Campus Experiences Research Articles

A Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory Approach for Exploring Racial Stress, and Campus Engagement Among Black Male College Students

Studies show that a nexus exists between racialized campus experiences, racial-ethnic identity, and engagement in campus activities for Black college men and shapes their perceptions about an institution's commitment to support the communities they represent. Yet, there is limited knowledge about how this nexus may unfold ecologically for this student population during their undergraduate experience. Using the Phenomenological Variant Ecological System Theory, this qualitative study describes how 31 Black college males leveraged their identities to manage self and societal appraisals, cope with stress experienced in university programs, and navigate feelings of marginalization and sense of belonging during their undergraduate experience.

Understanding Success: An Initial Investigation Considering the Alignment of University Branding with the Expectations of Future Students

This research investigates how university students define and perceive success, an area that is increasingly important to ensuring that a university’s brand remains aligned to the expectations of future students. Over the next decade, university students will comprise members of Generation Z (Gen Z), and by recognizing this group of students’ preferences and aspirations, universities can tailor their branding, educational portfolio, and overall campus experiences to ensure that together they resonate and satisfy evolving needs and demands. Using data based on a sample of Gen Z undergraduate students undertaking their degrees at three case study UK post-1992 universities, this research adopted an exploratory, interpretivist methodology. Data collected from semi-structured interviews were analyzed using recursive abstraction to identify underlying patterns and trends within the data. The research identified five key themes that Gen Z are using to define success, and these are the following: (1) being objective and task-driven; (2) embracing fluidity and subjectivity; (3) being ethically and morally responsible; (4) having resilience; and (5) accepting and learning from failure. Recommendations were made for actions that universities should start to take to enable them to work toward achieving this.

StaffsVerse: Building a Metaverse Campus Utilising the Unreal Editor for Fortnite

In pursuit of redefining the conventional campus introductory experience, this paper presents the development and implementation of the StaffsVerse project - a virtual campus immersion tool. Designed as a Metaverse representation, the StaffsVerse project intends to transform the physical campus of Staffordshire University into an interactive digital environment. Its purpose extends to serving as a versatile tool for remote education delivery, virtual campus tours, public science outreach, and facilitating a seamless transition for students into the university community. Through immersive digital engagement, the StaffsVerse project seeks to bridge the gap between remote learners and the campus environment while facilitating a smooth integration into academic and social aspects of university life. In contrast to previous implementations of virtual campuses, the StaffsVerse project is unique in leveraging the capabilities of Unreal Editor in Fortnite (UEFN). This approach enables the development of highly detailed, interactive, and engaging environments within the expansive Fortnite ecosystem. The project's primary objective is to harness the infrastructure and extensive user base of one of the world's most widely played multi-platform games, thereby ensuring a low barrier to access. Therefore, this paper will explore how the UEFN system's adaptability can effectively create an accurate virtual replica of the physical Staffordshire University campus. The key contribution of this paper includes an overview of the design and developmental journey of the StaffsVerse project. The evolution of the project will be outlined by discussing the two pivotal iterations of the game-based implementation and explaining the decision-making process that led to the resulting version. The examination extends to the unique features of the UEFN build, addressing the inherent challenges and opportunities specific to the platform. Furthermore, specific game-based decisions are discussed, such as replicating essential campus locations, integrating interactive features, and incorporating elements unique to the virtual environment. The paper will discuss the specific educational opportunities UEFN offers, including the potential for enhancing student engagement through gamified campus experiences, insights into creating a Metaverse university campus, and contributions to the growing discourse on the intersection of game-based virtual environments in learning.

"I'm here. We're here. My people and I exist": Exploring the psychopolitical experiences of Black immigrant college students attending predominantly White institutions.

Despite the ever-growing presence of Black immigrant college students in the United States, little is known about their unique campus experiences or their mental health outcomes as it relates to psychopolitical determinants of well-being. This qualitative study aimed to explore the unique psychopolitical experiences of 14, first- and second-generation Black immigrant college students attending predominately White institutions in the United States. Using the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory, intersectionality, and psychopolitical validity to guide our study, a phenomenological approach uncovered six themes and 11 subthemes: (1) collective well-being, (2) relational well-being, (3) individual well-being (purpose; health and wellness; critical consciousness), (4) collective suffering (neocolonialism, oppressive policies, and political violence; institutional oppression; barriers to mental health care), (5) relational suffering (implicit racial bias, stereotypes, and microaggressions; violence and brutality), and (6) individual suffering (ethno-racial trauma; isolation; school-related stress). We highlight implications for practitioners working with Black immigrant college students such as providing culturally responsive mental health care and advocating for decolonized and antiracist trainings at predominately White institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

“We Met in a Place that Fostered Exploring”: Campus Environments that Influence Boundary-Crossing Friendships

AbstractThe college years represent a prime opportunity for students to develop prosocial skills through friendships that cross social boundaries (i.e., in which the two friends differ on at least one aspect of sociocultural identity such as race, political affiliation, or religion). By cultivating empathy and reducing social stratification, these friendships may serve as a needed remedy for the ongoing and deepening tribalism dominating the current U.S. political climate, ultimately advancing a more justice-oriented society. We utilized data from 55 focus groups with 268 participants at 18 U.S. institutions of various sizes, locations, and affiliations to explore how campus environments and experiences influence college students’ boundary-crossing friendships. Participants highlighted how aspects of their campus climates (size, structural diversity, norms, and identity support) encouraged as well as discouraged crossing social boundaries. They discussed how programs (curricular and co-curricular), spaces (residence and dining halls, prayer spaces), and informal social opportunities (such as studying, dining, socializing, or having meaningful conversations) helped them develop and deepen friendships across the social boundaries of religious, secular, and spiritual (RSS) identity; political beliefs; race/ethnicity; and other identities. They also described the power of early campus experiences in setting the stage for crossing social boundaries. Our findings add texture to prior quantitative research documenting the power of campus conditions and environments for fostering friendship across social boundaries, and they illuminate effective ways for colleges and universities to create environments and experiences that provide students with opportunities and reasons to connect and build friendships that bridge social divisions.

“I Don’t Expect the University to Support Queers”: Identity Management and Ambivalence toward Institutional Support for Queer University Students in China

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 participants, this study explores the experiences of Chinese queer university students in managing their queer identity on campus. A range of strategies is outlined, including passing, covering, being implicitly out, and being explicitly out. This study also presents participants’ expectations regarding institutional support, as well as their ambivalence toward it. While participants expressed various expectations of university support, they simultaneously considered institutional support difficult or impossible due to the campus climate and broader political context. Informed by queer theory and the concept of heteronormativity, this paper engages in a queer critique of Chinese higher education, examining the manifestations of heteronormativity at both institutional and interpersonal levels. Situated within the context of Xi Jinping’s presidency, which has reinforced political control over higher education in China, this study examines the impact of intensified authoritarianism on the campus experiences of queer university students. In this challenging environment, the study highlights a unique facet of contemporary China, providing empirical insights into the power dynamics among queer individuals, educational institutions, and the party-state.

Thriving in Black and Latino Men at Christian Colleges and Universities

Black and Latino men are attending college at higher rates than ever before, yet their increased access has not led to increased success, as Black and Latino men face greater barriers to their success than do White and Asian men. The challenges to timely graduation for these populations are even greater at Christian colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine the campus experiences that contribute to the variation in thriving among Black and Latino men on Christian college campuses, after considering their demographic characteristics. Thriving is defined as students’ vital engagement in the college experience intellectually, interpersonally, and psychologically. Using a sample of 369 Black and Latino men from 35 Christian colleges and universities, we conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis to determine the variance in thriving mean scores and scale scores contributed by each predictor variable. The final predictive model explained 53.5% of the variation in thriving within Black and Latino men in the aggregate. Because race was a significant predictor of thriving, separate regression equations were conducted on the 133 Black men and 236 Latino men. These models explained 67.1% of the variation in thriving among Black men and 53.5% of the variation among Latino men. The implications of the findings for Christian colleges and universities are outlined, particularly the role of spirituality, sense of community, and perceptions of institutional integrity in supporting Black and Latino men’s ability to thrive in this environment.

A Transcendental Phenomenological Exploration of Undergraduate University Students’ Lived Experiences with Spiritual Leadership

This article presents findings from a recent study conducted at a Christian university exploring the spiritual leadership encounters undergraduate students described having with faculty and staff members. University students today face a myriad of challenges ranging from aspects of mental health to finding purpose and meaning in life. As a result, many university decision-makers are seeking ways to improve campus experiences that help meet the needs of their students and increase student engagement, retention, and graduation rates. Spiritual leadership theory is a relatively new theory in leadership studies that has been validated in several studies in various fields. However, there is limited research exploring spiritual leadership in a university context. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to explore the lived experience of undergraduate university students with spiritual leadership encounters while attending a university. The data revealed that the spiritual leadership encounters students in this study had with faculty and staff members resulted in several positive experiences, including feelings of being cared for, feeling supported, developing a sense of community, and increased academic motivation. Recommendations for the future include encouraging university decision-makers to explore the potential benefits of integrating the spiritual leadership framework into current pedagogical practices. The information presented here may help practitioners of the spiritual leadership model in classrooms, residential halls, and other university settings to potentially experience similar benefits with the undergraduate students they teach and lead.

Impact of Anti-Discrimination Laws on University Campuses: Student and Faculty Views

The implementation of anti-discrimination laws on university campuses is crucial for fostering an inclusive academic environment. However, the effectiveness and impact of these laws are often debated. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of students and faculty regarding the influence of anti-discrimination laws on university culture and individual experiences, aiming to understand how these laws shape the campus climate and interpersonal relationships. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with a total of 22 participants, comprising 12 students and 10 faculty members from a university. The interviews were designed to achieve theoretical saturation and were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo software to identify recurring themes and patterns under two primary themes: "Students' View" and "Faculty View." The analysis revealed several key categories under each main theme. For students, the categories included Awareness and Understanding, Experiences of Discrimination, Campus Climate, Impact on Social Relations, Administrative Support, and Legal Literacy. Faculty categories encompassed Perception of Laws, Teaching and Curriculum Impact, Professional Responsibilities, and Research Implications. Each category provided insights into the complex interactions between policy implementation and campus experiences, highlighting both successes and areas needing enhancement. The study concludes that while anti-discrimination laws have facilitated some positive changes in campus culture, significant challenges remain in fully realizing their potential. The effectiveness of these laws is intricately linked to the administration's proactive engagement and the community's overall commitment to fostering an inclusive environment. Recommendations are made for universities to enhance policy transparency, increase legal literacy, and improve administrative responsiveness to discrimination reports.

Students With Disabilities: Skills, Strategies, and Dispositions for Success at a Community College

The objective of this study was to investigate experiences that students with disabilities have while attending a two-year commuter college, with a focus on understanding the skills, strategies, and dispositions that contribute to their academic success. A phenomenological research method was utilized for this study. Data collection method for this study involved using qualitative, open-ended, semi-structured interviews. The results of this study illustrate that students with disabilities at the community college level often face a variety of social, emotional, and academic challenges. The findings of this study suggest that students with disabilities on campus benefited from social support, family advocacy, and goal setting. Students with disabilities often have more challenges on campus experiences than their non-disabled peers. The findings of this research add to the limited research focusing on factors of success as it relates to students with disabilities. It is suggested that programs are designed and provided with the intention of supporting the emotional, social, and academic needs of students with disabilities on campus.

Black Campus Climate: Towards a Liberatory and Equitable Black Campus Experience

This study is an investigation of how Black faculty, staff, administration, and students relate to one another at an institution of higher education, and how their campus experiences diverge and converge. Twenty-one focus group interviews were conducted with 26 Black students, 18 Black faculty members, and 17 Black staff members and administrators. The objective was to contribute knowledge that could lead to more informed service, teaching, support, administration, and leadership on the Black campus and in the university. Several themes were discovered in the analysis, resulting in the identification of key challenges faced by the Black campus, the solutions respondents perceived as promising, and the supports they benefit.

Reaffirming the Campus as a Sacred Space: A Japanese Case Study

In light of the considerable transformations in higher education that have had an impact on traditional campus experiences, this paper explores the role of university campuses as sacred spaces for young people. In particular, it examines the significance of the material environment in shaping young peoples’ experiences and social memberships within higher education institutions. Drawing on qualitative research, namely digital walkthrough interviews conducted at a Japanese institution during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper argues that the physical spaces of a university produce special meaning and unexpected attachments for young people, and thus warrants greater attention as a site for social interaction and exchange. It will be shown that there is a need to look beyond the instrumental and purely pedagogic needs of students and place a greater emphasis on efforts to build more socially supportive campus environments. As universities continue the process of reinventing themselves to better fit the ‘new normal’ in a post-pandemic environment, this paper advocates for more consideration of the everyday needs of young people with regard to meaningful interaction, connection and belonging, and how regarding the campus as a sacred space for practices of placemaking and shared experience offers a pathway to fulfill these needs.

The Lived Experiences of Anti-Semitism Encountered by Jewish Students on University Campuses: A Phenomenological Study

<i>Campus climate informs student encounters on university campuses. Research indicates that discriminatory campus experiences impact the social, emotional, professional, and academic development of students. Although many studies discuss inequity among marginalized student groups, institutional Anti-Semitism is minimally discussed in scholarship. The current qualitative phenomenological study contributes to this literature gap by providing insight into the lived experiences of Jewish students in Counseling and Couple and Family Therapy programs who encountered Anti-Semitism at a public university. The guiding research question for this study was: What are the lived experiences of Jewish students who encounter Anti-Semitism on university campuses? Data collection involved online semi-structured interviews of participants and was followed by data analysis processes of thematic analysis and cross-case synthesis. Results indicated that being Jewish on campus includes four main challenges of (a)</i><i> experiences of disclosing, externalizing, or embodying Jewish identity, (b) experiences of Anti-Semitism, (c) exclusionary experiences within multicultural education and courses, and (d) exclusionary experiences within social justice advocacy and minority status. </i><i>Findings prompt future utilization of historical trauma informed instructional models and intergroup contact interventions within research and teaching in Counseling and Couple and Family Therapy programs.</i>

In the Mix: A Phenomenological Study Examining College Campus Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Students

Through a phenomenological framework, college students formerly incarcerated were studied to examine their experiences, perceptions, and challenges they encountered as they attempted to complete their college degree. Results uncovered seven themes: Education as survival, education as growth and development, feeling disrespected, education for career development, college readiness, navigating the culture of higher education, and accepting the challenges in higher education.

The Inclusive Adaptive Sport Program on a College Campus: Changing the Narrative

More often than not, students with physical disabilities are not provided equitable access to recreational sport programs or clubs, even though they often pay the same fees as their peers without disabilities. Involvement in recreational sports is a large component of the college campus experiences, yet those living with disability are likely to experience a variety of challenges associated with participation, which may inhibit them from fully engaging in sports with their peers and pursuing an active lifestyle. To examine the impact of involvement in an inclusive adaptive sport program on the college experience, a qualitative phenomenological approach was implemented with a convenience sample of 8 college students currently participating in a CTRS-driven inclusive wheelchair basketball program. A semi-structured interview procedure was utilized to elicit the participants' experiences of involvement in the adaptive sports program. Of 8 college students, five were individuals without, and 3 were individuals with an identified physical disability. The adaptive sports program had a positive impact on both groups of students. Four themes and 10 subthemes emerged from the data analysis. Four themes identified were: (a) Sense of Community; (b) Access to Resources and New Opportunities; (c) Inclusive; and (d) Personal Growth.

Does the type of school matter in preventing bullying? Knowledge, experience, and readiness to face bullying by students enrolled in public and private schools in the Philippines

As the Philippines is historically endowed with a number of private schools and is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia, it is conventionally expected that students enrolled in these institutions will have distinct campus experiences from those enrolled in public institutions (De Guzman, 2011; Arcilla, 1972; Cruz, 2014; Palma, 2012; and Lasquety-Reyes, 2018). However, bullying is a significant impediment to a nurturing environment in today's schools, necessitating that it be adequately explored and represented in academic literature. In this regard, a total of 765 students were randomly selected from public and private secondary schools and surveyed about their preparedness to face bullying. Specific variables investigated included the advice they received on bullying, their attendance at religious services, their attendance at meetings and seminars on bullying, their awareness and knowledge of the law on bullying, their sources of information, their experience of bullying at home, people they could rely on in the event of bullying, and the types of bullying they perceived at school.Results revealed that students in public schools have received more advice and have more people to rely on when bullied compared to those in private schools. Additionally, students from private schools rely more on friends than teachers or parents when bullied, and more of them have attended meetings and discussions regarding bullying. Meanwhile, students from both types of schools reported at least one incident of verbal abuse at home, limited knowledge of RA10627 (the 2013 Philippine Anti-Bullying Law), and concern about being bullied by teachers. Finally, while snobbery and malicious rumors were the most common forms of bullying experienced, physical bullying remains a reality for some.

We Play Every Day

While imaginative play and sensory-stimulating activities are credited as benefitting childhood development, a growing body of literature suggests play is beneficial for adult development in terms of promoting emotional and physical well-being, facilitating inclusive social interactions, increasing productivity, and improving learning. Experts in library and information science and higher education are examining how best to implement play into academic libraries to better understand how play can have tangible outcomes on community building, student success, and knowledge creation. This paper will demonstrate how Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has innovated library space to encourage practice-based play. We will provide insights into how other academic libraries can reimagine and redesign their spaces.We will discuss – through theories and our case study – the value of designing a library where we play every day. We understand student success is measured by retention and graduation rates; students are driven to graduate by outcomes (grades and degrees) and campus experiences (building community and a sense of belonging on campus). Academic libraries are uniquely situated to contribute to both motivators by creating spaces for formal and informal learning that are engaging, collaborative, and challenging. At Lovejoy Library, we innovated library space by theorizing play. Play is fun, engaging, spontaneous, disrupts power dynamics, and requires focus and rest; experiencing play is an act of mindfulness, essential to a student’s emotional health. Through renovations complete with a new MakerLab, furniture, equipment, resources, programs, and services, we created an environment to support student learning and well-being.

Covid-19의 교육환경에서 전문대학 만학도 장애학생들의 대학생활 경험에 관한 연구

This study intends to examine the lives and the adaptation processes of students with late school disabilities, which consists of the face-to-face and non-face-to-face learning methods under the Covid-19 pandemic and analyzes the changes in their past and present lives through the university classes and learning experiences. Seven students with late school disabilities were sampled through the snowball method, and the data were analyzed through Van Manen method, one of the phenomenological methodologies. Five essential themes were derived from the campus life experiences of students with late school disabilities describing as “repeated daily life in the corona pandemic and opposition from surrounding”, “educational environment unfamiliar than expected”, “un-narrowed Digital Gap”, “pleasure from learning”, and “rediscovery of the self that he can do”. The said five essential themes can be understood as a process of “finding the joy of learning and regaining confidence in life”, however, which can also be summarized as “a change that is being recognized” through the analysis of the non-contact campus life experiences of the student with late school disabilities. Although there are still inconveniences in non-face-to-face campus life, it can be understood as a changing process of discovering themselves positively in an unfamiliar nonface- to-face educational environment. Their campus experiences can be described as follows; first of all, it appeared as an irregular, dreary, lonely lives in which there is freedom, but taking responsibilities for it. Through a comfortable home, friends, and living in a comfortable environment, which brought satisfaction in their lives and positive perception as independent students. Not only that, but it appeared as a process of finding the role for the disabled. This can be understood as having hopes and dreams for the future as the mind and life that were anxious about specific goals and dreams were stabilized, dreams and small hopes for the future and the attitude toward life changes. In the campus life experiences of students with late school disabilities, it was confirmed that the study participants independently changed toward their independent life satisfaction and positive perception of themselves as a process of change in which the self-determination rights and goals and hopes for their lives by seeking the role for the disabled who have not yet been encountered and in the process of positively recognizing themselves.

Being Evangelical is Complicated: How Students’ Identities and Experiences Moderate Their Perceptions of Campus Climate

BackgroundEvangelical Christian college students navigate campus buoyed by Christian privilege but may encounter silencing or othering tied to their religious beliefs, a feeling of incompatibility with their campus climate, and conflations of their religious and political beliefs that are inaccurate and discouraging. Unsupportive campus climates can discourage evangelical students from having productive exchanges across difference and deepening their own worldview commitments, which is concerning due to their general lack of interfaith participation that challenges stereotypes and unnuanced assumptions.PurposeThis study explores how evangelical Christians perceive their campus climates and whether those perceptions are different based on other social identity intersections with gender, race, sexuality, and political affiliation. In addition to individual characteristics, how the campus environment and various curricular and co-curricular experiences moderate evangelical students’ perceptions of the worldview climate is examined.MethodsA sample of 1235 evangelical college students was examined via means, standard deviations, and ranges for six campus climate measures, one-way ANOVAs to examine whether those measures differed by different identity dimensions, and then multilevel modeling to better understand the role of campus experiences in evangelicals’ perceptions of their campus climate.ResultsEvangelical students’ campus climate perceptions were generally positive; more provocative encounters were reported by women than men and evangelical Asian students indicated more divisiveness, more insensitivity, and less space for support than their peers. Political affiliation also revealed several significant differences in perceived campus climate. Interfaith engagement through pre-college activities, formal and informal activities, and friendships were connected to perceptions of campus climate, with those reporting more engagement being more likely to have productive encounters across difference and to report insensitivity or divisiveness. Religious affiliation was the most significant institutional characteristic.Conclusions and ImplicationsThis study illuminates how collegiate experiences and campus environments exacerbate or attenuate evangelical Christian students’ perceptions of the campus climate, and the results indicate that effective teaching practices where true interfaith experiences happen and that create inclusive space for evangelical students in the classroom are key to fostering development, especially in light of the social status ambiguity evangelical college students may be experiencing during their college years.

Teacher Education and the Roots of Icelandic Student Teachers’ Instructional Self-Efficacy

The focus in this study is on the antecedents of Icelandic student teachers’ instructional self-efficacy in classroom management and ability to support learner engagement. We examine how student teachers’ instructional self-efficacy relates to their experience in the teacher education programme, including campus preparation and practice teaching in schools. Data were gathered from 191 compulsory school student teachers. The results show that experiences with problem behaviour in the classroom are negatively related to student teachers’ efficacy in classroom management. Further, perceptions of the relevance of campus experiences are strongly related to student teachers’ efficacy in classroom management. The implications for practice and future research are discussed.