University Image vs. University Identity: Congruence between Expectations and Experience

The aim of this thesis was to examine congruencies between university identity and university images of prospective and current students. Therefore, factors essentially influencing on expected and experienced university images were identified. Providing an understanding on the differences in the formation of both concepts allowed the analysis of potential incongruities between a university’s identity and the perceptions its students hold. The study was conducted in July and August 2013 at Lappeenranta University of Technology by means of a web-based research survey. The sample consisted of 160 international Master’s degree students who were admitted in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis methods were used to process the data. The results of the study indicated statistically significant incongruities between the case university’s identity and its students’ images. Further, the expected and experienced university images showed incongruities to each other. Deviations were additionally detected to be dependent on the students’ home regions. All in all, there is potential for an improvement of the students’ experiences resulting from a low perception of the student’s preparation for future job life.

Slackers, slashers and sticklers : Hollywood films and audience reception /

This thesis examines the processes through which identity is acquired and the processes that Hollywood :films employ to facilitate audience identification in order to determine the extent to which individuality is possible within postmodem society. Opposing views of identity formation are considered: on the one hand, that of the Frankfurt School which envisions the mass audience controlled by the culture industry and on the other, that of John Fiske which places control in the hands of the individual. The thesis takes a mediating approach, conceding that while the mass media do provide and influence identity formation, individuals can and do decode a variety of meanings from the material made available to them in accordance with the text's use-value in relation to the individual's circumstances. The analysis conducted in this thesis operates on the assumption that audiences acquire identity components in exchange for paying to see a particular film. Reality Bites (Ben Stiller 1994) and Scream (Wes Craven 1996) are analyzed as examples of mainstream 1990s films whose material circumstances encourage audience identification and whose popularity suggest that audiences did indeed identify with them. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson 2001) is considered for its art film sensibilities and is examined in order to determine to what extent this film can be considered a counter example. The analysis consists of a combination of textual analysis and reception study in an attempt to avoid the problems associated with each approach when employed alone. My interpretation of the filmmakers' and marketers' messages will be compared with online reviews posted by film viewers to determine how audiences received and made use of the material available to them. Viewer-posted reviews, both unsolicited and unrestricted, as found online, will be consulted and will represent a segment of the popular audience for the three films to be analyzed.

National and Gender Measurement Invariance of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) : A 10-Nation Study With University Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS), a self-report measure aimed at assessing identity processes of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. We tested its factor structure in university students from a large array of cultural contexts, including 10 nations located in Europe (i.e., Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland), Middle East (i.e., Turkey), and Asia (i.e., China, Japan, and Taiwan). Furthermore, we tested national and gender measurement invariance. Participants were 6,118 (63.2% females) university students aged from 18 to 25 years (Mage = 20.91 years). Results indicated that the three-factor structure of the U-MICS fitted well in the total sample, in each national group, and in gender groups. Furthermore, national and gender measurement invariance were established. Thus, the U-MICS can be fruitfully applied to study identity in university students from various Western and non-Western contexts.

Ethnic Identity among Indigenous and Mestizos from Intercultural University of Chiapas = Identidad étnica entre los indígenas y los mestizos de la Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas

This study explored ethnic identity among 662 students (326 mestizos and 336 indigenous) from the Intercultural University of Chiapas (IUCh). Scholars suggest that ethnicity is more salient for ethnic minority adolescents than for adolescents who are members of the ethnic majority. The aims for this study were: 1) to determine the structure and validity of ethnic identity as measured by the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure in a sample of majority and minority ethnic groups from Intercultural University in Chiapas, and 2) to examine the variability of ethnic identity across ethnic groups. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure would show two factors, and that ethnic groups would differ on ethnic identity. The results supported the hypotheses

University Faculty Members’ Understanding of Their Role: Identity, Power, and Silence

This qualitative study was conducted to explore tenured faculty members’ understandings of their roles as professors. Tenure is an institutional means to enact academic freedom, which allows tenured faculty members to investigate topics of their choosing free from external influence. Academic freedom also enables faculty members to be public intellectuals who shape and critique social policies and make knowledge assertions. In effect, the faculty members are institutionally protected to speak truth to power. Purposeful sampling of 9 participants from 2 universities yielded 3 major themes: professorial identity (shaped by such factors as career stage, university culture, and faculty affiliation), professorial power (powers that participants experienced as well as the ways in which they exercised power), and professorial silencing (as a response to fiscal realities coupled with numerous governance issues). While participants were cognizant of the powers that affected their freedoms, they were less aware of the ways in which their position afforded them powers. Subtle but more potent forms of power were at play for tenured professors, but the participants saw themselves as having to work within institutional and financial constraints that limited their freedom to speak out on controversial issues. Faculty members were, thus, silenced and at times chose to self-silence. The context of the present-day university, governance models, and the financial issues affecting universities and departments worked in concert to silence this critical voice in society.

The Shaping of a New Identity: Continuation of the Transformation Process of People of Color on White University College Campuses Into "White" People of Color

“Our study will show how the pyramidal structure as a permanent feature of every aspect of American society continues to function in the same manner at institutions of higher learning.”

Institutional Identity and Anticipatory Socialization: a Qualitative Analysis of Multi-Campus University Websites

A document analysis of institutional websites was conducted to infer the extent to which affiliated campuses are integrated with one another within multi-campus university systems. The factors that contribute to either a common or differentiated sense of institutional identity, as expressed in the campuses’ individual web presences, were a primary focus of the investigation. This study then sought to determine the effect that institutional identity has on the anticipatory socialization of students who relocate from branch campuses to their parent institutions. Once an analysis of the findings had been conducted, recommendations for further research in this area were made.