Catholic student experiences and perceptions at a non-Catholic Christian institution

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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Alabama Libraries
Abstract

Today’s college students desire their institutions to invest in their spiritual development cultivating an affective exploration for meaning and purpose. A significant portion (25%) of the students who make up those findings and the current traditional undergraduate student population at four-year institutions identify as Roman Catholic. It is during the college-aged years of 18-23 when individuals who leave the Catholic faith make that decision most frequently citing either a lack of spiritual development or disagreement with the social perspectives of the Catholic Church. Research has shown that Catholic students attending non-Catholic Christian institutions grow as much or more in the spiritual development compared to their peers at Catholic institutions and substantially more than their peers at non-religious institutions. This case study explored the institutional environmental components of a non-Catholic Christian institution on the spiritual and religious experiences of Catholic students. Utilizing Strange and Banning’s (2001) campus ecology conceptual framework, the researcher interviewed 16 Catholic students; six administrators, faculty, and staff who designed the environment; completed direct observations; and analyzed documents to better understand how Catholic students experienced the physical, aggregate, organizational, and constructed environments within the institution.

Description
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Keywords
Higher education, Religious education, Spirituality
Citation