College students as catalysts for social change: a case study
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- Family Influences
- Self-Efficacy
- Student Development
Networked Knowledge EraThis concept of shared leadership is supported by the social factor of almost instant access to information, making it possible for almost anyone in an organization to influence key decisions more directly (Tapscott, 1996). Just as the interstate highway system and airplanes influenced the ability of the earlier civil rights movement, allowing speakers to appear on numerous campuses to share their views, so the Internet (fiber optic highway) now connects student movements in richer, more immediate ways. This is also referred to as the networked knowledge era (Allen & Cherrey, 2000). Students can instantly be connected to each other with the Internet, cell phones and text messaging and video posting using YouTube. An example of this is police brutality that has been “captured” by cell phones and posted on YouTube instantly allowing others to see an incident that previously might have gone unnoticed. Rheingold refers to these groups as “smart mobs” (Rheingold, 2003, p. i) and he believes in the tremendous power and influence they have through the use of technology. Another change is the manner in which activism is carried out, rather than (or in addition to) protesting and taking over buildings, students use other methods. To garner attention regarding concerns students “go public” with an issue, seeking press and external exposure for the topic and using e-mail protests to express displeasure (Levine & Cureton, 1998). Family InfluencesSince the founders started SLP immediately in their freshman year, a strong familial influence at the time of the founding is a logical assumption. Research has looked into the influence of family, socialization, and early life experiences in the development of leadership, learning and efficacy (Schmeck & Nguyen, 1996; Barton, 1984). The findings support the supposition that children raised with supportive and nurturing parents, attempt more leadership activities and those experiences in the family influence the child to seek leadership opportunities and social success (Bass, 1990; Gibbons, 1986). Sears (1991) and Gardner (1990) both assert that personal traits, skills, and behaviors linked with leadership are shaped by adolescent experiences and parental support. In another study by Zacharatos, Barling & Kelloway (2000), adolescents who identify their parents as exhibiting certain leadership characteristics would themselves display these characteristics. In addition, findings by Gilman, Huebner, and Laughlin (2000) suggest a higher involvement in extra-curricular activities by students who have enjoyed family support. There can be additional instrumental people, other than parents, who can influence leadership as well. Hartman and Harris (1992) discovered that the perceived leadership behaviors of the person most influential in the student’s young life—whether sibling, parent, grand-parent, coach or teacher—strongly influenced the style of leadership reported by the student. Popper & Mayseless (2003) more recent findings suggest that positive early family relationships help students become effective group leaders and that leadership dynamics often reflect learned family roles. Family influences showed up as a category quite clearly with SLP and will be explored further in chapter four. Self-EfficacyStudents have been influenced by a number of factors, such as family members, and do not come into college as blank disks, instead bringing previous experiences in order to continue to develop as change agents. First-year college students who were highly involved in high school had higher self-efficacy in the four areas studied—academics, athletics, leadership, and music (Peters & Brown, 1991). All of the four founders of SLP were involved in all of these four areas as well. The work of Astin (1993) shows that changes in leadership during college are associated with continued involvement. This involvement can come from student government, internships, athletics, clubs and organizations, sorority or fraternity membership. Astin refers to this as the IEO model. I is for inputs, which are the personal traits and characteristics that students bring to campus. E is environment, which is the variety of educational experiences or involvements students may engage in on campus. O is the outputs or the “talents” universities seek to instill in their students. Gardner (1990) further argues that leadership is not developed by training sessions but rather obtained through living a life. This phenomenon was labeled by Bandura (1997) as vicarious observation and identified as an important mode of influence for self-efficacy in leadership. Through these various experiences and vicarious observations, the students develop a core set of beliefs. SLP through the Make a Difference model provides many experiences and also vicarious observations of the lives of individuals in the communities that the students visit. Covey (1992) claims change agents will not be effective if they are lacking this core set of beliefs. The reflection that happens on the Make a Difference tours encourages students to process the experience further developing this core set of beliefs and in some cases challenging previous beliefs. Student DevelopmentSince my research focused on SLP, which is a college student initiated movement, looking at developmental issues related to students was central. The works of Chickering and Reisser (1993), Erickson (1968), and Levinson and Levinson (1996) all address psychosocial identity formation. A contextual factor that impacts this case study research is the fact that the founders are all in their late adolescent and early adult phase of life. Erickson (1968) described this as a time when young adults “qualitatively change their thinking, feeling, behaving, valuing, and relating to others and oneself” (quoted in Chickering & Reisser, 1993, p. 2). Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) seven vectors are defined as developing competence, managing emotions, moving through autonomy toward interdependence, developing mature interpersonal relationships, establishing identity and developing purpose (p. 38-39). The seven vectors represent pathways to development as opposed to stages of development. Students move along each vector at different times and at varying paces, but eventually all journey each vector. Developmentally, the founders of SLP are in the midst of these life experiences. Other key theories to the development of college-age students include cognitive-structural theories and typology theories. These theories stress the importance of heredity and environment in intellectual and cognitive development. Other theorists who have shaped higher education perspectives of cognitive development include Perry (1968), Kohlberg (1969) and King and Kitchener (1994). Cognitive-structural theorists examining intellectual and moral development have focused on gender differences through work of Gilligan (1982) and Baxter Magolda (1992). The feminist and racial equality movements reviewed earlier have impacted this generation. In particular, various unique dimensions of identity are formed depending on ethnicity and gender. 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