The Effect of Undergraduates' Major, Gender, Race/ethnicity, and School Year on Teacher Enmeshment

Interactions between students and faculty outside of class appear to be linked to greater achievement during and after college (Anaya & Cole, 2001; Hathaway, Nagda, & Gregerman, 2002). However, sometimes there can be blurred personal boundaries and a lack of autonomy in these relationships, or what has been labeled enmeshment. The purpose of the current pilot study was to investigate the effect of race/ ethnicity, gender, year in college, and college major on student-faculty relationships and teacher enmeshment. Teacher enmeshment was measured with the Teacher Enmeshment subscale of the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA; Levine & Saintonge, 1993). A sample of 165 undergraduate and graduate students from education and psychology classes at a small, private liberal arts institution in the Northeast participated. No significant differences among the different demographic groups were found on the total teacher enmeshment score. However, significant differences were found among students with different majors, by gender, and by race/ethnicity on individual items. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are provided. Introduction The process of adjusting to college involves several factors, including college size and location, student residence, and student age (Lamport, 1993). One key variable involves the presence of agents of socialization, or people who inform incoming students about the college environment (Lamport, 1993). Many agents of socialization exist, including fellow students, residence hall staff, and administrators. However, the most influential of these may be faculty. By interacting with students and showing interest in their academic progress, faculty can reassure students of their intention to assist students in their effort to complete college. One student described this reassurance with the statement, You're no longer just another one, you're an individual ... and that personal connection, that relationship means a lot (Cox & Orehovec, 2007, p. 355). Interactions between students and faculty outside of class are linked to greater achievement during and after college (Anaya & Cole, 2001; Hathaway, Nagda, & Gregerman, 2002). They are also associated with value changes, such as choosing to work in a social science field (Pascarella, Ethington, & Smart, 1980). Despite these benefits, informal out-of-class interactions do not always happen and when they do, they can be superficial at best, even in programs specifically designed to encourage interactions (Cox & Orehovec, 2007). In one study, researchers interviewed undergraduate students participating in a special program designed to encourage student-faculty interaction. This program was intended to foster interactions outside of the classroom by providing dinners and social events which were encouraged or mandatory for students and faculty. Even with these added opportunities for increased faculty contact, students reported mostly superficial interactions such as exchanging brief pleasantries, instead of more involved interactions such as mentoring (Cox & Orehovec, 2007). Several factors may explain differences in student-faculty interactions, including departmental norms (Kuh & Hu, 2001), faculty willingness to interact with students (Cox & Orehovec, 2007), and student differences (Anaya & Cole, 2001; Sax, Bryant, & Harper, 2005). Researchers (e.g., Gnaulati & Heine, 2001; Sax et al., 2005) have even recommended that race/ethnicity and gender should be examined in studies focused on student-faculty interactions. Educators have developed the term hidden curriculum to describe the behavioral patterns and unwritten rules of the education setting (Smith, 2004). In a university setting, different departments may foster different attitudes in students toward faculty. Research has indicated that students in humanities and social science fields reported more interaction with faculty than students in professional and science or math related fields (Kuh & Hu, 2001). …