Are You There God? It’s Me, a College Student: Religious Beliefs and Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 2111-2137 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Wesley Routon ◽  
Jay K. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Programs Of Study ◽  
Service Attendance

Abstract Drawing data from a longitudinal survey of college students from 514 institutions of higher education, we add to the discussion on the education–religion puzzle by providing information on specifically which college students experience the most religiosity change, investigating multiple change measures (conviction strength, service attendance, and religious identity), and estimating which programs of study and collegiate experiences cause the most change. We also provide an analysis of students who seek or initially sought an occupation within the clergy. Among our findings, 56% of students report changes in the strength of their religious convictions during college, while 45% report changes in religious service attendance frequency. Of those who matriculate as religious, about 9% lose their religion by graduation. Of those who matriculate with no religious identity, an impressive 33% graduate with one. Choice of institution, major of study, academic success, and many other collegiate experiences are shown to be determinants of these changes.

How Religious Identity Shapes Survey Responses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Identity Processes ◽  
Survey Error ◽  
Religious Behaviors ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Service Attendance

This chapter reviews recent research on the measurement of religious behaviors, particularly the overreporting of religious service attendance on surveys. Conventional understandings of this survey error apply a theoretical explanation known as “impression management.” According to this explanation, the respondent exaggerates his or her frequency of religious service attendance to a survey interviewer in order to appear socially desirable. Thus, this approach suggests, self-administered surveys, like those completed by mail or web, will allow unbiased measurement. However, recent research has demonstrated that substantial and significant bias emerges even in self-administered surveys, calling into question this conventional understanding. This research has thus proposed that error in religious measures is founded in the identity processes, an explanation that better fits the findings. The chapter argues that religious respondents pragmatically interpret questions about behaviors to be instead about their identities as religious individuals.

scholarly journals Christian Nationalism and Views of Immigrants in the United States: Is the Relationship Stronger for the Religiously Inactive?

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312098511
Author(s):  
Samuel Stroope ◽  
Heather M. Rackin ◽  
Paul Froese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Christian Nationalism ◽  
Service Attendance

Previous research has shown that Christian nationalism is linked to nativism and immigrant animus, while religious service attendance is associated with pro-immigrant views. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between religious ideologies and practices when considering how religion affects politics. Using a national sample of U.S. adults, we analyze immigrant views by measuring levels of agreement or disagreement that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are “mostly dangerous criminals.” We find that Christian nationalism is inversely related to pro-immigrant views for both the religiously active and inactive. However, strongly pro-immigrant views are less likely and anti-immigrant views are more likely among strong Christian nationalists who are religiously inactive compared with strong Christian nationalists who are religiously active. These results illustrate how religious nationalism can weaken tolerance and heighten intolerance most noticeably when untethered from religious communities.

scholarly journals Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. e0207778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Li ◽  
Laura D. Kubzansky ◽  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Late Life ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Service Attendance

“Helping Me Learn New Things Every Day”: The Power of Community College Students’ Writing Across Genres

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-76
Author(s):  
Tanzina Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Community College ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Community College Students ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Diverse Students ◽  
Linguistically Diverse Students ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Genre Knowledge

Although community colleges are important entry points into higher education for many American students, few studies have investigated how community college students engage with different genres or develop genre knowledge. Even fewer have connected students’ genre knowledge to their academic performance. The present article discusses how 104 ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse students reported on classroom genre experiences and wrote stories about college across three narrative genres (Letter, Best Experience, Worst Experience). Findings suggest that students’ engagement with classroom genres in community college helped them develop rhetorical reading and writing skills. When students wrote about their college lives across narrative genres, they reflected on higher education in varied ways to achieve differing sociocultural goals with distinct audiences. Finally, students’ experience with classroom and narrative genres predicted their GPA, implying that students’ genre knowledge signals and influences their academic success. These findings demonstrate how diverse students attending community college can use genres as resources to further their social and academic development.

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