Who are your students?. Outline Student development theory Millennial, post-millennial, etc. GU...

Who are your students?

Outline

Student development theory Millennial, post-millennial, etc. GU students specifically

Student Development theory

Nancy Schlossberg’s Theory of Mattering and Marginality (1989)

When people begin a new experience they can feel uneasy about their ability and what their role is or should be in that experience. Marginality results in self-consciousness. Self-consciousness results in the inability to perform up to one’s capabilities. When people believe that they matter, marginality diminishes. Students succeed when they are appreciated by others and receive positive attention.

Nancy Schlossberg’s Theory of Mattering and Marginality (1989)

Mattering includes: Attention: being noticed Importance: believing one is cared about Ego Extension: belief that someone else will be

proud of their successes or sympathize with their failures

Dependence: being needed Appreciation: feeling that one’s efforts are

appreciated by others

Discussion

How does this relate to our interactions with our own students? How can we make students feel like they matter in the classroom/lab/office hours?

Chickering & Reisser’s Seven Vectors of Development (1993)

1. Achieving competence2. Managing emotions3. Moving through autonomy toward

interdependence. 4. Developing mature interpersonal

relationships. 5. Establishing identity. 6. Developing purpose. 7. Developing integrity.

Who are these people and what are their values?

Consulting companies

Industry devoted to figuring out young people

Institutions (education and otherwise) rely on these consultants to understand what it is that a particular generation cares about and ultimately will want to BUY!

Discussion

How would you describe the students that you have encountered so far at Gonzaga? What are some of their positive and negative traits?

Millennials?

Born after 1981; come into early adulthood around 2000

Traits Special, confident, sheltered, team-

oriented, achieving, pressured, conventional Defined by technology Parented by “helicopter parents” –

educated, overly concerned, BOLD! Millennials are aware of the term and

don’t like it!

Get rid of the terms like “Millennials”!

Santilli argues that we should define the period between adolescence and young adulthood as “emerging adulthood” while still acknowledging changes in generations (marrying later, putting off becoming parents). Five essential qualities of emerging adulthood:

identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feelings of transition, and openness to possibilities

Santilli also acknowledges the match/overlap between the Jesuit education model and emerging adulthood

Sweeping generalizations aren’t a good idea Singham is amazed that the same

professors and educators who quickly stereotype students in terms of generation are the same professors who display great sensitivity when it comes to gender and ethnic stereotypes

Singham argues that what we think we know about students prevents us from actually getting to know them!

Okay, so who are our students?

Changes from 1990 to 2010

1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010

Number of freshman surveyed 260 560 604 784 922 920

Father – BA or higher 51% 67% 72% 74% 71% 74%

Mother – BA or higher 49% 58% 63% 68% 70% 75%

A+, A, or A- high school avg 49% 64% 70% 67% 64% 72%

“very good” chance of B avg at GU 56% 62% 61% 65% 61% 86%

B- or lower high school avg 11% 3% 4% 1% 2% 0.4%

GU Division of Student Life Research Notes, Spring 2011, Number 5

Reasons for choosing GU

1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010

Very good academic reputation 66% 80% 76% 77% 80% 76%

Offered financial assistance 57% 64% 59% 62% 65% 71%

Graduates get good jobs 50% 55% 60% 59% 61% 62%

Religious affiliation 24% 30% 25% 27% 26% 24%

Good reputation for social activities 13% 28% 31% 42% 50% 57%


When asked to “rate yourself compared to peers”, percentages of GU freshman who considered that they were above average or in the Top 10%

1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010

Academic ability 76% 85% 82% 83% 79% 88%

Emotional health 54% 65% 55% 60% 61% 66%

Leadership ability 55% 68% 67% 69% 66% 74%

Self-confidence socially 42% 54% 50% 53% 52% 58%

Writing ability 46% 57% 56% 51% 57% 58%


Activities during senior year in high school


1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010

Performed volunteer work 80% 89% 92% 96% 96% 96%

Tutored another student 62% 63% 60% 61% 59% 70%

Drank beer 60% 45% 54% 50% 43% 37%

Drank wine/liquor 61% 55% 57% 55% 48% 38%

No hour per week partying 22% 19% 23% 20% 35% 46%

Life goals that are essential or very important

1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2010

Be very well off financially 63% 60% 62% 64% 69% 75%

Become involved in cleaning up environment 38% 24% 18% 26% 36% 28%

Develop a meaningful philosophy of life 41% 33% 51% 55% 61% 60%

Promote racial understanding 48% 38% 30% 39% 39% 37%

Raise a family 68% 71% 72% 79% 80% 84%


“One of the most important tasks of the academic advisor is mediating the dissonance between student expectations and the realities of the educational experience.”

• Wes Habley

Percentage of respondents saying that there is a “very good chance” that they will:

All ArtsScien

ce Bus. Eng. Healt

h

Change major 15% 27% 6% 14% 0% 6%

Change career choice 17% 28% 14% 14% 4% 6%Work to help pay for college expenses 49% 50% 54% 44% 42% 54%Participate in volunteer or community service 50% 56% 46% 42% 38% 62%

Study abroad 48% 55% 43% 52% 14% 44%Be satisfied with college experience 71% 71% 73% 70% 74% 67%GU Division of Student Life Research Notes, Spring 2008, Number 3

Other places where dissonance might occur:• 68% of incoming male students and 75%

of incoming female students had a high school GPA of A- or above.

• Only 36% studied 11 or more hours per week in High School.(Nationwide, college students report studying an average of only 13 – 14 hours per week, about half what their professors think is necessary to keep up.)


Reported grade point averages of seniors, overall and in the major:

All ArtsScienc

e Bus. Eng.

Overall, A- or above 43% 43% 43% 43% 43%

Overall, B or B+ 48% 47% 52% 48% 48%

Major, A- or above 55% 67% 37% 50% 28%

Major, B or B+ 37% 29% 57% 37% 47%


Percentage of senior respondents saying that they spent 11 or more hours per week on:

All ArtsScienc

e Bus. Eng. Studying or doing homework 38% 34% 56% 27% 69%

Socializing with friends 48% 47% 36% 57% 49%

Exercising or sports 14% 12% 9% 20% 16%

Partying 15% 12% 9% 24% 20%GU Division of Student Life Research Notes, Spring 2008, Number 1

Expectations versus reality

Eight percent of college seniors are “proficient” at level 3 math, up from 5 percent of freshmen.

Eleven percent of college seniors are “proficient” at level 3 writing.

Six percent of college seniors are “proficient” in critical thinking, 77 percent are “not proficient”.

Less than 13 percent of college students achieve basic competence in a language other than English Less than 34 percent of college students earn credit for an international studies class; of those who do, only 13 percent take more than four classes.

Less than 10 percent of college students participate in study abroad programs.

Academic Profile, Educational Testing Service (2003–04); Clifford Adelman, “‘Global Preparedness’ of Pre-9/11 College Graduates: What the U.S. Longitudinal Studies Say,” Tertiary Education and Management 10 (2004): 243.

Who are your students?

References for Student Development Theories Schlossberg, Nancy K. “Mattering and

Marginality: Key Issues in Building Community” New Directions for Student Services, 1989, 48, pp. 5-15.

Chickering, Arthur & Reisser, Linda (1993). Education and Identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Skipper, Tracy L. (2005). ”Chapter 2: Psychosocial Theories of Student Development” in Student Development in the First College Year: A Primer for College Educators Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

References for Millennials

Howe, N. and Strauss, W. (2000) Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, New York: Random House, Inc.

Santilli, Nicholas (2010) “Don’t Call Us Millennials!” in Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol 37, Article 6.

Singham, Mano “More Than ‘Millennials’: Colleges Must Look Beyond Generational Stereotypes” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 2009.

Hoover, Eric “The Millennial Muddle” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 2009.

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