The Influence Of Fraternity And Sorority Involvement A Critical Analysis Of Research 1996 2013

Despite negative connotations and empirical evidence to support detrimental aspects of fraternity and sorority membership, decades of nationally representative data show students remain interested in joining. This monograph reconsiders the value of membership, based on scholarly research published since 1996 in the following ways: Through identifying behavioral, psychological and educational outcomes of fraternity/sorority involvement By differentiating outcomes between and among organizations Through recommending implications for policy and practice based on research. Findings revealed an unexpected amount of scholarly research interest on fraternity and sorority involvement, and membership correlates in the last two decades from a variety of disciplines. Despite a disproportionate focus on behavioral correlates, such as alcohol use, hazing and sexual assault, researchers in the past decade have slowly added psychosocial and educational considerations, building toward a more holistic understanding of outcomes related to involvement.

The fraternity and sorority experience has been well-documented in the media, research, and popular culture. Proponents of membership insist upon its positive impact and value, while critics question the continued presence of fraternities and sororities on college campuses. Critical analysis of these organizations is essential to move them forward and ensure their value. There is ample research on membership outcomes such as academic excellence, leadership development, civic engagement, and moral development. However, there is little research about how fraternity and sorority membership influences identity development, specifically gender identity development. The purpose of this case study was to examine the role fraternity and sorority membership plays in shaping the gender identities of members at a Midwestern, public, four-year research institution. The research questions are: a) How does fraternity and sorority membership influence the gender identities of members? b) How do fraternity and sorority members make meaning of their perceptions of and experiences with cultural gender norms? c) How do fraternity and sorority members perform gender? and d) How do fraternities and sororities both reinforce and challenge traditional conceptions of gender? This study was situated in a constructivist research paradigm because the research questions focused on how participants constructed meaning and understood the influence of their fraternity and sorority membership on their gender identity. An embedded single-case study methodology was utilized, using more than one unit of analysis and offering a discussion of themes both within and across cases. The findings of this study support the notion that fraternity and sorority membership has the potential to influence the gender identity development of members. From the data, five major themes emerged to indicate how participants made meaning of their fraternity or sorority membership in relation to their gender identity: a) identity as a fraternity man or sorority woman, b) performance and expression of gender within the community, c) gender performance during member selection processes, d) ways in which traditional conceptions of gender are reinforced, and e) ways in which traditional conceptions of gender are challenged.

Foundations, Research, and Assessment of Fraternities and Sororities is inspired by continuing conversations about the enduring challenges facing fraternities and sororities on campuses across the country. The co-editors curate contributions from scholars and noteworthy practitioners from across higher education to examine a variety of issues relating to the past and future construct of these institutions. The text begins with a historical section that provides a perspective on the origins of fraternities and sororities. Other sections look at such critical areas as values, legal issues, and research. Values are described regarding the values congruence movement and acknowledging emerging areas of the individual fraternity and sorority experience. Legal issues include freedom of speech, hazing law, and risk management. Additional profiles of large, national benchmark surveys are included, and the book concludes with a final overview of the state of fraternity/sorority scholarship. This volume will appeal to a broad readership made up of faculty, administrations and alumni/ae. Perfect for courses such as: Fraternity and Sorority Leadership | Undergraduate Student Issues | Professional Development Circles | Discussion Groups | Graduate Seminars | Individual Reading Reflection | Introduction to Student Affairs | Contemporary Issues in Higher Education

As student affairs units face increasing pressure to use data and evidence to inform planning and decisions, the research related to higher education has become more complex and, in some cases, less accessible. This issue aims to bridge this gap by drawing implications for student affairs programs and practices from the results of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, an investigation that followed thousands of college students at more than 50 colleges and universities. The authors identify research-based ways that student affairs practitioners can facilitate educational outcomes, including critical thinking, moral reasoning, and intercultural competence, while being sensitive to the needs of specific populations of students. This is the 147th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Supporting Fraternities and Sororities in the Contemporary Era is inspired by sustained and reoccurring professional conversations and scholarship that have suggested that not just change is necessary, but that there ought to be a fundamental shift towards reconceptualizing the construct of fraternities and sororities. The co-editors curate work from scholars and noteworthy practitioners from across higher education to provide an imperative text that reflects the complexity and expansiveness by addressing diversity, programming, and support approaches. This text commences with the understanding that issues will continuously exist, requiring a greater nuanced depth of appreciation to reduce their negative impact. It also summarizes national organizations from authentic, represented voices. Chapters then focus on solutions to support the fraternity and sorority experience, providing strategies and emerging explanations for the issues described in this text. Supporting Fraternities and Sororities seeks to do exactly as the title implies: to inform all stakeholders so that they can make better decisions about the future of these institutions. Perfect for courses such as: Fraternity and Course Leadership | Dissertation Seminar | Professional Development Circles | Independent Study | Research Seminar | Thesis Research | Reflection Assignment | Contemporary Issues in Higher Education | Introduction to Student Affairs

Higher Education is in a state of ferment. People are seriously discussing whether the medieval ideal of the university as being excellent in all areas makes sense today, given the number of universities that we have in the world. Student fees are changing the orientation of students to the system. The high rate of non repayment of fees in the UK is provoking difficult questions about whether the current system of funding makes sense. There are disputes about the ratio of research to teaching, and further discussions about the international delivery of courses.

Charlotte Hogg takes a close look, through the example of White university sororities, at how we create and cling to subcultures through the notion of belonging, and how spoken and unspoken rhetorics contribute to this notion. Renewed calls to end Greek-letter organizations for racism and sexism, including increased scrutiny on White women’s social justice failings, have intensified. But as Hogg shows, rhetorics of belonging have always occurred amid and even in response to anti-GLO sentiment. She shows how rhetorical efforts by members for members foster belonging for insiders while also seeking to appease those on the outside. In her analysis, Hogg positions the study of rhetoric beyond traditional methods of persuasion to show how we communicate and participate in communities as citizens in subtle ways beyond speaking and writing. Through engaging narrative drawing on her experiences as a member of a White sorority, archival research, and interviews with collegians and alumni, she shows how efforts toward belonging can influence particular beliefs about womanhood in complex ways. This thought-provoking volume will interest scholars and students from a range of disciplines, including rhetoric and communication studies, gender studies, feminism, sociology, cultural anthropology, and history.

* A Real Simple Best Book of 2019: "An essential read for parents and students." * The New York Times bestselling author of Pledged is back with an unprecedented fly-on-the-wall look inside fraternity houses from current brothers’ perspectives—and a fresh, riveting must-read about what it’s like to be a college guy today. Two real-life stories. One stunning twist. Meet Jake, a studious freshman weighing how far to go to find a brotherhood that will introduce him to lifelong friends and help conquer his social awkwardness; and Oliver, a hardworking chapter president trying to keep his misunderstood fraternity out of trouble despite multiple run-ins with the police. Their year-in-the-life stories help explain why students are joining fraternities in record numbers despite scandalous headlines. To find out what it’s like to be a fraternity brother in the twenty-first century, Robbins contacted hundreds of brothers whose chapters don’t make headlines—and who suggested that many fraternities can be healthy safe spaces for men. Fraternity is more than just a page-turning, character-driven read. It’s a vital book about the transition from boyhood to manhood; it brilliantly weaves psychology, current events, neuroscience, and interviews to explore the state of masculinity today, and what that means for students and their parents. It’s a different kind of story about college boys, a story in which they candidly discuss sex, friendship, social media, drinking, peer pressure, gender roles, and even porn. And it’s a book about boys at a vulnerable age, living on their own for perhaps the first time. Boys who, in a climate that can stigmatize them merely for being male, don’t necessarily want to navigate the complicated, coming-of-age journey to manhood alone.