Student–Faculty Interaction in Research Universities: Differences by Student Gender, Race, Social Class, and First-Generation Status

Young K. Kim,Linda J. Sax

doi:10.1007/s11162-009-9127-x

Young K. Kim, Linda J. Sax

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9127-x

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Abstract

This study examined whether the effects of student–faculty interaction on a range of student outcomes—i.e., college GPA, degree aspiration, integration, critical thinking and communication, cultural appreciation and social awareness, and satisfaction with college experience—vary by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status. The study utilized data on 58,281 students who participated in the 2006 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES). The findings reveal differences in the frequency of student–faculty interaction across student gender, race, social class and first-generation status, and differences in the effects of student–faculty interaction (i.e., conditional effects) that depended on each of these factors except first-generation status. The findings provide implications for educational practice on how to maximize the educational efficacy of student–faculty interaction by minimizing the gender, race, social class, and first-generation differences associated with it.

Highlights

This study examined whether the effects of student–faculty interaction on a range of student outcomes—i.e., college GPA, degree aspiration, integration, critical thinking and communication, cultural appreciation and social awareness, and satisfaction with college experience—vary by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status
We first tested how the frequency of student–faculty interaction varies by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status
While the general positive effects generated by student–faculty interaction are well-documented, little is known about how various student subgroups experience the interaction differently

Summary

Introduction

This study examined whether the effects of student–faculty interaction on a range of student outcomes—i.e., college GPA, degree aspiration, integration, critical thinking and communication, cultural appreciation and social awareness, and satisfaction with college experience—vary by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status. Pascarella (1980) summarizes a number of studies, conducted prior to 1980, on the effects of informal (out-of-class) student–faculty interaction on various college student outcomes that are grouped into five categories: career plans and educational aspirations, satisfaction with college, intellectual and personal development, academic achievement, and college persistence. Based on his intensive analysis of the literature, Pascarella suggests that statistically significant positive associations exist between student contact with faculty and these five categories. Kim found that student–faculty interaction has no significant effect on racial tolerance for African American and Latino students, as opposed to a significantly positive effect for White and Asian American students

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