Exploring Complexities in College Student Development: Critical Lessons from Researching Students' Journeys

This book explores how college students address life challenges and develop the self-authoring capacities needed to deal with the ambiguities and complexities of life after graduation.

Based on the in-depth interview portion of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, this book draws on almost 1,000 interviews with a diverse cohort of 315 students from six institutions over 4 years. It traces these students’ journeys, documenting the wide variety of pathways they followed, the range of contexts in which their experiences took place, the liberal education outcomes associated with these experiences, and the factors that affected quality and impact. The authors critique current student development theory and offer a new interactionist model to guide future study in the field, inviting readers to adopt five habits of mind to guide their praxis and practice to promote student development.

This valuable resource is written for educators working in higher education institutions – both faculty and student affairs professionals – who want to help students get the most out of their college experience.

Patricia M. King is professor emerita in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan, USA.

Rosemary J. Perez is associate professor in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan, USA.

James P. Barber is professor of education and senior associate dean for academic programs at William & Mary, USA.