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28
development of Greek students. The participants were comprised of 371 Greek and
non-Greek students. Two hundred and nine women and 168 men at a midsized,
comprehensive institution in the mid-Atlantic region participated in the study. Their
findings revealed that Greek women scored higher on average in confidence levels
than Greek men. However, non-Greek women scored higher on average in regards
to moral reasoning when compared to Greek men and women.
As differences exist between research on women and men within the Greek
system, gender differences in identity development must also be explored. The next
section will review research on gender differences in identity development, theories
and research specifically related to women’s identity development, as well as
empirical data on the identity development of the sorority member student.
Research on Gender Differences in Identity Development
Many in the research community have echoed Gilligan’s (1982) view that
women’s identity development has been misunderstood, as well as incorrectly
aligned with the development of men. Sottile (1994) posits that most student
development researchers tend to generalize their findings to the experiences of
college men. Sottile (1994) states that “traditional theories of college student
development grew out of the male experience and the amount of literature and
research pertaining to the experiences of college females is limited and
unsystematic” (p. 21). Cramer (2000) also contended that research on identity
development has tended to focus on factors related to the development of the male
sense of identity. Indeed, theorists such as Erikson and Chickering have been
Object Description
| Title | Student perspectives on identity development: describing the experiences sorority members perceive influenced their identity |
| Author | Sarkissian, Vergene |
| Author email | vergenes@usc.edu; sarkv@hotmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-05-13 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Restricted until 2 Oct. 2009. |
| Date published | 2009-10-02 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Goodyear, Rodney K. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Malloy, Courtney Espalin, Charles A. |
| Abstract | This qualitative study examined the college related sources of impact that sorority member students perceived affected their identity development. A variant of Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique was used to ask sorority members (n=70) to describe one or two critical incidents that they believed had affected their sense of self, and then to rate the immediate positivity of the incident, as well its eventual effect on their sense of self. Three doctoral students reviewed the 100 obtained incident reports, from which they developed 14 themes: Participating in rush an/or joining a sorority; Being elected or serving in a sorority leadership position; Dealing with crisis; Receiving the support of sisters with in the sorority network; Being elected or serving in a leadership position in a campus related organization; Learning about myself as a result of a romantic relationship; Making an important, independent decision for myself; Making a commitment to community service and outreach; Sorority affiliated judgment or rejection; Having an experience of failure; Making the transition from home to college; Studying abroad; Receiving personal or career guidance from others; Engaging in a selfless act of compassion. The findings of this study provide valuable insight and knowledge to the potential benefits of sorority affiliation in regards to college women's identity development. The findings also support previous research on women's identity development and suggest gender specific developmental pathways. In congruence with student development research and theory, experiences related to student involvement, relationship, autonomy and crisis were prevalent in the participant responses. The limitations of the study, recommendations for future research and implications for higher education practice are also presented. |
| Keyword | identity development; women's identity development; sorority membership; sorority network; student inolvement; leadership; relationships; mentorship; social capital; crisis; autonomy; study abroad |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Digitized by the University of Southern California |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1619 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Sarkissian, Vergene |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Sarkissian-2435 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-Sarkissian-2435.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 36 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 28 development of Greek students. The participants were comprised of 371 Greek and non-Greek students. Two hundred and nine women and 168 men at a midsized, comprehensive institution in the mid-Atlantic region participated in the study. Their findings revealed that Greek women scored higher on average in confidence levels than Greek men. However, non-Greek women scored higher on average in regards to moral reasoning when compared to Greek men and women. As differences exist between research on women and men within the Greek system, gender differences in identity development must also be explored. The next section will review research on gender differences in identity development, theories and research specifically related to women’s identity development, as well as empirical data on the identity development of the sorority member student. Research on Gender Differences in Identity Development Many in the research community have echoed Gilligan’s (1982) view that women’s identity development has been misunderstood, as well as incorrectly aligned with the development of men. Sottile (1994) posits that most student development researchers tend to generalize their findings to the experiences of college men. Sottile (1994) states that “traditional theories of college student development grew out of the male experience and the amount of literature and research pertaining to the experiences of college females is limited and unsystematic” (p. 21). Cramer (2000) also contended that research on identity development has tended to focus on factors related to the development of the male sense of identity. Indeed, theorists such as Erikson and Chickering have been |
