Academic literature on the topic 'College students – United States – Social life and customs'

In our national perception, education is essential for all; this is fundamental to our all-round development, material and spiritual. Education has an acculturating role. It refines sensitivities and perception that contribute to national cohesion, a scientific temper and independence of mind and spirit. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial and religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. Since religion is one phase of people ’s culture groups of this type may be classified with ethnic minorities. Thus, Hindu are minorities in Pakistan, Muslim in India protestants in Italy, and Roman Catholics in the United States. Thus, the minorities, group of people who are held together by ties of common descent, physical characteristics, tradition, custom, language or religion or any combination of these and who in relation to some other group with which they are associated, occupy a subordinate status, receive differential treatment, and are excluded from full participation in the life and culture of the society of which they are a part. In the present work, an attempt has made to mirror the social and higher educational status of Muslim women by selecting Research topic Higher Education, policy Research and community development, A case study of Muslim female college students at Gulbarga city.

This study addresses the need for information helpful in retaining international college students studying in the United States. This research compares the adjustment of 182 international students to a comparison sample of American students to determine whether students coming to the United States from abroad have greater difficulty adjusting to college life. International students are more likely to feel lonely, homesick, and as if they had left part of themselves at home. In addition, this study confirms the importance of social network in the adjustment of international students (but not Americans) although the number of close friends does not predict whether an international student is satisfied with his or her social network. The implications for administrators working to retain international students are discussed.

The problems of the new cultural and educational environment are being faced by a rising number of Chinese overseas students attending American universities.Through analyzing the existing literature, this paper reviews and compares the challenges posed by individual and social factors to Chinese international students' American college life. Firstly, in order to study the various components of individual and social issues that contribute to difficulties for Chinese international students integrating into the American campus, this paper first explores six perspectives. Secondly, by comparing the different aspects, the article emphasizes that social challenges should be considered by international education institutions as a more general aspect of challenges. By understanding the impact of different types of challenges on Chinese international students, international education institutions, including U.S. universities and Chinese international schools, can act more directly and accurately which can assist this student population to better integrate into campus life.

The Quality of Student Life Questionnaire (QSLQ) was used to collect data on 946 students in eight colleges and universities in Japan and the United States. A series of 2 × 2 × 2 analyses of variance on total scores and four factors (Sa tisfaction, Competence/Productivity, Independence, and Social Belonging) were completed, comparing scores by gender, type of school (four-year vs. two-year) and nationality.For total quality of life scores, main effects were found for country (American scores were higher) and type of school (scores were higher for four-year colleges). Analysis of factor scores showed main effects for country (higher scores for American students) on all factors except Independence. These results are discussed in the context of differing cultural values and assumptions. Japanese and American views vary considerably, for example, on such issues as individuality, the role of groups, and perception of self. These differences must be considered in interpretation of cross-cultural findings.

Attitudes toward suicide, as assessed by the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ), were evaluated in samples of New Zealand ( N = 236) and United States ( N = 248) college students. Substantial differences were found, with New Zealand students attitudinally perceiving to a greater degree a relationship between suicide and mental illness, perceiving suicide as less serious, agreeing with the right to take one's life, and seeing suicide in a more religious context and as a less impulsive, less “normal,” and more moral action.

<span>Low income American students from families where neither parent has attended college are at high risk of dropping after high school. To help these students begin college, graduate and move on to participate more fully in the economic and social life of the United States, Congress established the TRIO (three) program in 1965. Currently, over 2000 projects are hosted at over 1200 post-secondary institutions and more than 100 community agencies.</span>

The United States immigration policy Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which protects some individuals from deportation was enacted in 2012, phased out in 2017 and is now under court challenges. There are still thousands of DACA students currently in higher education. The article highlights promising practices that professors and universities can put in place to support DACA students in the United States. Several semi-structured interviews were conducted with DACA students and Dream Center Directors in California universities to gauge students’ barriers and bridges to their higher education success. DACA students articulated public policy suggestions that universities and professors can immediately enact and have tangible results. Three themes were revealed in the interview data: the need for teacher knowledge, diversity of DACA student experiences, and for actions. These were explained as (1) knowledge of student’s lives, and, conversely, students’ access to information necessary for navigating college life; (2) the diversity of students’ life stories and experiences of trauma suffered during and after DACA rescinding decision; and (3) actions that should be taken by the faculty, staff, and the university community that would help students succeed academically.

The Chinese undergraduate student population currently represents 12.8% of all international students enrolled in the United States (Institute for International Education, 2015a). In an effort to understand the experiences of this population in their first year of college in the United States, a phenomenological study was conducted using a conceptual framework comprising Schlossberg’s Transition Model (Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, 1995) and the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Model (Museus, 2014). Three transition types were identified – academic, social/personal, and linguistic – and participants’ preparation, sources of institutional support, and coping strategies for moving through these transitions were examined. Recommendations for practice include: multi-faceted, mandatory orientation programs; ongoing workshops and resources beyond orientation; and improvements to housing and residential life opportunities and experiences.

The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of grief among American and Arab female undergraduate students, the effects of their grief, and risk of prolonged grief disorder. A total of 471 female undergraduate students, 308 (65.4%) from the United Arab Emirates and 163 (34.6%) from the United States, completed a survey about their grief experiences. Students experiencing a significant loss also completed the Prolonged Grief Disorder Questionnaire. Findings revealed that overall approximately 38.4% ( n = 181) of all 471 students experienced the loss of a significant person in their lives within the past 24 months; a similar percentage was found in each sub group. Students reported various grief effects with American students experiencing more effects related to sleep, relationships, academics, physical well-being, religion/spirituality, and outlook on life than Arab students. Only a small number (10, 5.52%) of students met the criteria for prolonged grief disorder; however, most students were female Arab students. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are provided.

Objective: The current study investigates the effects of an alcohol-prevention program delivered to college students in a formal classroom setting. Participants: The sample comprised 231 first-year college students who enrolled in a multisection “First Year Experience” course at a large northeastern university in the United States. Method: A naturalistic experiment was conducted, with a baseline evaluation at the beginning of the semester and a post-experiment evaluation near the end of the semester. Results: Social drinking attitudes, proximal drinking norm and the college effect are significant predictors of pre- and post-intervention episodic drinking frequency. The intervention reduced episodic drinking frequency as well as perceived distal and proximal drinking norms. It also increased drinking attitudes and did not change perceived efficacy or drinking-outcome expectancies. Conclusions: Practitioners could consider implementing a similar intervention to allow students to learn and practice safe drinking skills in the first year of their college life.

This study examines stereotypes of fraternities and sororities in the media. Recently the media, particularly movies and television, has produced numerous portrayals of fraternal organi zations. Through thi s study a content analysis of the television show GREEK from ABC Family was conducted. The first seven episodes were analyzed answer the following questions: Were stereotypes of fratern ities and sororities pmirayed through these episodes? If so, what were the stereotypes? Five stereotypes were studied for fraternities and six for sororities. Definitions of the chosen stereotypes are identified in the literature and recorded. Tally markers were used to tabulate each portrayal of stereotypes. An average of the three viewings was then calculated to help maximize the reliability of this study. The results were further manipulated to determine the frequency of both the fraternity and sorority stereotypes individually as well as together. Stereotypes were found throughout the television series. Fraternity stereotypes were recorded more often than sorority stereotypes. This study allows us to better understand the portrayals of fraternity and sorority life as shown in GREEK.

This study explored how students utilized spirituality as an effective coping mechanism for the stress they faced while in the Master's of Social Work program at California State University, San Bernardino. A stress and spirituality scale was used to measure each student's spirituality and perceived stress. Most students stated that spirituality and religious activity was helpful in coping with the stress of the MSW program. In addition, spirituality was found to have a strong positive impact on a person's abilities to cope with the stress of the program.

AbstractIn the summer of 2019, Vassar hosted its New Americans Summer Program. For two weeks, eighteen high school students came together to take academic classes, engage in artistic projects, and explore life on a liberal arts college campus, where they learned about possible courses of study and prepared for higher education. Participants, who had arrived in the United States within the previous two to three years, brought with them knowledge gleaned from Afghanistan, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, and other nations. Participants completed STEM and humanities coursework, experimented with digital storytelling and filmmaking, painted a mural with the help of a guest artist, learned about the college admissions process, and joined social activities on campus as well as weekend field trips.

First-generation (F.G.) university students whose parents did not attend college comprise 30-50% of those pursuing higher education in the United States. Research suggests that compared with those whose parents attended college, F.G. students are less likely to graduate. American universities reflect upper middle class values, implying that academic success requires students' independence from family. Previous research suggests that F.G., compared with non-F.G. students, place a greater value on interdependence relative to independence. The current study was a multi-method investigation involving quantitative and qualitative assessment approaches. Specifically, on standardized measures, F.G. students scored significantly higher on the Communal Orientation Scale, reflecting norms of social reciprocity and attentiveness to others. Results of qualitative interviews indicated that F.G. students are often self-conscious about their family status more likely to experience university culture as ambiguous and frequently overwhelming and lack a knowledgeable support system.

Students with disability identities face a variety of obstacles navigating college in the United States. Therefore, this chapter examines how empathy can guide educators to support students with disabilities more effectively, design strategic measures to address issues of access, accommodations, and increase inclusion in campus life. Utilizing empathy requires educators to fully understand the student's perspective and their lived experience. Consequently, empathy is critical to meeting the needs of students with disabilities, since disability status is often misunderstood. Empathic educators can create more equitable outcomes for students with disabilities by understanding (1) their own awareness of disability; (2) disability accommodations; (3) disability identity; (4) the intersection of disability, racial, and social identities; and (5) the application of Universal Design Theory.

The Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, in collaboration with the organization Where There Be Dragons, created the Tufts Civic Semester program. This is a transformational, first-semester program that combines an academic and experiential learning experience away from the Tufts campus, and there are different themes and core elements depending on the site location, including environmental sustainability, indigenous sovereignty, and immigrant rights. Each year, cohorts of 8-12 students spend their first semester as a living learning community engaging with community organizations and building civic skills to promote equity and justice. The program has run in Urubamba, Peru and the Southwestern United States to date, with plans of expansion to additional global locations. This chapter will provide information on program themes, including global perspective taking and developing personal social responsibility, program logistics, and program evaluation.

The recruitment of African American males into chosen professions in the United States of America is an increasing challenge at national, state, and local levels. Gender and racial disparities between teachers in this country and the students they teach are present in classrooms. This chapter examines the Marygrove College's Griot program as an initiative established to address the underrepresentation of African American males in additional designated occupations. The philosophy and heritage from which the Griot Program was developed, along with key events and decisions throughout its life span are discussed. Model African American initiatives that can help shape Griot's future as it tries to increase the recruitment, retention, and success of African American men in graduate school to assume leadership roles in human resource management, in social justice, as well as in education are also presented.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.