Higher Educational Impact on Student Objectives: Longitudinal Change in Clark-Trow "Educational Philosophies"

This study explores the impact of higher education on 3,942 arts and sciences students as measured by change in their freshman and senior ratings of four Clark-Trow "educational philosophies": vocational, academic, collegiate, and nonconformist (Clark and Trow, 1966). A repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to each of the four philosophies, controlling for sex, entering year, major, parents' educational background, scholastic aptitude, and academic motivation. As expected from Clark-Trow theory, students showed significant increases in academic and nonconformist philosophies, and decreases in vocational and collegiate philosophies. Relationships between independent variables and freshman-senior change suggested post hoc reinterpretation of the dimensions underlying the Clark-Trow "phenotypes": i. e., from "identification with the college" and "involvement with ideas" to "social interests" and "academic interests" (the latter suggested by Terenzini and Pascarella, 1977).

Attitudes and Social Factors as Predictors of Male Perpetration of Sexual Assault

Previous research has demonstrated a significant association between sexual assault perpetration and hooking up, male peer support for woman abuse, alcohol consumption, and rape myth acceptance (Burt, 1980; Flack, Daubman, Caron, Asadorian, D’Aureli, Gigliotti & Stine, 2007; Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1997). In the present study, we tested these relationships on the collegiate level by asking male students to indicate levels of male peer support for woman abuse (MPS), acceptance of rape myths (RMA), alcohol consumption, and history of hooking up and sexual assault perpetration during their undergraduate experience. Participants in this study were 200 male Bucknell students (sophomores - seniors) who completed an online survey concerning these issues. The overall prevalence rate for some type of sexual assault perpetration was 10.5%. Specific prevalence rates for non-invasive contact, completed rape, and attempted rape were 5.5%, 2.0%, and 5.0%, respectively. Sexual assault perpetration was positively correlated with MPS and alcohol consumption but not with RMA. Sexual assault was perpetrated most frequently during acquaintance hook ups. These findings demonstrate direct, significant relationships between sexual assault perpetration, alcohol abuse, different types of hooking up, and rape-supportive attitudes, and an association between perpetration and MPS that requires further elaboration.