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88
providing for a psychological sense of community (Lounsbury & DeNeui, 1995;
Johnson, 1972; Robson, 1966; Scott, 1965). In regards to identity development, and
her sorority sisters one participant revealed that “they have shaped me and I them
into the people we are today.”
Although sorority member students at coeducational institutions may not
have as many female role models as their counterparts in women’s colleges, they do
benefit from connections with sorority chapter sisters that serve as role models
within the organization. In regards to working closely with a sorority chapter
President, one participant wrote “I learned a lot from her about how to deal with
certain situations, how to time manage, and how to work with divers groups of
people.” Thus, mentorship within the sorority organization was apparent.
Another participant described the support of her sister after ending a romantic
relationship. She states that the incident was important to the participant “because it
showed me that this is part of what sisterhood in a sorority is about, dropping
everything if you have a sister in need.” The following theme Learning About Myself
As A Result Of A Romantic Relationship further depicts the importance of these types
of incidents to students perceived identity development.
The importance of romantic relationships in adolescent development was in
accordance with previous conceptual and empirical research as well (Brown, 1999;
Gilmartin, 2005; Holland & Eisenhart, 1990). Bernsheid, Snyder and Onoto (1989)
found that undergraduate participants named romantic relationships as the closest
interpersonal relationship they had experienced, accounting for 47% of responses.
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 96 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 88 providing for a psychological sense of community (Lounsbury & DeNeui, 1995; Johnson, 1972; Robson, 1966; Scott, 1965). In regards to identity development, and her sorority sisters one participant revealed that “they have shaped me and I them into the people we are today.” Although sorority member students at coeducational institutions may not have as many female role models as their counterparts in women’s colleges, they do benefit from connections with sorority chapter sisters that serve as role models within the organization. In regards to working closely with a sorority chapter President, one participant wrote “I learned a lot from her about how to deal with certain situations, how to time manage, and how to work with divers groups of people.” Thus, mentorship within the sorority organization was apparent. Another participant described the support of her sister after ending a romantic relationship. She states that the incident was important to the participant “because it showed me that this is part of what sisterhood in a sorority is about, dropping everything if you have a sister in need.” The following theme Learning About Myself As A Result Of A Romantic Relationship further depicts the importance of these types of incidents to students perceived identity development. The importance of romantic relationships in adolescent development was in accordance with previous conceptual and empirical research as well (Brown, 1999; Gilmartin, 2005; Holland & Eisenhart, 1990). Bernsheid, Snyder and Onoto (1989) found that undergraduate participants named romantic relationships as the closest interpersonal relationship they had experienced, accounting for 47% of responses. |
