The Impact of College on Students' Competence to Function in a Learning Society

ACT RESEARCH REPORTNo. 4747December 1971THE IMPACT OF COLLEGE ON STUDENTS' COMPETENCE TO FUNCTION IN A LEARNING SOCIETYuj THE AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING PROGRAM ccP. O. BOX 168, IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 ___________________________ THE IMPACT OF COLLEGE ON STUDENTS' COMPETENCETO FUNCTION IN A LEARNING SOCIETY Prepared by the Research and Development DivisionThe American College Testing Program© 1971 by The Am erican College Testing ProgramA ll rights reserved. Printed in the U nited States o f Am ericaFor additional copies w rite :Research arid Development Division The Am erican College Testing Program P.O. Box 168, Iowa C ity , Iowa 52240(Check or money order must accompany request.)Price: $1.00 ABSTRACTModern society, marked by a high level of technology and change, is aptly called the “ learning society" because people continually have to learn new rotes. Those who function as leaders and managers of this society, the "technical stratum," go through a socialization process in which higher education plays an important part. A considerable amount of evidence has accumulated th'at college has an impact on the personality characteristics of students in ways that could be interpreted as giving competence to college graduates to function successfully in leadership roles within such a society. College graduates are more autonomous, independent, flexible, and socially involved, for example, than noncollege graduates. This change in the personality characteristics of college students could be due to student differences upon college entrance, or could be the effects of structural aspects of colleges and universities as social institutions. To explore these two possibilities, data were used from Trent and Medsker's Beyond High School study. The student outcome variable chosen to represent socialization to competence was the Social Maturity Scale of the Omnibus Personality Inventory.Student change on the Social Maturity Scale was found to be related to the social structure of the colleges they attended as well as to student characteristics upon college entrance. Further, the social structure of the colleges by itself exerted a significant influence on student Social Maturity. When the data were reanalyzed controlling for the length of time students were in college and the initial scores on the Social Maturity Scale, the relationships were enhanced. Limitations of the study are described, and implications for comparable research with other social institutions are suggested. THE IMPACT OF COLLEGE ON STUDENTS' COMPETENCETO FUNCTION IN A LEARNING SOCIETYMichael H. Walizer Robert E. Herriott1Although in recent years almost all American youth have become exposed to elementary and secondary schooling as a form of socialization, today an expanding segment of American society is making its initial contact with higher education. In addition to simply making greater quantitative demands upon the institution of formal education, such a rapid expansion in the "clientele" of American higher education has raised important questions regarding the functions of colleges and universities in contemporary society (Jencks & Riesman, 1968; Goslin, 1965; and Mayhew, 1969). Although a careful analysis of these many and often competing functions would be useful, we shall confine our analysis to simply the socialization function.Contemporary America is experiencing social change at an unprecedented rate; the scientific revolution, rapid urbanization, and phenomenal population growth have all created a sociocultural context in which social change is, and will continue to be swift (Mack, 1967). One of the consequences of such rapid change has been a shift from a "performance" to a "learning" society (Moore & Anderson, 1969), with a concomitant need for individuals who can adjust and adapt to changing role demands.In a performance society one could be reasonably certain that if he acquired the skills necessary to adequately perform his ascribed and achieved roles there would be a limited need for subsequent learning of new roles and modification of established ones. However, in a learning society an individual can no longer be certain that the roles, particularly occupational roles, he initially prepares for will adequately see him through his life cycle. On the contrary, individuals can be reasonably certain they will be called upon to fulfill new roles and that the expectations associated with continuing roles will be modified as the society changes. The ability to