College Students in the United States (Diversity & Generational)

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~halto20m/classweb/gendergap/addressing_the_gender_divide.html

Women's advantage in college graduation is evident at all socioeconomic levels and for most racial and ethnic groups. This study examines whether college experiences critical to persistence to graduation, including college major, attendance patterns, social integration, and academic performance, contribute to this gender gap in graduation.

The results show that attendance patterns and academic performance benefit women relative to men in college graduation while higher rates of participation in sports increase the likelihood of graduation for men compared to women.

-men had more disrupted attendance patterns
-women participated in more social and academic clubs than men
-women had higher GPA
-men are 21% less likely to graduate
-sports are more beneficial for men than women
-men are less academically integrated

Nationally, less than 1/3 of black undergraduate men earn bachelor's degrees within 6 years--the lowest college-completion rate among both sexes and all racial groups in US (Harper, 2012).

-Black undergraduate men are less prepared for the college-level work compared to peers from other races (Bonner & Bailey, 2006; Palmer, Davis, & Hilton, 2009). They are less engaged than others in college classrooms, clubs and campus and educational activities

what to do?
1. Data are used to guide institutional activities.
2. Black undergraduate men are meaningfully engaged as collaborators
3. Learning, academic achievement, student development, and improved degree attainment rates are prioritized over social programming (entertainment-like stuff).
4. Initiatives are grounded in published research on college men and masculinities in general and on black male undergraduates in particular.
5. Efforts are enhanced by insights from black male student achievers.
6. Institutional agents engage in honest conversations about racism
7. At every level, institutional agents are held accountable

This idea is the underpinning of Mr. Howe's conclusion that each generation turns a historical corner, breaking sharply with the previous generation's traits and values.

achieving
confident
conventional
pressured
special
sheltered
team-oriented

generational characteristics: each generation has its own biography

Changing student demographics
-Minorities, biracial, multiracial
-immigrants, ELLs
-access to college restricted
-sexual orientation-transgender
-different family structure

Attitudes towards diversity and social justice
-diversity: race and racism; gender sexism; sexual orientation
-political attitudes: civic engagement & social justice behaviors

typological schema is predictive of student outcomes in terms of self reported gains and future plans

the outcome for many of our student engagement and transformative learning intentions seem to be greatly influenced by the type of student we enroll

Many nonwhite students, he says, were not brought up to think of themselves as "special."

Many other kinds of students have not come from backgrounds where they felt safe, sheltered, and secure, or from schools that recognized their gifts and talents,"

"It's not that many diverse parents don't want to treat their kids as special," he says, "but they often don't have the social and cultural capital, the time and resources, to do that."

"self-esteem movement" has led to a rise in narcissism

"I see no evidence that today's young people feel much attachment to duty or to group cohesion." Ms. Twenge wrote.

"Young people have been consistently taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves."

Ms. Twenge defined Generation Me as anyone born in the 1970s through the 1990s. Born in 1971, the author thus included herself in this generation.

Using Typological Approaches to Understand College Student Experiences and Outcome (Hu & Li, 2011)

students grouped by similarities in preferences and predispositions (Clark & Trow, 1966) or values and attitudes (Astin, 1993) or activities, behaviors, and outcomes (Kuh, Hu & Vesper, 2000; Hu & McCormick, 2011)

10 college student typologies
based off of peer group influences/tendencies

snapshot of today's undergraduates
most diverse generation in history of US
less hate incidents
less interested in discussions about diversity
mitosis of student groups
females believe they have more opportunities
less polarization
greater homogeneity between race/ethnic /gender groups--more alike than separate
greater diversity within groups

they are coddled, dependent, entitled, immature, little involved on campus, connected but isolated
digital natives
lacking in F2F skills, pessimistic about the future in general but optimistic about their future, disenchanted

characteristics
trends in college enrollment
attitude and beliefs

75% of students have cheat but only 2% get caught

students don't feel it is wrong and don't feel that asking for a higher grade is wrong because they deserve it

Gross, Emma R. "Clashing values: contemporary views about cheating and plagiarism compared to traditional beliefs and practices." Education 132.2 (2011):

http://iiiprxy.library.miami.edu:2706/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA278759341&v=2.1&u=miami_richter&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Hsiao (1992) summarized that “parents, siblings, and friends who have no experience of college or its rewards may be non-supportive or even obstructionist.”

Brown, O. G. (1997). Helping African-American students prepare for college.

first gens lack parental support in attending college

http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/portals/0/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/documents/first-gen.pdf

Students from lower socio-economic status (SES) experience the bureaucratic sphere of the institution more acutely because these students quite often have less knowledge of what to expect and how things are done at university (Kuh & Love, 2000, p. 203).

First-generation learner part-time status was a result of their low socioeconomic status and their need to work to provide for themselves and pay their tuition (Ting, 2003).

latinos most likely to be first gens

"The needs and experiences of first-generation and lower-income students are likely to require intensive and intentional efforts to help them understand and navigate the culture and systems of any campus"

21% of enrolled Freshmen are first generation...

By 2005, the proportion of first- generation college students declined to 16.5 percent of all entering freshmen 38% of these are Hispanic (2005)

A 2010 study by the Department of Education found that 50 percent of the college population is made up of first-generation students, or those whose parents did not receive education beyond a high school diploma. The National Center for Education Statistics released numbers in 2010 that broke down the educational levels of parents of current college attendees. Minority groups made up the largest demographics of students with parents that had a high school education or less, with 48.5 percent of Latino and Hispanic students and 45 percent of Black or African-American students included. The parents of students of Asian descent came in at 32 percent with a high school diploma or less, and Native Americans at 35 percent. Of students that identified themselves as Caucasian, only 28 percent were first-generation college students.

30% of entering freshmen in the U.S. are first-generation college students, but many won't graduate. Huffington Post, 2013

IN THIS AGE OF CONSUMERISM, WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF “GIVING STUDENTS WHAT THEY WANT?”
Have it Your Way U—Tracy Davis, Western Illinois University
Response—Lisa Boes, Harvard University