Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations

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    Activism and leadership development: Examining the relationship between college student activism involvement and socially responsible leadership capacity
    (2010) Page, Jeremy Dale; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in student activism and leadership development among college students. This study applied the social change model of leadership development (SCM) as the theoretical model used to measure socially responsible leadership capacity in students. The study utilized data collected from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), a research project examining the influences of higher education on leadership development in college students across the country. The sample of 12,510 students consisted of respondents who participated in a sub-study on student activism within the MSL survey. Hierarchical multiple regression models were constructed to investigate the research question using an adapted version of Astin's (1991) I-E-O college impact model. Regression models included participant demographic characteristics, pre-college experiences, institutional descriptors, and consideration of select college experiences in examining the relationship between activism and leadership development. Results indicated that the regression models explained a significant amount of the variance in participant scores. Participation and holding a leadership position in on-campus and off-campus organizations, community service conducted on one's own, and participation in an internship emerged as significant predictors of socially responsible leadership capacity among the collegiate experiences included in the model. Participation in activism also emerged as significant, as awareness of local, national, and global issues indicated influence on all leadership development measures, and participating in protests, contacting public officials, signing a petition, and buying or not buying products due to personal views significantly contributed to measures of citizenship. These findings served to address the existing gap in the literature pertaining to the relationship of student activism and leadership development, and indicated the developmental and educational potential to providing these experiences for students on campus.
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    Interactional Diversity and the Role of a Supportive Racial Climate
    (2010) Cox, Leah Kendra; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Document: INTERACTIONAL DIVERSITY AND THE ROLE OF A SUPPORTIVE RACIAL CLIMATE Leah Kendra Cox Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Dissertation Directed By: Dr. Susan R. Komives, Professor Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study examines student's perception of the campus racial climate and interactional diversity at selective undergraduate liberal arts institutions through an examination of data collected in the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Student responses are selected from institutions identified as members of a specified group of Virginia peers and institutions identified as members of COPLAC. The primary variables used to assess climate and diversity include: class standing, race, gender, institution type, enrollment, location and compositional diversity (i.e., racial composition). Findings indicate that perceptions of the campus racial climate are primarily related to class standing. In addition, it was determined that a significant predictor of interactional diversity is student's perception of a supportive racial campus climate. Finally, findings lend initial credibility to the claim that seniors and females perceive a less supportive campus climate at some institutions.
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    Understanding Student Experiences and Learning in the Common Ground Multicultural Dialogue Program: A Case Study
    (2010) Mehta, Nicole; Quaye, Stephen J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This constructivist case study explored undergraduate students' experiences and learning as a result of their participation in the Common Ground Multicultural Dialogue Program at the University of Maryland. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) How do undergraduate students describe their learning and experiences as participants in Common Ground?; (2) How do undergraduate students describe their willingness and ability to engage in difficult dialogues as a result of participating in Common Ground? This study included seven participants from two Common Ground dialogue groups during the Fall 2009 semester. Data collection included semi-structured individual interviews and reflective essays written by the participants. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative method characteristic of grounded theory (Merriam, 2009). Five themes emerged from the analysis. The participants described the Common Ground Program's model, structure, and setting as central to their experience. The second theme dealt with students' perceptions of conflict, negotiating conflict within the dialogue, and self-censorship. The third theme incorporated the relationships between identity, experiences, and perspectives. Fourth, the participants illustrated cognitive development in their acknowledgement of multiple perspectives, recognition of peers as sources of learning, and comfort and value in challenging their own opinions. Lastly, the participants described their willingness to engage in dialogues on controversial topics and new approaches to dialogues based on their experiences in the Common Ground Program.
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    Undergraduate College Students' Perceived Sense of Civic Responsibility and Social Change Behaviors in the Context of Service, Advocacy, and Identity-Based Student Organizations
    (2010) Chowdhry, Chetan; Quaye, Stephen J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study utilized data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL) to explore the differences between college students involved with service, advocacy, and identity-based student organizations, as well as those not involved in any of these organizations, in their perceived sense of civic responsibility, as well as their frequency of engagement in social change behaviors. In addition, it explored the relationship between students' perceived sense of civic responsibility and their frequency of engagement in social change behaviors. The researcher utilized two one-way ANOVAs to see if there were significant differences in perceived sense of civic responsibility and frequency of engagement in social change behaviors among students who were involved exclusively in service, advocacy, or identity-based organizations, as well as students who were involved in a combination of these organizations, and students who did not participate in any of these organizations. The researcher found significant differences between students in the different organizations, with students in a combination of organizations and students involved exclusively in advocacy organizations having the highest mean scores on perceived sense of civic responsibility and frequency of engagement in social change behaviors. Students in identity-based organizations and those not involved in any of the organizations had the lowest mean scores on these two variables. In addition, the researcher found a positive, medium strength correlation between students' perceived sense of civic responsibility and frequency of engagement in social change behaviors among all of the involvement categories. Overall, this study provides important initial findings regarding the civic engagement characteristics of students involved in particular student organizations.
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    Removing the college involvement "research asterisk": Identifying and rethinking predictors of American Indian college student involvement
    (2010) Garland, John L.; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to identify campus environmental predictors of American Indian college student involvement. The American Indian research asterisk, or not including American Indian data, has prevailed over student development research for decades. As a result, student affairs professionals have been limited in their ability to develop evidence-based student development interventions for American Indian student involvement. This study addressed the research asterisk related to American Indian college student involvement through a quantitative multi-institutional study of 99 campuses with a total of 1,931 American Indian respondents. This study confirms many prior research study findings with American Indian college students that were limited in scope and context and where findings lacked transferability. Several key findings emerged from this research study including the importance of pre-college involvement in high school academic clubs and holding leadership positions as significant predictors of college student involvement. Mentor relationships with faculty and student affairs staff were also significant predictors of American Indian student involvement indicating the importance of these types of interactions for this population. Most importantly, a sense of belonging for American Indian students was quantitatively confirmed as a significant predictor of American Indian student involvement. The concept of involvement, however, should not be limited by its historical on-campus context and should be viewed as a dynamic process whereby American Indian students are provided an opportunity to shape an involvement experience that helps to maintain their sense of self and identity while promoting a sense of belonging and collegiate success.
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    Peer mentoring and leadership: Differences in leadership self-efficacy among students of differing peer mentoring relationships, genders, and academic class levels
    (2009) Smith, Meredith Ann; Clement, Linda M.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study examined the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership self-efficacy. The design of this study was an ex post facto analysis of a sub-study of 2006 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. The sample included 10,555 respondents from 52 institutions ranging in Carnegie classification type. The researcher utilized a one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to see if there was a significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between students who served as peer mentors and students who did not serve as peer mentors in college. The study found that students who served as peer mentors in college had a significantly higher leadership self-efficacy than non-peer mentors. Additionally, the study also examined the subset of respondents who identified as peer mentors in college. Utilizing a two-way ANCOVA, the researcher found no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between male and female peer mentors. The finding of no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between gender groups is important because past studies on college students have found that men typically report higher levels of leadership self-efficacy than women. The researcher did find significant differences for each class-standing group in same two-way ANCOVA. The post-hoc Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure showed that there was significance across all class-standing groups. Another important finding from this study was that students who had mentors in college were more likely to serve as mentors. This post-hoc analysis was computed through implementing a chi-square test for independence. The overall findings of this study add important foundational understanding of the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership in college students.
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    Academic Self-Efficacy for Sophomore Students in Living-Learning Programs
    (2009) Kamin, Melissa Ann; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis explored which pre-college background characteristics and in-college involvement experiences contributed to academic self-efficacy for sophomore students who participate in living-learning programs compared to sophomores who do not participate in living-learning programs. Using secondary data from the National Study of Living-Learning Programs, 4,700 sophomores were included in the analyses. Two hypotheses were tested. A t-test revealed a significant difference in academic self-efficacy for living-learning and non-living learning students. Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model was used as a guiding framework for the second hypothesis. Multiple regression analysis revealed that specific background characteristics, an academic self-efficacy pre-test measure, social environments, academic environments, and positive perceptions of residence hall climates accounted for 26.9% of the variance in academic self-efficacy for living-learning sophomores. For non-living-learning sophomores, these same factors accounted for 17.9% of the variance. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
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    "Haikus in the Subway": Understanding Student Meaning-Making of an Alternative Spring Break Trip
    (2009) Hui, Sarah Mei-Yen; Jones, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this constructivist case study was to investigate students' experiences on an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip and the meaning students made of the experience. The research questions guiding the study were: (a) What did students learn about themselves and others through their participation; (b) How did students' social identities interact with the contexts of the ASB immersion location and influence their experiences? In-depth data collection involved multiple sources of information, including post-trip semi-structured interviews, participant journals, and participant-observations. Data was analyzed through the constant comparison of data sources and analysis as themes emerged. Eleven participants and I traveled to Chicago during a week-long ASB experience focusing on affordable housing. Findings from this study include: (1) the intense immersion context of the trip and resulting disorientation and detachment; (2) the connections and complexities uncovered through interactions with community members, peers on the trip, and new perspectives; (3) a more complicated view of race in relation to the social issue and peer interactions; and (4) the challenges of reentry upon returning home.
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    THE ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC, PRE-COLLEGE, AND INVOLVEMENT FACTORS ON POSTSECONDARY ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS: FINDINGS FROM A NATIONAL STUDY.
    (2009) Thomas, Isaiah Jerome; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study explored whether factors, such as demographic characteristics, pre-college academic achievement (measured by self-reported high school grade point average), and college involvement have an influence on the postsecondary academic achievement of first-generation college students as measured by self-reported college grade point average. This study addressed first-generation college students who attend a four-year institution. This exploration used Astin's (1970; 1993) inputs-environments-outcomes model as a theoretical framework and utilized multiple regression for statistical analysis. The findings showed that the four blocks in the study explained approximately 12.4% of the variance of postsecondary academic achievement. Specifically, demographic characteristics and pre-college academic achievement explained the majority of the variance of postsecondary academic achievement. This study's findings cautiously offer practical implications for higher education administrators and researchers.
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    EXAMINING FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY IN COLLEGE STUDENT MILITARY PROGRAMS
    (2009) Wilson, Wendy L; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The current study examined the relationship between college experiences and socially responsible leadership with leadership self-efficacy for students who participate in military education programs. This study applied the social change model for leadership development, SCM, as the theoretical lens through which a socially responsible leadership process was understood in these programs. In addition, Astin's (1991) college impact model was applied to the design of the study in order to understand the relationship between involvement measures and leadership self-efficacy, an outcome of military education programs. This ex post facto study was a secondary analysis of data collected through the 2006 administration of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL). The MSL provided a national sample of 1413 students who indicated involvement in a military student group. These military education programs were defined broadly and included participation in Corps of Cadets and ROTC students. The findings of this study indicate significant differences between students who participate in military education programs and other college students in terms of leadership self-efficacy. Military students indicated greater efficacy for leadership even when differences in background were accounted for. Second, the values of socially responsible leadership and leadership self-efficacy were positively correlated for students who participate in military education programs. Finally, the conceptual model designed for this study to understand leadership self-efficacy for military students was able to explain 49% of the variance in the criterion variable. Several factors significantly contributed to leadership self-efficacy, including demographic characteristics, a leadership self-efficacy quasi-pre-test, academic classification, leadership experiences, and socially responsible leadership. The study provided support for leadership self-efficacy as an outcome for students who participate in military education programs, and the use of socially responsible leadership as a means to understand leadership self-efficacy for this population. The study also identified areas of the campus environment that might be incorporated and developed further within military education programs in order to take full advantage of the college environment.