Structural dimensions of student involvement and their relationship to student development

Abstract

Student involvement has been identified as a critical factor linked to multiple positive college outcomes. Multiple studies have been conducted in which various aspects of student involvement have been identified. The focus of this study was to investigate the structural dimensions of student involvement and the relationship of those dimensions to student development. Participants in this study included 292 students from a regional Midwestern university. Exploratory factor analysis, canonical correlation, and univariate multiple regression techniques were used to explore the research questions examined in this study.

Four structural dimensions of student involvement were identified. These were identified as (1) Faculty and Staff Involvement (FSI), (2) Proximity (PROX), (3) Structured Organization Involvement (SOI), and (4) Social Connections (SOC). Three of these, Faculty and Staff Involvement, Proximity, and Social Connections were found to be significantly related to measures of student development. Specifically, FSI, PROX, and SOC were found to be significantly related to developing and clarifying purpose; PROX and SOC were found to be related to developing autonomy; and PROX and SOC were found to be related to mature interpersonal relationships.