growth among the applied disciplines. Members of these disciplines study questions with social significance and human application. This article defines major concepts, describes relationships among concepts and discusses implications for the development of nursing science and the nursing discipline.