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77
relationships established within the sorority community help to facilitate the
development of autonomy.
This study confirmed that sorority-related experiences played a substantial
role in students’ perceptions of their identity development. Four of the 14 themes and
35% of the reported experiences pertained directly to sorority affiliation. These
themes were: sorority membership, sorority leadership, sorority network, and
sorority affiliated judgment or rejection. The incidents in the first three of these
categories were highly rated, both in the immediate and in terms eventual impact on
sense of self. Unsurprisingly, incidents in the fourth category which pertained to
rejection were rated less positively (M=3.17). The mean rating of the eventual
impact on sense of self for this theme were slightly higher (M=4.33).
These results seemed generally to confirm the suggestion by Kuh and Lyons
(1990) that sororities, and fraternities, may serve as safe places to examine one’s
identity. Many participants described experiences that dealt with factors associated
with female identity development. The prevalence of these factors within the sorority
environment is noteworthy. In an analysis of her sorority experience, Scheele (2003)
provides an eloquent synopsis of these factors:
In favoring autonomy over community, I was too quick to dismiss the ways
our sisterhood empowered us, both as individuals and as a collective, how it
gave us the opportunity to influence each other’s lives positively, and how it
anchored us within a close-knit community as we spread our figurative
wings. Sorority women are famous for their networking prowess; they create
opportunities for members to obtain leadership positions on campus and in
the ‘real world.’ More integral and lasting, however, is the confidence that an
older member can inspire in a younger one simply by suggesting a potential
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 85 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 77 relationships established within the sorority community help to facilitate the development of autonomy. This study confirmed that sorority-related experiences played a substantial role in students’ perceptions of their identity development. Four of the 14 themes and 35% of the reported experiences pertained directly to sorority affiliation. These themes were: sorority membership, sorority leadership, sorority network, and sorority affiliated judgment or rejection. The incidents in the first three of these categories were highly rated, both in the immediate and in terms eventual impact on sense of self. Unsurprisingly, incidents in the fourth category which pertained to rejection were rated less positively (M=3.17). The mean rating of the eventual impact on sense of self for this theme were slightly higher (M=4.33). These results seemed generally to confirm the suggestion by Kuh and Lyons (1990) that sororities, and fraternities, may serve as safe places to examine one’s identity. Many participants described experiences that dealt with factors associated with female identity development. The prevalence of these factors within the sorority environment is noteworthy. In an analysis of her sorority experience, Scheele (2003) provides an eloquent synopsis of these factors: In favoring autonomy over community, I was too quick to dismiss the ways our sisterhood empowered us, both as individuals and as a collective, how it gave us the opportunity to influence each other’s lives positively, and how it anchored us within a close-knit community as we spread our figurative wings. Sorority women are famous for their networking prowess; they create opportunities for members to obtain leadership positions on campus and in the ‘real world.’ More integral and lasting, however, is the confidence that an older member can inspire in a younger one simply by suggesting a potential |
