The study of student development has long been considered a cornerstone of the higher education and student affairs (HESA) profession. However, perspectives on what constitutes student development have evolved as scholars continuously embrace more critical frameworks to implicate systems of power and oppression--what scholars have termed the third…

The nuances that surface for minoritized bodies as a consequence of living in a Western, United States context requires reimagining theory, which does more than emphasize the psychological or the sociological. It necessitates a cross-disciplinary and historical analysis that deeply considers the affective and political. In this article, I borrow…

Scholars and practitioners alike often assume that discomfort is a necessary and productive aspect of the college experience. We used a range of theories grounded in the concept of dissonance to question these assumptions and critically analyze the role of discomfort in collegiate learning and development for today's diverse college student…

Drawing from Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain's (1998) identity theory, this study sought to understand how six self-identified lesbian and gay Latina/o college students negotiated their sexual and ethnic identities. Participants identified two equally flawed dimensions, the hometown and college figured worlds, from which they sought an…

In this article, the author briefly traces the academic traditions that have formed the major body of student development literature, highlighting the evolution of separate rather than integrated constructs. She then summarizes Robert Kegan's conception of a metapsychology that integrates many of these separate lines of research. Next, she offers…

This article focuses on understanding how identity development is conceptualized in student affairs. The need to understand the person, context, and interactions between the two advances identity theories as relevant to student affairs practice. The more practitioners understand how students make meaning of their identities, the better they are…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between spirituality and leadership in college students. Using a correlational research design, the strength and nature of the relationship between measures of spirituality and leadership is measured from data gathered from college students. Three measures of spirituality are used to measure…

Through a series of interviews with 27 entering, high-risk college students, this study investigated the relation between self-authorship, coping style, and adaptation. Findings suggest high-risk college students enter with self-authored ways of knowing, but self-authorship disappears quickly as students have marginalizing experiences. Subsequent…

The authors proposed that racial and gender identities were related to ego identities based on common themes that exist across these different dimensions of identity. A sample of 300 White college students completed the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Carter, 199), the Womanliest Identity Attitude Scale (Ossana, Helms, &…