Student Development
Theory
in
Higher Education
Mecca Marsh, M.Ed
August 21,2012
Chinese Proverb
“Tell me and I'll forget; show me
and I may remember; involve
me and I'll understand.”
History of Higher Education
The Big Three (Psychological Theorists)
◦ Sigmund Freud
◦ Carl Jung
◦ B.F. Skinner
 You down with SPPV? (1925?)
◦ Student Personnel Point of View

Environmental factors that
influence student
development
◦ Readiness, Challenge and Support
 (Nevitt Sanford, 1966)
◦ Involvement
 (Astin, 1984)
 Investment of physical & psychological energy
 Involvement on a continuum
 Quantitative and Qualitative features
 Student learning & Personal Development
 Policy & Procedure
Environmental factors that
influence student development
◦ Marginality & Mattering(Schlossberg,1989)
 Marginality
 Individual's exclusion from meaningful
participation in society or on campus
 Mattering(5 aspects)
 Attention
 Importance
 Ego extension
 Dependence
 Appreciation
◦ Validation (Rendon,1994)
What are the theories?

Psychosocial
◦ Examines individual's personal and
interpersonal lives

Cognitive-Structural
◦ Illuminates changes in the way people think but
not what they think
What are the theories?

Typology
◦ Examine individual differences in how people
view and relate to the world

Person-Environment
◦ Examine not only the student and the college
environment but, even more important, the
interaction of the student with environment.
Who wrote this stuff?

Author Chickering
◦ (Identity Development)

Cross and Helm
◦ (Racial-Ethnic Identity
Development)
 Cross Model of
Psychological
Nigrescence (Stages)
 Helm’s White Identity
Development Model
(Status)
Psycho-Social
(Identity Development)

Author Chickering
◦ Seven Vectors
 Developing Competence
 Managing Emotions
 Moving through Autonomy
Toward Interdependence
 Developing Mature
Interpersonal Relationships
 Establishing Identity
 Developing Purpose
 Developing Integrity
Psycho-Social
(Racial-Ethnic Identity Development)
◦ Cross Model of
Psychological
Nigrescence (Stages)
 Pre-encounter
 Encounter
 Immersion-Emersion
 Internalization
 InternationalizationCommitment
Psycho-Social
(Identity Development)
◦ Helm’s White Identity
Development Model
(Status)
 Phase I
 (Abandonment of
Racism)
 Phase II
 (Defining a Non-Racist
White Identity)
Psycho-Social
(Identity Development in Women)

Ruthellen Josselson
(Stages)
 Foreclosure
 Identity
Achievement
 Moratorium
 Identity Diffusion
Psycho-Social
(Gay,Lesbian,Bi-sexual,Transgender)

D’ Augelli LGB Development
(Stages)
 Exiting Heterosexual identity
 Developing a personal LGB
identity
 Developing a LGB social
identity
 Becoming a lgb offspring
 Developing a lgb intimacy
status
 Entering the lgb community
Psycho-Social

Schlossberg’s
Transition Model
◦ Situation
◦ Self
◦ Support
◦ Strategies
Environmental Influences
Institutional
objectives
 Institutional size




Student-Faculty
relationships
 Curriculum
 Teaching
 Friendships and
student communities

Student Development
programs and services
Integrations of work and
learning Recognition and
respect for individual
differences
Acknowledgement of
the cyclical nature of
learning and
development
Questions?
Mecca Marsh,M.Ed
[email protected]