ERIC Number: EJ1091906
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1066-8926
EISSN: N/A
What Community College Students Value: Delineating a Normative Structure for Community College Students
Akin, Renea; Park, Toby J.
Community College Journal of Research and Practice, v40 n5 p439-451 2016
This manuscript delineates a normative structure for community college students, outlines how this structure varies by student characteristics, and compares this structure to that of a previously established normative structure identified at a 4-year institution. A total of 512 student survey responses on the College Student Behaviors Inventory were collected at a comprehensive community college in the rural Southeast. A series of factor analyses using varimax rotation was applied to identify 23 inviolable norms, 20 admonitory norms, and four laudatory norms, with little variation across student characteristics. Specifically, gender is the only characteristic that yields a significant difference across all patterns of student behavior. We also find the normative structure at a community college to have many similarities to that of a 4-year institution, yet also some differences. The strong number of similarities, however, appears to dispel the suggestion that the diversity in mission and student body characteristics between 2- and 4-year colleges and universities would result in significantly different peer environments. Implications are offered as to how knowledge of such a normative structure may influence policymaking on community college campuses.
Descriptors: Community Colleges, College Students, Student Attitudes, Values, Norms, Student Characteristics, Student Surveys, Rural Areas, Factor Analysis, Gender Differences, Student Behavior, Institutional Mission, Statistical Significance, Racial Differences, Credits, Parent Background, Age Differences, Enrollment, Part Time Students, Full Time Students, Goal Orientation, Comparative Analysis, Likert Scales
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Two Year Colleges; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A