Student Social Identity Development

How and Why Students Develop a Social Identity

What is meant by Student Development?

Author Nancy J. Evans notes that the phrase "Student Development" too often becomes simply a vague catchphrase that has little application to college students' lives and learning. Student Development embraces the psychosocial, cognitive-structural, and social identity of students in postsecondary settings (Evans, et al., 2009).

In the quest for self-direction, students universally seek a social identity as well as an education that can propel them into meaningful, successful careers.

Evans, N.J., Forney, D.S., Guido, F.M., Patton, L.D., and Renn, K.A. (2009). Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice.

Introduction to Training Session

Clearly college and university students already have an identity when they enroll in classes, although their more mature individual identity in the social milieu will evolve with time. This training session embraces the question of how and why a...
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