A Four-Year Longitudinal Study of Self-Authorship Development: Evidence from the Wabash National Study

Abstract

This descriptive qualitative study used longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to examine patterns in the development of self-authorship among the 175 undergraduate college students who participated in both the first and fourth years of the study. We found that the meaning making of 81% of the participants became more complex during college, developing from using Solely External meaning making to Crossroads meaning making by their fourth year of college. Although most experienced modest or moderate development, small groups of students experienced substantial development, no change, and even regression to less complex ways of making meaning. Differences by race/ethnicity and gender were also found in the extent of change over time. This distinctive database of longitudinal interviews revealed important differences in the direction and extent of change in students’ self- authoring capacities during college and pointed toward future areas of inquiry to help educators work more effectively with college students.