Elizabeth Niehaus

The Meaning Students Make as Participants in Short-Term Immersion Programs

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a multi-site case study designed to investigate students’ experiences as participants in four week-long immersion programs (New York City, Peru, the Czech Republic, Chicago). Results highlight the significance of the context of the trips and specific characteristics of the trip (e.g., getting out of the bubble, boundary crossing, and personalizing), which served as the springboard for learning and meaning making. In particular, meaning making focused on developing new understandings of social issues, privilege, and stereotypes, reframing experiences upon participants’ return, and shifting sense of purpose and career planning.

Alternative Breaks as a Context for Informal Interactions with Diversity

One of the most frequently touted benefits of higher education is the opportunity to interact with people different from oneself, yet these interactions do not automatically lead to positive outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore how one particular context for diversity interactions, service-based alternative break programs, may provide the necessary balance of challenge and support for students to learn from diversity.

Serving a Higher Power: The Influence of Alternative Break Programs on Students' Religiousness.

Abstract:The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students’ religiousness and participation in alternative breaks (ABs) using both survey and interview data from the National Survey of Alternative Breaks. Findings from this mixed methods study demonstrate the potential for ABs to facilitate religiousness and help students connect (or reconnect) to religious faith, particularly through participation in service with an explicit religious connection, individual written reflection, and interaction with community members.

Exploring the Role of Alternative Break Programs in Students’ Career Development

Higher education institutions play a key role in helping to shape students’ interests and career plans; as such, student affairs practitioners should understand how the co-curricular environments in their domain contribute to students’ career development. The purpose of this study is to explore how one specific co-curricular experience, participation in an Alternative Break (AB) program, may influence students’ career plans.

Serving a Stranger or Serving Myself: Alternative Breaks and the Influence of Race and Ethnicity on Student Understanding of Themselves and Others.

Abstract Given the ever increasing numbers of Students of Color engaging in higher education, the importance of cross-cultural interactions for all students, and the evidence that White students and Students of Color may have vastly different experiences in higher education, there is a need to further explore the types of cross-cultural experiences that different college students have and the ways that those experiences facilitate learning and development. Using data from the National Survey of Alternative Breaks, the purpose of this study was to explore how one particular type of cross-cultural experience, participating in a service-learning based alternative break (AB) program, contributes to the racial understanding of White students and Students of Color. Findings point to the importance of considering the different experiences that White students and Students of Color have in ABs and other service-learning experiences.

Building Momentum in Student Engagement: Alternative Breaks and Students’ Social Justice and Diversity Orientation

Abstract: Drawing from the theory of academic momentum, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between what happens before, during, and after an alternative break (AB) experience and students’ reported gains in diversity and social justice orientations 1 year after their AB. Findings point to the importance of considering how these types of programs are structured and implemented, not just whether or not students participate, and of encouraging continued engagement after an AB experience.

Exploring Integrative Learning in Service-Based Alternative Breaks

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore how students integrate learning from one particular experience, participating in a service learning-based alternative break (AB), with other postsecondary experiences and to identify the conditions that may facilitate integrative learning. Using qualitative case studies combined with narrative analysis, we analyzed data from interviews with 38 AB participants. Consistent with Barbers (2012) theory of integrative learning, we found evidence that students were engaging in the processes of connecting, applying, and synthesizing learning from their ABs. We identified the importance of interacting with diverse others in facilitating integrative learning, but also noted barriers to integration such as difficulty connecting information across disparate contexts. Through exploring integrative learning in one particular context, the findings from this study can inform our understanding of how students are engaging in integration and improve our understanding of how educators can best support integration in higher education.

Enacting Efficacy in Early Career: Narratives of Agency, Growth, and Identity

Aim/Purpose To explore how early career faculty in the field of higher education administration develop and enact their personal and professional identities. Background Participants sought to understand themselves, to understand their environments and the “rules” of the academic “game,” and to reconcile conflicts between their own values and identities and the expectations and culture of their environments. Methodology In-depth case studies of seventeen early career scholars in the field. Contribution The participants’ experiences underscore important implications for mentoring and socialization that takes into consideration the unique motivation and identity development of aspiring and new faculty members. Findings Identifies the early career period as one where new faculty are working to develop a strong internal foundation upon which they can manage the many challenges of their personal and professional lives. Recommendations The findings point to implications for practice, both in graduate education and in departments hiring new faculty members.