Student Experience

STUDENT EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL ISSUES AND CORRELATIONS WITH VOTING: Gauging the Impact on Economically Disadvantaged Students at Major Public American Universities by V. Porterfield CSHE 5.17 (April 2017)

V. Porterfield
2017

Higher levels of civic and community engagement in higher education are positively associated with students’ academic performance and they also build upon citizenship skills such as informed voting. Yet, while these are worthy and important outcomes of higher education, students from disadvantaged backgrounds can have more difficulty navigating civic engagement. Focusing on students at thirteen major public universities in the United States, and utilizing survey data generated by the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium, this study suggest social perspective-...

WEALTH, COST, AND THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERIENCE AT LARGE PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES

Steve Chatman
2011

Relying primarily on the responses of a proportionally weighted sample of undergraduate students attending eighteen major public research universities (N > 300K, responses from > 130K, n > 40K) that are part of the Student Experience in the Research University Consortium, this paper concludes that students from households at all income levels have been impacted by the increasing expense of higher education. The large majority of students from households at all income levels have changed behaviors to make college more affordable. However, the most remarkable result was that...

ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES AND THE UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE: Rethinking Bok’s “Underachieving Colleges” Thesis

Steven G. Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
2011

Using data from the 2008 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey, we show that study time and academic conscientiousness were lower among students in humanities and social science majors than among students in science and engineering majors. Analytical and critical thinking experiences were no more evident among humanities and social sciences majors than among science and engineering majors. All three academically beneficial experiences were, however, strongly related to participation in class and interaction with instructors, and participation was more common among...

DO I BELONG HERE? Exploring Immigrant College Student Responses on the SERU Survey Sense of Belonging/Satisfaction Factor

Michael J. Stebleton
Ronald L. Huesman, Jr.
Aliya Kuzhabekova
2010

The immigrant college student population will likely continue to increase. This exploratory study addresses the questions: To what extent does sense of belonging/satisfaction of recent immigrant college students differ from non-immigrant college students? Do perceived self-ratings of belonging vary by immigrant generations? This research draws on a new extensive data source, the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey. Survey data from the 2009 SERU is based on the responses from 55,433 undergraduate students from six-large research institutions from across the...

ENGAGED LEARNING IN A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY: Trends in the Undergraduate Experience. Report on the Results of the 2008 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey

Steven G. Brint
John Aubrey Douglass
Gregg Thomson
Steven Chatman
2010

Co-written by the SERU Research Team of Steven Brint, John Aubrey Douglass, Gregg Thomson, and Steve Chatman, this year’s report offers two new areas for analysis – the extent of research engagement among undergraduates at UC, and data on student self-assessed learning gains. Among their findings:

Transfer Student Experiences and Success at Berkeley

Sereeta Alexander
Debbie Ellis
Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton
2009

The current study focuses on the stigmatization and psychosocial experiences of community college transfer students within the university setting. Two hundred and sixty-three students nearing the completion of their studies at UC Berkeley responded to a series of open-ended questions about their academic, social, and psychological experiences at the university. Results indicate that nearly one-fifth of the respondents concealed the fact that they were transfer students at least once in the past and approximately one-fourth reported experiences of transfer-related rejection....

Undergraduate Research Participation at the University of California, Berkeley

Elizabeth Berkes
2008

Although the University of California, Berkeley has increased efforts to involve undergraduates in scientific research, little data exists regarding the number of undergraduate researchers. The University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) presents an opportunity to investigate the extent of undergraduate research involvement at the UC Berkeley. The data (N=5,347) show that the frequency of student participation in research under the direction of a faculty mentor varies significantly based on whether students are receiving course credit, pay, or working as a...

Back to the Basics: In Defense of Achievement (and Achievement Tests) in College Admissions

Saul Geiser
2008

Summarizing a decade of research at the University of California, this paper concludes that admissions criteria that tap student mastery of curriculum content, such as high-school grades and performance on achievement tests, are stronger predictors of success in college and are fairer to poor and minority applicants than tests of general reasoning such as the SAT.

Does Diversity Matter in the Education Process? An Exploration of Student Interactions by Wealth, Religion, Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Immigrant Status at the University of California

Steve Chatman
2008

This exploration into student interactions that improve understanding, student attachment, and demographic characteristics of students attending the University of California in the spring of 2006 finds the University to be a diverse and healthy environment. Interactions among students with demographic differences are frequent and are rarely associated with decreased sense of belonging. The research offers quantitative measures for legal concepts like critical mass and compelling state interest. Overall, rich or poor, religious or not religious, immigrant or Mayflower, Republican or...

Two Cultures: Undergraduate Academic Engagement

Steven Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
Robert A. Hannerman
2008

Using data on upper-division students in the University of California system, we show that two distinct cultures of engagement exist on campus. The culture of engagement in the arts, humanities and social sciences focuses on interaction, participation, and interest in ideas. The culture of engagement in the natural sciences and engineering focuses on improvement of quantitative skills through collaborative study with an eye to rewards in the labor market. The two cultures of engagement are strongly associated with post-graduate degree plans. The findings raise questions about...