The first year of college can be a challenging transition--especially for students with low levels of cultural capital (such as attending music or drama performances or art exhibits). But schools can help less-engaged students build cultural capital, argue Matthew Sinclar, Natalee Erb and John Braxton (Vanderbilt University) in their article "Building Cultural Capital in First-year Students at Residential Colleges and Universities."
The authors articulate two basic approaches for helping students meet social challenges:
1. Encourage social interaction. "Major responsibility falls on faculty and academic advisors who advise first-year students to steer their advisees with lower levels of cultural capital toward opportunities for them to socially interact with other students," the authors write. Housing and residential professionals, as well as dedicated staff, can also be good resources for students.
2. Encourage cultural enrichment activities. The bulk of the article explores programs and policies that help build students' cultural capital. Randomly selecting 50 highly residential institutions, the authors found examples of ways institutions implicitly or explicitly encourage cultural engagement. They put the examples into the following three broad categories:
- Precollegiate programs, such as a campus-based Summer Bridge program to reach out to students who did not have access or exposure to events such as art exhibits or musical and theatrical performances. These programs are designed to promote leadership, cultural awareness and self-confidence.
- Curriculum programs beyond standard liberal arts requirements. Such programs help students "[understand] diverse perspectives and [develop] an appreciation for fine arts and intellectualism." These programs may be a formal requirement or part of new-student orientation.
- Activities or programs associated with residential education or student activities. "[S]ome of the randomly selected institutions offer optional events designed to give students and faculty greater access to cultural knowledge at little to no cost," the authors note. "Despite not being a requirement, these lectures, artist exhibitions, and music or drama performances are open to the entire student body, which allows those with less cultural capital to expand their own knowledge without the added burdens of cost, transportation, or access."
Although there are some challenges to implementing such programs, the investment can yield great rewards. Increasing students' self-esteem and psychosocial engagement is likely to indirectly influence first-year persistence rates, the authors conclude.
To explore the examples and read the full article, get AACRAO’s April 2016 SEM Quarterly.
Other topics in this issue include:
- The internal pressures and competing demands faced by enrollment managers;
- The impact of leadership tension between boards and presidents/chancellors on enrollment managers; and
- Leading-edge data use in SEM.
Authors include Adam W. Johnson, the University of Central Oklahoma; Jeffrey P. Levine, Texas A&M University at Galveston; Jay W. Goff, St. Louis University; Brian G. Williams, John Carroll University; and Wendy Kilgore, AACRAO.
SEM Quarterly, published by AACRAO and Wiley Periodicals, provides knowledge and insight into the ongoing evolution of strategic enrollment management (SEM). SEMQ bridges the gap between theory and practice with articles by thought leaders and practitioners who address the emerging dynamics of SEM, including: executive-level leadership, leading strategies, internationalization, research, academic orientation, and current trends.
For more information, or to submit a manuscript, please contact Editor-in-Chief Tom Green at tomg@aacrao.org, or Managing Editor Heather Zimar at heatherz@aacrao.org.