People, Place, and Connections: Black Cultural Center Staff as Facilitators of Social Capital

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-59
Author(s):  
Liane I. Hypolite
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Cultural Center ◽  
Center Staff ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Campus Services ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Black Cultural Centers

Black cultural centers (BCCs) have served students on college campuses across the country for over 50 years, but empirical research about the benefits they offer Black students, beyond examples referenced in the conceptual and historical literature, remains limited. As the relevance of BCCs has come into question given financial constraints, more diverse student bodies, and a shift to discontinuing race-specific cultural centers in favor of multicultural centers, rigorous studies about their contributions are needed. Through an ethnographic approach, this investigation explores how a BCC site and its staff act as institutional, cultural, and entrepreneurial agents by facilitating the development of social capital among Black undergraduate students. They do this by (a) serving as conduits for campus services that struggle to reach Black undergraduate students, (b) strategically coordinating resources and relationships among Black organizations to meet the needs of the Black community, and (c) collaborating with peer cultural/identity centers to streamline efforts.

What is Ethnography? Teaching ethnographic sensibilities without fieldwork

Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole McGranahan
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Learn By Doing ◽  
Do So

How do we teach undergraduate students to think ethnographically, to recognize something as ethnographic and not just as qualitative? Importantly, how do we do so not in the field, where students might learn by doing their own research, but in the static classroom? One approach is to have students cultivate a concept, awareness, and practice of an ethnographic sensibility, that is, of a sense of the ethnographic as the lived expectations, complexities, contradictions, possibilities, and ground of any given cultural group. Such a view opens up an understanding of ethnography and ethnographic research as more than available qualitative methods. Instead, it takes an ethnographic approach to be an epistemological one. Yet, how might we do this? In this article, I discuss my pedagogical strategies for teaching students an ethnographic sensibility without having them conduct fieldwork. I argue that it is both possible and valuable to generate an ethnographic sensibility in the classroom. 

Hearing Vocation Differently

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Affective Learning ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Multiple Voices ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
The Relationship

Colleges and universities have begun using the language of vocation and calling to help undergraduates think about the future direction of their lives. This language has been employed in both secular and religious contexts, but it has deep roots in a specific theological tradition. Given the increasingly multi-faith context of undergraduate life, many have asked whether this originally Christian terminology can truly become a new vocabulary for higher education. This volume’s 13 contributing scholars identify with a wide variety of faith traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. Some claim more than one tradition; others would claim none. Rather than seeking to “translate” Christian language into other perspectives, they reflect on various facets of vocation from the standpoint of their own traditions. Both individually and collectively, they seek to expand the range of vocational reflection and discernment well beyond its traditional Christian origins, addressing themes such as religious pluralism and difference, the importance of multiple voices, the role of affective learning, the relationship between process and result, and the development of an integrated life. The authors recognize that all undergraduate students—regardless of their academic field, religious background, or demographic identity—need to make space for reflection, to overcome obstacles to vocational discernment, and to consider the significance of their own narratives, beliefs, and practices. Accomplishing these goals will require college campuses to reimagine their curricular and co-curricular programming in order to support their students’ interfaith reflections on issues of meaning and purpose, as well as personal identity.

scholarly journals The influence of expressive and instrumental social capital from parents on women and underrepresented minority students’ declaration and persistence in engineering majors

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Puccia ◽  
Julie P. Martin ◽  
Chrystal A. S. Smith ◽  
Gladis Kersaint ◽  
Rebecca Campbell-Montalvo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
White Women ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Engineering Majors ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Parental Encouragement ◽  
And Mathematics

Abstract Background Social capital, defined as the people one knows and the resources available through that network of people, has been a key variable in research examining the participation of women and underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study focuses on two types of social capital: instrumental (concrete advice and resources) and expressive (emotional support and encouragement). The analysis of interviews with 55 White women and women and men underrepresented minority engineering undergraduate students shows how the instrumental and expressive social capital received from parents influenced their students’ declaration of and persistence in the engineering major. Within this analysis, we considered students’ transition to adulthood and the corresponding expectation that parents would still provide support but allow their children to independently determine their own paths. Results Participants shared the advice they received from people in their social networks, with the majority of participants highlighting parents as a major contributor of instrumental and expressive social capital. Instrumental social capital was helpful in students’ major declarations and offered them an opportunity to further develop their interests and aptitude in STEM as well as a pathway for obtaining an engineering degree. During the first year of their engineering major, students relied heavily on the expressive social capital of parents when considering whether to stay in engineering; parental encouragement of “you can do it” became a common resource. Conclusions These findings offer nuance to explanations of social capital’s influence on STEM degree major declaration and persistence, which often use deficit approaches. In highlighting the resources of social capital, especially expressive support, this work offers educators a new frame of reference for building upon the valuable advice offered by parents to their children completing engineering majors.

Perspectives From a Multicultural Affairs Office Professional

2021 ◽  
pp. 240-259
Author(s):  
Tristen Brenaé Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
State University ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Public Recognition ◽  
Black Cultural Centers ◽  
Multicultural Affairs

The purpose of this chapter is to contextualize the challenges that the office of multicultural affairs staff at one state university experienced while moving to virtual learning formats. This study seeks to offer four specific recommendations and best practices for both multicultural affairs offices/centers and higher education institutions, in general, to ensure that students who utilize these virtual format spaces will continue to develop a sense of belonging within the institution. The author historicizes the formation of Black cultural centers and their development into multicultural affairs, tracks the public recognition of the essential importance of these centers and diversity and inclusion programming, and outlines the issues and problems the OMA staff faced in virtually providing a continued and ongoing sense of belonging for diverse students and staff. Higher education institutions can use these recommendations to inform the future of virtual multicultural affairs offices.

Campus Sexual Violence Victims with Disabilities: Disclosure and Help Seeking

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052096714
Author(s):  
Anne Kirkner ◽  
Sara-Beth Plummer ◽  
Patricia A. Findley ◽  
Sarah McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Campus Climate ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
Sources Of Support ◽  
The University

Undergraduate students with disabilities represent an important population on college campuses. Yet the incidence of sexual violence and disclosing/reporting of sexual violence among this population is understudied. This exploratory and largely descriptive study uses an intersectional framework to understand the sexual victimization of undergraduate students with disabilities at a large Mid-Atlantic academic institution. The sample consisted of students who completed a sexual violence module ( N = 2,929) as part of a larger campus climate survey. Students with disabilities comprised a smaller sample within this group ( n = 177) and descriptive and chi-square results from both groups of students are reported. Students with disabilities had a statistically significant higher likelihood of sexual violence victimization before coming to campus and while at the university, with much higher rates for precollege victimization than students with no disabilities. Disclosure rates were not different for students across the two groups, though students with disabilities were more likely to utilize formal sources of support, such as campus Title IX offices and mental health services. This study shows support for a strengths-based approach that recognizes that students with disabilities may be more likely to reach out to campus resources. The findings of the study also underscore the need for culturally relevant victim services for students with disabilities. An evaluation of the culture of a university and its environment of openness, sharing, community, and protection (or lack thereof) can be a key point for future approaches to sexual violence on campus.

Students as Prosocial Bystanders to Sexual Assault: Demographic Correlates of Intervention Norms, Intentions, and Missed Opportunities

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 731-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill C. Hoxmeier ◽  
Alan C. Acock ◽  
Brian R. Flay
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Athletic Participation ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Bystander Behavior ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Major Public Health Issue ◽  
Demographic Correlates ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Sexual assault is a major public health issue. Bystander engagement programs are becoming widely used to combat sexual assault on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ intervention norms, intentions, opportunities, and behaviors as bystanders to sexual assault. Undergraduate students ( N = 779) completed the Sexual Assault Bystander Behavior Questionnaire in the fall of 2014. The t tests revealed differences in students’ intervention norms, intentions, opportunities, and missed opportunities based on sex, race/ethnicity, athletic participation, and fraternity/sorority membership. The findings support the use of additional measures to assess bystander behavior and to identify student subpopulations that may benefit from programs aimed at increasing prosocial intervention.

scholarly journals Drinking Behavior Among College Students: Interventions to Increase Mindfulness and Social Capital

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna C Anderson ◽  
Antonio J. Gardner ◽  
Barry Hunt
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Drinking Behavior ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Risky Drinking ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Student Drinking ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Drinking Behaviors

The impacts of drinking behaviors are far-reaching, with college student drinking contributing to over 1,500 deaths and an estimated 696,000 assaults on college campuses each year (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2019). There are a variety of explanations to explain why college students engage in risky drinking behaviors. However, there is evidence to suggest that drinking and other substance use may be a result of complex psychological origins, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This paper reviews the literature available on ACEs among college students, how these experiences impact alcohol use among this population, and potential areas for intervention, including those with a focus on mindfulness and social capital.

scholarly journals Meningococcal Meningitis in College Students at United States Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Mikafui Dzotsi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Meningococcal Meningitis ◽  
Center Staff ◽  
Control Programs ◽  
Serotype B ◽  
Improved Methods ◽  
Review Current

The purpose of this study was to review current United States (US) university meningitis prevention and awareness efforts for college students with the objective of finding improved methods for meningitis control on college campuses. Meningococcal meningitis cases occurring amongst the students at 45 US universities, reported by the National Meningitis Association between 2013-2017, were reviewed. Apart from analyzing the incidence of meningococcal serotype cases and prevention protocols at the 45 US universities, interviews were conducted with university health directors and health center staff to assess the nature of meningitis control programs on college campuses. the 45 US universities reported between the years, 2013-2017, 20 universities had cases of Meningococcal meningitis serotype B (Men B) while 25 universities had cases of serotype A (Men A), C (Men C), W (Men W), or Y (Men Y). Among 80 cases across all US universities, there were 11 deaths for a case fatality rate of 11/80 (14%). While all universities adhere to state requirements of immunization against serotypes A, C, W and Y, the vaccine for Men B was only recently FDA approved and is not widely used. Further review of some university meningitis prevention and awareness efforts reveal a trend in more passive (e.g. posters, pamphlets, health portal guidance) approaches, while the uptake of active campaign efforts (e.g. vaccination drives, presentations) are not always prioritized until outbreaks occur. KEYWORDS: Awareness; Epidemiology; Disease; Meningococcal; Prevention; Serotype; University; Vaccination

scholarly journals Students’ Perceptions of Ethnic and Multicultural Centers

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Kenneth A Reid ◽  
Stanley S Ebede
Keyword(s):  
Predominantly White ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Predominantly White Institutions ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Cultural Center ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Method Approach

Cultural centers are historically known for successfully serving the greater responsibility of supporting minority students and sharing their culture, traditions, and values with the larger campus community. Despite their previous successes, recent research suggests that culture centers are now losing their effectiveness and are no longer resonating with students. Furthermore, there has not been any research to examine the state of general ethnic and multi- cultural centers since their evolution in the late ‘90s. Nor, has anyone published research that analyzes students’ perceptions towards helping identify recommendations for cultural center success. This preliminary research study examines students’ perceptions of ethnic and multicultural centers at predominantly white institutions. This study will specifically evaluate students’ beliefs on the purpose, impact, and future of cultural centers at predominantly white institutions with a minority population of seventeen percent or less. Using a mixed method approach, student responses were analyzed and also resulted in themes that coincide with the initial purpose of cultural centers back in the late 1960s. This research study suggests that students do understand the purpose of cultural centers and there is a need to investigate the disconnection between students’ perceptions of cultural center and the actual implications of these same centers. 

Prevalence of Sexual Victimization Among Female and Male College Students: A Methodological Note With Data

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052097819
Author(s):  
Ernest N. Jouriles ◽  
Jamie Nguyen ◽  
Alison Krauss ◽  
S. Lynne Stokes ◽  
Renee McDonald
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Recruitment Methods ◽  
Male College ◽  
Victimization Rates ◽  
Male College Students

This study provides insight on how sample recruitment methods may affect reported rates of sexual victimization on college campuses. The study compares sexual victimization rates among students who complete surveys after initial requests with those who complete them only after multiple reminders. Using probability sampling methods, undergraduate students from 12 universities were invited to complete a survey on campus violence; initial invitations were followed with up to five reminders. Women ( n = 1,008) and men ( n = 344) who completed surveys were categorized as early, middle, or late responders based on the number of reminders required to convert them from non-responders to responders. About 24.2% of women and 15.6% of men reported sexual victimization in the previous two months. In initial analyses, female early and late responders did not differ on sexual victimization, but males did. Male late responders reported higher rates of sexual victimization than early responders. In sensitivity analyses that re-defined early and late responders, women who were early responders reported more sexual victimization than women who were late responders, while men who were early responders reported less sexual victimization than men who were late responders. These findings suggest that researchers may underestimate sexual victimization rates for male college students unless multiple attempts are made to solicit their participation. Researchers are encouraged to utilize multiple reminders to increase research participation.

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