Student Disclosures about Academic Information: Student Privacy Rules and Boundaries

Abstract

Framed in communication privacy management theory, this study examined privacy rule foundations, recipients of students’ academic private information, and contextual factors related to sharing academic private information. Participants’ (N = 168) responses to open-ended questions were inductively coded to allow their core and catalyst privacy rules to emerge from the data (e.g., privacy orientations and risk-benefit considerations). The privacy rules that emerged predicted the amount of academic private information shared with faculty. Results underscore the importance of investigating privacy orientations and risk-benefit assessments in making sense of what, how, and with whom students share private information.