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Student-faculty informal interaction and the effect on college student outcomes: a review of the literature

Adolescence - December 22, 1993

An underlying assumption for many in American higher education is that there is a relationship between student and faculty that extends beyond formal interaction. Educationally, the notion seems sound. The value of college transcends the transmission of factual material in the classroom. Knowledge is not the exclusive end of education, but a part of the process in which students learn more about society and self.

Sociologically, support is being given to various "cultures" within the college experience that socialize students' values, attitudes, and beliefs. In the last quarter century, researchers have begun to explore the informal nature of student-faculty relationships.

In the earlier days of this research, investigators were concerned with the general nature of the college experience. For example, implications of going to college were compared with not going to college, but with the expanding opportunities in higher education and institutional diversity, the question of college impact is becoming one of the comparative impact of different types of college experiences (Astin, 1970b). Further, inquiries are conducted comparing the effects of students who are residents and nonresidents, traditional age and older reentry students, attenders of large public universities and smaller private colleges, and high-interacting and low-interacting student-faculty informal experiences.

In short, questions on student-faculty informal interaction are moving from what happens to how and why, and from the amount of interaction to the quality of student-faculty relationships.

Although empirical articles on the role of student-faculty interaction are abundant (Alchiatore & Alchiatore, 1979; Davis & Young, 1982; Kestor, 1975; Meloy, 1986; Oramaner, 1981; Reinfeld, 1976; Rhodes, 1975; Sinclair, 1977; Smith, 1976), a growing body of theoretical research is emerging.

This review of the literature is organized under the following headings: (1) Faculty as Agents of Socialization, (2) Academic Achievement, (3) Satisfaction with College, (4) Intellectual and Personal Development, (5) Persistence and Attrition, (6) Career and Educational Aspiration, (7) Faculty Interpersonal Characteristics, (8) Classroom Atmosphere and Evaluation.(1)

A review of research methodology for college student outcomes is also presented.

Faculty as Agents of Socialization

According to the literature, faculty members do influence student outcomes both positively and negatively (Chickering, 1969; Endo & Harpel, 1981; Feldman & Newcomb, 1969; Jacob, 1957; Terenzini, Theophilides, & Lorang, 1984). Though research on college outcomes has increased, there are few empirical studies on student-faculty interaction. As a result, researchers know that certain general types of college experiences may be associated with certain general outcomes, yet little is understood about the specific nature of the interaction which leads to the observed outcomes (Pascarella, 1985).

Jacob's (1957) summary of the literature on the impact of teachers cites evidence that the quality of teaching has little effect on the value outcomes of general education for the majority of students. Elsewhere Jacob concedes that some teachers do exert a profound influence on some students:

Faculty influence appears more profound at institutions where association between faculty and students is normal and frequent, and students find teachers receptive to unhurried conversations out of class. (Jacob, 1957, p. 8)

Feldman and Newcomb (1969) conclude that where both the influence of student peers and of faculty complement and reinforce each other, there is potential for faculty impact. Thus, as faculty take on an increasingly significant quality relationship in the students' social environment, the more likely are the students to be influenced by faculty attitudes and other socializing variables (Pascarella, 1980).

Close student-faculty interaction is identified as being of varying significance in the college socialization process. Some research bears out the impact of college culture as the prime agent of student socialization Chickering (1969) identifies three main factors in college enculturation: (1) students' entry characteristics, (2) structural and environmental factors of the college, and (3) interactions between students and the primary agents of socialization on campus (i.e., faculty and peers).

Thistlewaite (1960) claims that the impact of college life is made primarily by the faculty. Similarly, Newman and Newman (1978) report that college faculty members and some administrative personnel (e.g., counselors, residence hall advisors, or the Dean of Students) are the primary agents of influence on the consolidation of students' values.

Wallace (1966) and Feldman and Newcomb (1969) point to the admittedly powerful socializing influence of peer groups on student values, attitudes, and development during college. Yet faculty have the potential to make a unique contribution as informal socializing agents (Terenzini & Pascarella, 1980a). In some cases, informal interaction with faculty may even override the influence of the general student culture (Pascarella, Terenzini, & Hibel, 1978).

Bean (1985) finds that rather than being passive, students play a part in selecting preferred agents of socialization, and negotiate the form and content of the process with the agents. Denzin (1966) reported that college-age youth actively choose significant others based on the way they perceive others evaluate them.

Students differ in the degree to which influences have a socializing effect (Feinberg, 1972). Quality of relationship rather than frequency of interaction (quantity) is more important (Churukian, 1982; Endo & Harpel, 1981; Terenzini, Theophiles & Lorang, 1984). Endo and Harpel distinguish between friendly and formal student-faculty interaction. Friendly contacts cover a broader range of issues than do formal contacts. The reported results of friendly interaction positively affected nine of fourteen outcomes, whereas the formal interaction positively affected only two of the fourteen. Also, students in professional programs had a greater frequency of formal interaction than did liberal arts students.

Lacy (1978) shows the effects of the nature and content of interaction with faculty and peers on student change. Although potentially at a similar stage in the life cycle, individual student characteristics vary, which affect outcomes of socialization in college. In short, although students report that the most significant changes occur in the area of interpersonal relationships (Katz, 1968), and that informal face-to-face contact was chosen by the 18- to 20-year-old students in the selection of significant adults (Galbo, 1984), students differ in openness to new experiences and the influence of others (Palola & Evans, 1981). However, the college culture that is highly interactive becomes a primary setting for socialization (Orth, 1963). In addition, student-faculty informal interaction may have an impact on students' academic achievement.

Academic Achievement

Some researchers attempt to correlate the relationship between student-faculty informal interaction and grade point average. However, confounding variables skew results. Faculty perceptions of students' characteristics (Gamson, 1967), students' entering academic aptitude (Wallace, 1966), amount (Astin & Panos, 1969) and quality (Terenzini & Pascarella, 1980a, 1980b) of student-faculty interaction, and general college environment all cloud the issue.

Astin and Panos (1969) and Pascarella, Terenzini, and Hibel (1978) sought to control for student preenrollment variables and distinguished between six types of student-faculty nonclass contact. Yet other variables are less than satisfactorily addressed. Prior achievement, motivation for grades in college, and perhaps more importantly, impact of peer groups need further study.

Pascarella warns of the problem of reciprocal causation:

Does informal interaction with faculty positively influence academic achievement, or is it initial perceptions of academic success which eventually lead students to seek contact with faculty beyond the classroom? . . . it may be that the instructor perceives those students who seek contact with him or her outside of class as being more intellectually curious and interested in the course material than students who do not, and has a tendency to be subtly influenced by this perception in the evaluation of student performance in the course (Pascarella, 1980, p. 508).

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