Education and Identity

This completely revised and updated edition of Arthur W. Chickering's classic work presents new findings from the last twenty-five years and describes policies and practices in higher education that will foster the broad-based development of human talent essential to our society in the twenty-first century. Education and Identity offers a framework for human development that includes seven "vectors" - such as developing competence, managing emotions, moving through autonomy toward interdependence, and others - critical to the needs of every college student. Drawing on the latest research, including recent findings on gender and multicultural differences, the authors show how institutions can strengthen development along these vectors. They examine such factors as institutional objectives, size, curriculum, student programs and services, and student-faculty relationships that contribute to educationally powerful environments. More important, Education and Identity provides a framework for thinking systematically about students' developmental patterns and makes concrete suggestions for fostering growth in areas such as interpersonal relationships, identity, purpose, and integrity.