The Role of Self-Efficacy, Social
Connectedness, and Identity Development
in the Early Transition Experiences of
Latino College Students
Kimberly Case, Ph.D. | Robert Reyes, Ph.D. | Anayeli Lopez, MSSA
Aliah Carolan-Silva, Ph.D.
Goshen College
Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning
AAHHE | San Antonio, Texas | March 5, 2011
Session Outline
•
•
•
•
Overview of CITL at Goshen College
The SALT Program
Conceptual frameworks informing efforts
Observed gains in Latino students as they
transition to college
• How SALT students compare to other students
CITL
Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning
• Research
• Community Outreach
• College Student Success
Four-Year Cohort Program
• 1st Year: Exploring who I am
• 2nd Year: Contributing to my campus as an ethnically diverse
student
• 3rd Year: Enacting servant leadership and exploring social justice
• 4th Year: Preparing for an intercultural workplace
SALT
YEAR 4
Higher level of
integration;
preparing for
an intercultural
workplace
YEAR 1
Exploring who
I am:
Ethnic Identity
Exploration
YEAR 3
YEAR 2
Enacting
servant
leadership in
the community
and exploring
social justice
Contributing
to my
campus as an
ethnically
diverse
student
SALT
Summer Academic Leadership Training
• 2nd year at Goshen College; 3 week program
• 3 academic credits
• Development of:
• academic skills: courses; field trips; research lab
• social adjustment: roommates; on-campus living;
interaction with faculty, students, staff
• personal awareness: fieldtrips; course content
SALT Daily Schedule
8am
9am-12pm
Breakfast
Class
[Oral Comm. / Lit. & Writing]
12pm
1-3pm
3pm
3:30-5pm
5pm
Lunch
Proctored study time
Break
Math or Research Lab
Dinner
SALT – Additional Components
Evening activities
Social activities
Trips
Misc.
Residence Hall Meetings
Leadership Seminar (also
leadership lunch
gatherings)
Worship
Chicago: National Museum
of Mexican Art
Cincinnati: National
Underground Railroad
Freedom Center
Indianapolis
Chief Ice Cream Outing
Scavenger Hunt
Movie Night
Celebration Coffee House
Registration for classes
Tutoring available in dorm
Residence Life: 3 resident
assistants and resident
director
SALT 2010 Participants
• Ethnicity
15 Hispanic
2 African American
1 Asian
2 African (international)
1 White
• 10 CITL students; 12 ALANA students
• 11 women; 10 men
• 9 first-generation college students
Conceptual
Frameworks
College Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is not simply possession of a skill, but the
belief that the skill can be effectively produced under a
variety of circumstances.
Four Determinants
• Enactive attainments (mastery experiences)
• Vicarious experiences (watching a model perform a task)
• Verbal persuasion (encouragement to engage in a target
behavior)
• Physiological arousal (use of arousal information)
Bandura, 1994
College Self-Efficacy
Can I succeed in college?
In academic settings, self-efficacy refers to students’
confidence in their ability to carry out college-related tasks:
• Academic: talking to professors, writing a term paper
• Social: making new friends, joining a student
organization
• Relational/roommate: socializing with others you live
with
(Solberg, O’Brien, Villareal, & Davis, 1993)
Social Connectedness
• How students view themselves in relation
to friends, strangers, peers, and their
world (Lee & Robbins, 2000)
• High social connectedness: can easily identify with other
people, view others as approachable and friendly,
participate in activities and social groups (Lee, Draper & Lee,
2001)
• Low social connectedness: lower self-esteem, less
satisfaction with relationships, and perceive environments
as more threatening (Lee & Robbins, 1998)
Ethnic Identity Development
• Ethnic Identity Development: The process of the
search of identity with a particular ethnic group(s).
“Ethnic identity refers to one’s sense of belonging to an
ethnic group and the part of one’s thinking, perceptions,
feelings, and behavior that is due to ethnic group
membership” (Phinney, 1996).
• Unexamined, Exploration, Achieved
• Enclaves (Kuh & Love, 2000)
– Bridging the cultural distance between students of
color and the larger predominantly White campus
(Rodgers & Summers, 2008)
Ethnic Identity Development
Phinney (1992) Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure
• Ethnic identity search (developmental and cognitive):
Individual’s degree of engagement in exploring their ethnic
identity.
• Affirmation: Sense of pride individuals feel towards their
ethnic group.
• Belonging: Degree of attachment individuals have towards
their own ethnic group.
• Commitment: Strength of individuals’ ties towards their
ethnic group.
SALT 2010 video…
Assessing Outcomes
• SALT - initial venue for increasing students’
college self-efficacy, social connectedness and
ethnic identity awareness
• Developing a logic model to guide the process
• Program evaluation utilizing surveys and
interviews
– Feedback on program delivery
– Answering research-focused questions
Research Question
What contributions do
self-efficacy, social
connectedness, and
identity development
make to the experience
of Latina and Latino
students in their initial
transition college?
Findings
Academic Self-Efficacy
College Self-Efficacy Inventory
(Solberg, O’Brien, Villareal, & Davis,
1993)
– Sub-scales:
• Academic
• Roommate
• Social
INTERVENTIONS
• Class, proctored study,
tutoring in dorms, RA (role
models)
Please answer how confident
you are that you can
successfully complete each
task.
0=totally unconfident; 1=very
unconfident; 2=unconfident;
3=somewhat unconfident;
4=undecided; 5=somewhat
confident; 6=confident; 7=very
confident; 8=totally confident
College Self-Efficacy Inventory
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pre-test
Post-test
Academic
5.48
5.74
Roommate
6.52
6.67
Social
6.15
6.44
Self-Efficacy
Realistic Expectations for College
• I’m glad I got to have that experience now. And I
have an idea what it’s gonna be like in August.
• So I think the program has really helped with,
opening people’s eyes and making them realize that,
you know, this is college and a head start is really
good.
• SALT was very helpful in seeing how the workload is
gonna be. And how much time you need to dedicate,
and seeing what kind of organization you’re gonna
have to put into your studyin’.
Self-Efficacy
Mastery of Academic Experiences
• …I won’t be as scared to ask teachers for help and
then ask like my friends or something, people I meet
in the class, ask them for help as well.
• I now feel more comfortable speaking in front of
other people, I can present and feel confident that I
know what I am doing.
• [SALT class has] given us an idea of, what teachers
are expecting from us. And, how to get involved, like
in class discussions and all that.
Self-Efficacy
Social Behaviors in/out of the Classroom
• I think if I have an opinion I’m very ready to get into
that [classroom discussions and asking questions].
And I think the SALT program is actually really
helpful. I don’t know if I would have been, you know,
this confident without the SALT program.
• What I liked most about the class… The fact that the
teacher and us (the students) became comfortable
with each other, and in oral communications that’s
important. It prepared me well of what to expect.
• …How to manage my time, and believe in
myself that I can do it.
Social Connectedness
• Social Connectedness ScaleRevised [SCS-R]
• INTERVENTIONS
– Living on campus 3 weeks
– Cohort model, structured
experience
– Shared out-of-class experiences
– Building relationships with
faculty, staff, and students
Social Connectedness
Global
orientation
General
social
relations
Peers & close
relationships
Self
Social Connectedness
Categories
5
4
3
Negatively
worded items
+0.13
2
1
+0.30
+0.23
+0.14
0
Self
Peers & Close
Relationships
Pre-test
General Social
Relations
Post-test
Global
Orientation
Social Connectedness
General Social Relations
• Well, I’m more excited because this is only like a
three week program and it was only with a couple
people and I’ve met so many people and made so
many, like new friendships.
• I’m excited to just like meet more people next
year since there’s like all their dormitories are
gonna be filled and there’s gonna be a variety of
people here.
• [SALT has] prepared me like, how I’m gonna
approach people and talk to them.
Social Connectedness
Peer & Close Relationships (dorm)
• I wasn’t really into this idea of, sharing a room
with somebody who I didn’t know at all. But now
we’re really close to each other….in these short
three weeks, we’ve become, like very close so. I
know with her I will have a really good
relationship too.
• …there’s a sense of community in the dorms.
People come and hang out all the time. And,
people hang out in the Connectors. There’s just,
there’s a big sense of community within the
dorms as well.
Social Connectedness
Peer and Close Relationships
• And this program has allowed me to meet people
before school, so I kind of know who to ask for help
or like who to call up when I’m bored or something.
• It was nice knowing that, I don’t need to be scared
about making friends. That was really cool. I was,
happy with that.
• …over the last three weeks, a lot of us, I think, have
very close friends. And I’m gonna definitely miss
them. And I think that through the next four years
of college that we’ll probably hang out a lot. And
we’re actually planning to go to Puerto Rico for
Spring Break, a lot of us.
Ethnic Identity Development
• Multigroup Ethnic Identity
Measure
1 = Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Agree
4 = Strongly Agree
• INTERVENTIONS: Course
content, texts, fieldtrips,
peer interaction
Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure
TOTAL of all items
Ethnic Identity Search
4
Affirmation, Belonging,
Commitment
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Pre-test
Post-test
3.08
3.14
2.78
2.81
3.29
3.38
Ethnic Identity Awareness
• I was learning a lot more about myself.
• I never had, friendships with other,
races.
Fieldtrips to the National Museum of
Mexican Art and to the Freedom Center…
• Challenge my thoughts and made me
realize where I come from.
• It informed me more about history
involving culture.
• I was able to relate to them especially
the trip to the national museum of
Mexican Art.
Ethnic Identity Awareness
It sounds cliché, but I actually felt like
this, this awakening. So like, ever
since, the museum part of SALT….I felt
more, brown (laugh). Not so much
white, so like I’m just kinda like slowly
my world has been changing and
opening and like, like eating hot
sauce with Doritos, like (laughing).
Other
Evidence
Comparison with other students
• Program leaders’ anecdotal assessment
• SALT participants consistently rated Orientation
items higher than the non-SALT comparison group
• Retention
– SALT – 19 of 22 students returned, 86.4%
• All non-returners were not part of the CITL cohort
program
– Non-SALT Comparison Group – 9 of10 students
returned, 90%
• GPA…
SALT non-CITL M = 2.53
SALT CITL M = 2.86
4
4
3
3
2
2
SALT M = 2.70
1
1
0
0
First
Semester
GPA
Non-SALT Students M = 2.49
4
3
2
1
0
What we have learned and future
research…
• Bolstering academic components throughout
the CITL cohort program
• Course selection for SALT
• Stronger measures for academic self-efficacy
• Examine ethnic identity exploration alongside
leadership development
• The role of a sense of belonging
Questions &
Discussion
CITL
Center For Intercultural Teaching and Learning
Goshen College | Goshen, IN 46526
http://citl.goshen.edu/
Thank you for attending the session.
References
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Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational
Psychologist, 28(2), 117-149.
Kuh, G. D., & Love, P. G. (2000). A cultural perspective on student departure. In J. M. Braxton (Ed.),
Reworking the student departure puzzle (196-212). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Lee, R. M., Draper, M., & Lee, S. (2001). Social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal
behaviors, and psychological distress: Testing a mediator model. Journal of Counseling Psychology,
48(3), 310-318.
Lee, R.M., & Robbins, S.B. (1998). The relationship between social connectedness and anxiety, selfesteem, and social identity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 78, 484-491.
Lee, R.M., & Robbins, S.B. (2000). Understanding social connectedness in college women and men.
Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 484-491.
Phinney, J. (1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with adolescents
and young adults from diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156-176.
Phinney, J. (1996). When we talk about American ethnic groups, what do we mean? American
Psychologist, 51, 918-927.
Rodgers, K. A., & Summers, J. J. (2008). African American students at predominantly White
institution: Towards a revised retention model. Educational Psychology Review, 20(2), 171–190.
Solberg, V. S., O’Brien, K., Villareal, R. K., & Davis, B., (1993). Self-efficacy and Hispanic college
students: Validation of the college self-efficacy instrument. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral
Sciences, 15(1): 80-95.