A Social Exchange Perspective on Outside of Class Interactions between Underrepresented Students and Faculty
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A Social Exchange Perspective on Outside of Class Interactions between Underrepresented Students and Faculty David R. Johnson 1 & Christopher P. Scheitle 2 & Ashley Juvera 3 & Robert Miller 1 & Vincent Rivera 4 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
Existing explanations of faculty-student interactions emphasize social-organizational characteristics of higher education to the exclusion of social-psychological dimensions of the interactions themselves. Yet, student perceptions are essential cognitive elements that influence frequency of, and growth from, informal interaction with faculty. Drawing on a survey of students at a large public university, this paper expands theoretical understanding of faculty-student interactions by considering how social exchange theory helps explain frequency of, and growth from, informal interactions—and how such patterns vary by social identity. Keywords Social exchange theory . Faculty-student interactions . Underrepresented students
David R. Johnson is a Sociologist of Higher Education and the Author of A Fractured Profession: Commercialism and Conflict in the Academic Profession (2017 Johns Hopkins University Press). Christopher P. Scheitle is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University. Ashley Juvera is a financial aid professional at Truckee Meadows Community College. Robert Miller is completing his PhD in educational leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno. Vincent Rivera is Veterans Resource Coordinator at Western Nevada College.
* David R. Johnson [email protected]
1
University of Nevada, Reno, USA
2
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
3
Truckee Meadows Community College, 7000 Dandini Blvd, Reno, NV 89512, USA
4
Western Nevada College, 2201 W College Pkwy, Carson City, NV 89703, USA
Innovative Higher Education
Introduction For both students and faculty, outside of class interactions are inherently social exchanges characterized by costs and benefits. For faculty—a term we use inclusively to refer to individuals with permanent or contingent academic appointments at colleges and universities—the costs might include sacrificing time invested in tasks tied to other valued activities (such as research) while the benefits might include satisfaction derived from helping a student think through a problem. For a student, the costs might also include sacrificing time that could be invested in a more valued activity (such as a student organization) while the benefits could include various dimensions of personal, academic, or social growth. At their best, these dyadic interactions are reciprocal exchanges in which the benefits outweigh the costs for both parties. In less ideal circumstances, these exchanges do not occur, perhaps because students do not anticipate anything to be gained from them or because the perceived costs outweigh the benefits a student would otherwise seek out. Researchers have demonstrated that there are benefits to these interactions. Indeed, one of the most well documented patterns in the study of higher education is
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