Blog 10

Abstract

There have been multiple studies done on college students and the impact that joining the Greek community has on their development. Greek life exists at almost every major institution of higher education. The Greek community consists of millions of alumni and hundreds of thousand current undergraduate students. It is an enormous network of people that helps its members develop their skills and develop important leadership skills. Students in the Greek community are exposed to various social situations and leadership opportunities. This exposure allows them to develop their cognitive skills and gain valuable leadership experience that better prepares these students for life after school.

Work cited

Glass, Nicole. "Examining the Benefits of Greek Life." USA Today. Gannett Satellite

Information Network, 03 July 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Heibutzki, Ralph. "Positive & Negative Effects of Greek Life in College." Education - Seattle

PI. Seattle PI, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Kuh, George D. and Ernest T. Pascarella. "The Questionable Value of Fraternities." Chronicle of

Higher Education, vol. 42, no. 32, 19 Apr. 1996, p. A68. EBSCOhost,

login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct

=true&db=trh&AN=9604187856&site=eds-live.

Long, Larry D. "Unchallenged, Professed Core Values: Do Undergraduate

Fraternity/Sorority Members Actually Benefit in the  Areas of Scholarship,

Leadership, Service, and Friendship?." College Student Affairs Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, 01 Jan. 2012, pp.  15-30. EBSCOhost,  

login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&A

Musulin, Kristin. "Voices: The Positive, Underreported Aspects of Greek Life." USA Today.

Gannett Satellite Information Network, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.N=EJ1006547&site=eds-live.

Pike, Gary R. "The Influence of Fraternity or Sorority Membership on Students' College

Experiences and Cognitive Development." Research in Higher Education, no. 1, 2000, p. 117. EBSCOhost,

login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.40196391&site=eds-live.

Routon, P.W. ( 1 ) and J.K. ( 2 ) Walker. "Attitude Changes and Self-Perceived Skill Gains from

Collegiate Greek Organization Membership*." Social Science Quarterly, vol. 97, no. 3,

01 Sept. 2016, p. 807-822. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ssqu.12310.

Routon, Wesley, and Jay Walker. “Going Greek: Academics, Personal Change, and Life after

College.”Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning , vol. 48, no. 1, 7 Mar. 2016, pp. 60–66., Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.

Routon, P. Wesley and Jay K. Walker. "The Impact of Greek Organization Membership on

Collegiate Outcomes: Evidence from a National Survey." Journal of Behavioral and

Experimental Economics, vol. 49, 01 Apr. 2014, pp. 63-70. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.socec.2014.02.003.

"General History of Fraternities and Sororities in the United States." STUDENT

INVOLVEMENT. San Jose State University, 22 July 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Review 5

1) P. Wesley Routon

Jay K. Walker


2) Routon, P.W. ( 1 ) and J.K. ( 2 ) Walker. "Attitude Changes and Self-Perceived Skill Gains from Collegiate Greek Organization Membership*." Social Science Quarterly, vol. 97, no. 3, 01 Sept. 2016, p. 807-822. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ssqu.12310.

3) This article goes into detail in various different things such as Greek life students opinions on things such as discrimination and legalization of marijuana. On top of that it goes on to talk about leadership skills and interpersonal skills developed by Greek life students. It goes on to explain that these opinions and skills are developed through the experiences and opportunities that students face while they are in Greek life. 

4) Wesley Routon: Wesley is an applied microeconomist, and much of his work falls within labor and education economics. He revived his doctorate in economics from middle Tennessee state university
Jay Walker: Jay's fields of interest are applied microeconomics, labor economics, and the economics of education. He is an assistant professor of economics at Niagara University and was awarded his Ph.D in economics from the university of Memphis. 

5) 1) Large premiums in leadership abilities and interpersonal skills

2) Greek life members have different opinions then non-Greek life students

6) "gains for Greeks in leadership ability, interpersonal skills, and public speaking" page 819

"Male membership has a positive impact on skills related to getting along with individuals of different races and cultures, understanding community problems, and understanding national social problems compared with male non-Greeks" page 819

"Both male and female members report larger skill gains regarding leadership abilities, interpersonal skills, and public speaking" page 818

7) This is a very valuable source because it gives me more benefits that Greek life has on its members. It further explains the skill developed while in Greek life. The uniqueness of Greek life is the fact that it allows its members to face many different experiences that most other students do not have the opportunity to face. These experiences allow its members to further develop their skills and form more open opinions.   

Blog 9

Thesis:

Joining Greek life is more than just joining a social club, it is a way for young students to develop there skill set and grow to become more successful in the future.

Research question:

What is the impact on development and growth on students who decide to go Greek?

In order to answer this questions I plan on using my sources to show how Greek students further develop their skills and are further set up for success in the future. I will be showing this by giving examples of specific skills that students have developed when they joined Greek life.

In an article by George Kuhn he tries to discuss the negative influences that students encounter by joining Greek life. He goes on to try and counter the argument that students develop and enhance their cognitive skills. He goes on to state how Greek students are behind their non-Greek students in cognitive development. He goes on to explain the biggest deficit in students is in critical thinking. He also tries to argue that Greek students make smaller gains in openness to diversity than their fellow non-Greek students.

Although Kuhn may argue these points there is significant evidence to refute his argument. It has been looked into multiple times and I have found multiple sources that disagree with Kuhn's argument and provide significant evidence against him.

Blog 8

A very important case that further looks into the development of cognitive skills in Greek Life members is developed by Wesley Routon and Jay Walker. They sampled over 103,000 undergraduate college students from 462 institutions of higher education. They look at these college students's opinions on things from legalization of marijuana to the belief that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in the United States. Further the look into self-perceived skill changes such as leadership abilities and interpersonal skills.  It was found that Greek members of both genders are most likely to believe that racial discrimination is not a problem in our country. The most important part of this case is related to the skill changes that happen to Greek members while at school. Both male and female Greek members were reported to have larger gains in leadership abilities, interpersonal skills and public speaking. All of these skills are extremely important for people in the long run. The development of these specific skills allow students to grow and become successful. Being exposed to leadership positions as a young adult can help students grow and understand what it is like to be responsible and in charge of the well being of other people. Being a confident public speaker helps in performing presentations and can increase a students success in interviews. Being a good public speaker displays a sense of self confidence which is important for a young student. A large reason for Greek students to be able to develop these skills, has to do with the opportunities these students have to take leadership positions in their organization, to speak publicly, and learn how to negotiate the group dynamics of working with other students in pursuit of goals and projects that non-Greeks may not be as encouraged to take. Along with this male members received a positive impact on skills related to getting along with individuals of different races and cultures, understanding community problems, and understanding national social problems compared to non-Greeks. Overall these are all very important skills gained by Greek members that further help them improves their skill set and help them find success in the future.

Blog 7

One of the most important terms discussed in most of the readings is the development of cognitive skills. There is a lot of research out there that looks at the effect of Greek Life and its effects on the development of cognitive skills. In an article by Gary Pike and in another article by Wesley Routon and Jay Walker, both discuss the positive growth in skills from joining Greek Life. These two articles take an in depth look at cognitive skills and go on to show how joining Greek Life can develop these certain skills further.

Blog 6

This is an important visual because it displays all the positive things that come from Greek life. Just a couple of important facts displayed are that $7 million dollars is raised towards charities each year by Greek life. Another important fact being that overall Greek life GPAs are higher than the average student. These are all important facts that show the benefits of going Greek and thats why this is an important visual.