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- 1. 2014 NASPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE MARCH 17TH 2014 PENNY RUE, PHD, VICE-PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT LIFE ANDY CHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT, PERSONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT ERANDA JAYAWICKREME, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGY SARA DAHILL-BROWN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, POLITICS & INT’L AFFAIRS Student Well-Being: What Do We Measure?
- 2. Our Agenda Well-being as a crucial outcome of education ◦ Mental health issues on college campuses The challenge ◦ A model of student well-being ◦ Evidence-based AND actionable Our model ◦ Six dimensions Discussion ◦ Key question: do the dimensions capture a complete picture of student well- being?
- 3. Well-Being: An Outcome of Education Well-being should arguably be the ultimate outcome of education (Layard) ◦ Well-being - peoples’ positive evaluations of their lives ◦ Why focus on well-being? ◦ How is well-being achieved– and what is our role?
- 4. The challenge: what is student well-being? Well-being is multi-dimensional ◦ Multiple models (Jayawickreme, Forgeard & Seligman, 2012; Swarbrick, 2010) Student assessments relevant to well-being do already exist ◦ Good start, but need to go further No comprehensive student well-being model ◦ Sensitive to specific development status of young adults ◦ Challenge of quantifying the “value” of college
- 5. Swarbrick’s (2010) wellness domains
- 6. Well-Being Mediators: Skills, Habits, Behaviors, Attitudes, Beliefs, Expectations, and Resources Well-being Outcomes Pre-College Inputs Family, School, and Community College Environment Admissions & Recruiting First Year Experience Academic Experience Social Climate Personal and Professional Development Post-Graduate Connections
- 7. A model of student well-being Goal of current project ◦ Develop a dynamic, multi-dimensional, deep longitudinal assessment of WFU students’ and alumni holistic development and wellbeing. ◦ Identify an exhaustive list of dimensions that capture student well-being Two criteria for selecting well-being dimensions ◦ Dimensions should have a substantive empirical base of research supporting its successful assessment and utility ◦ Dimensions should be actionable– i.e. colleges should ideally be able to effect changes on students’ standing on these dimensions
- 8. Our proposed model Student Well-Being Emotional Well- Being Subjective Well- Being Meaning/Purpose Relational Well- Being Belongingness Commitment to Others Intellectual Well- Being Grit/Perseverance Physical Well-Being Physical Vitality
- 9. Subjective Well-Being (SWB) Subjective reports of positive emotions and life-satisfaction, and assess how people feel and think about their quality of life. Sample items: ◦ “In most ways my life is close to my ideal” ◦ “I am satisfied with my life” ◦ “I feel negative most of the time” ◦ “I am satisfied with my college life” Emotional Wellbeing
- 10. Meaning/ Purpose More intimately connected with eudaimonia (well-being derived not from pursuing momentary desires but those experiences that promote growth and wellness) (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Purpose in Life is defined as “having beliefs that give the individual the feeling that there is purpose in and meaning to life” (Ryff, 1989). Sample items: ◦ “I am optimistic about my future” ◦ “I know what gives meaning to my life” ◦ “My life has a clear sense of purpose” ◦ “I am engaged and interested in my daily activities” Emotional Wellbeing
- 11. Belongingness Multi-dimensional construct ◦ Sensitive to factors such as social identity and social environment ◦ Significant predictor of important outcomes, including academic achievement and health outcomes (e.g. Cohen, 2014). ◦ Can be operationalized to measure sense of belonging in academic and social settings. Sample Items ◦ Social Support ◦ “There are people who give me support and encouragement“ ◦ “I often feel left out” ◦ School Belongingness ◦ “I feel a sense of belonging in my school” ◦ “I feel that I belong in the ______ classroom” Relational Wellbeing
- 12. Commitment to Others Importance of good citizenship People with universalist values are high in dispositional empathy, moral reasoning, moral identity and universalist values (McFarland. Webb & Brown, 2013). Sample items: ◦ “I am a good person and live a good life” ◦ “I want to be a responsible citizen of the world” ◦ “The things I do contribute to my community” Relational Wellbeing
- 13. Grit/ Perseverance Perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews & Kelly, 2007). ◦ Interest in developing interventions to promote and increase this trait ◦ Grit may be hard to shift, but possible movement on domain-specific questions Sample items ◦ Grit ◦ “Setbacks do not discourage me” ◦ “I finish whatever I started” ◦ Academic Grit ◦ I know what to do to be successful when confronted with difficult academic tasks. ◦ I focus on the academic strengths I have rather than try to work on my weaknesses. Intellectual Wellbeing
- 14. Physical Vitality Importance of recognizing link between physical health and well-being Sample items: ◦ “In general, how would you say your health is?” ◦ “How many times do you exercise per week?” ◦ “How many hours of sleep do you typically get each night?” Physical Wellbeing
- 15. Our proposed model compared with Swarbrink’s Higher-Order Dimensions (Swabrick Dimensions Listed in Italics) • Emotional Well-Being • Mental, Spiritual • Relational Well-Being • Social, Environmental, Ethical • Intellectual Well-Being • Occupational, Financial • Physical Well-Being • Physical Dimensions to Measure • Emotional Well-Being • Subjective Well-Being (Life Satisfaction, Domain Satisfaction, Affect Balance) • Meaning/ Purpose (including career and vocation- specific beliefs) • Relational Well-Being • Belongingness (social, academic) • Commitment to Others • Intellectual Well-Being • Grit/ Perseverance • Physical Well-Being • Physical Vitality
- 16. Breakout Session Key Questions: ◦ Do these dimensions resonate with your understanding of student growth and development? ◦ How does the way in which we ask about well-being differ in the post-college environment? ◦ What dimensions would you add to this list? ◦ Would this measurement strategy be helpful to you in your professional practice? ◦ Are there people in your institution who could contribute to this conversation?
- 17. Bibliography American College Health Association/National College Health Assessment. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.achancha.org/. Duckworth, A. L., Weir, D., Tsukayama, E., & Kwok, D. (2012). Who does well in life? Conscientious adults excel in both objective and subjective success. Frontiers in Personality Science and Individual Differences, 3(356), 1-8. Hurtado, S., & Carter, D.F. (1997). “Effects of College Transition and Perceptions of the Campus Racial Climate on Latino College Students’ Sense of Belonging.” Sociology of Education 70 (4) (October 1): 324–345. Jayawickreme, E., Forgeard, M. J. C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2012). The Engine of Well-Being. Review of General Psychology, 16 (4), 327-342. Keyes, C. L. M. 2007. “Promoting and Protecting Mental Health as Flourishing: A Complementary Strategy for Improving National Mental Health.” American Psychologist. 62: 95-108. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855. Mageau, G. A., Vallerand, R. J., Charest, J., Salvy, S., Lacaille, N., Bouffard, T., & Koestner, R. (2009). On the development of harmonious and obsessive passion: The role of autonomy support, activity specialization, and identification with the activity. Journal of Personality, 77, 601-646. McFarland, S., Brown, D. & Webb, M. (2013). Identification With All Humanity as a Moral Concept and Psychological Construct. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 194-198. Pryor, J. H. (2013). Using CIRP Surveys at Wake Forest University: Informing The Wellbeing Initiative, Professional development presentation at Wake Forest University, August 23, 2013.
Editor's Notes
- Penny– why are we doing this? ACHA Survey data, counseling center data, and our own relationships with students tell us they are stressed, and anxious In public policy terms, success is being defined in terms of time to degree and first salary—very crude metrics given our goals for students Highlighting WFU’s mission– the way we think about well-being is influenced by the liberal arts model
- Penny: There are many models of student well-being. A web search quickly links the searcher to myriad approaches, models, wellness wheels, resource centers and the like. It could be posited that this area is one of the highest growth areas in Student Affairs today. Campus conversations across the country revolve around toxic stress, mental health challenges, and fluctuating feelings of inclusion and belonging, and students so busy they have scarce time to think. At the same time, the assessment field is burgeoning, with heightened expectations, both internally and externally, that we can make a positive difference in the lives of students, and that we know when we have done it. If we seriously care about student well-being, we need to measure it directly, and define a model that is sensitive to the college experience and the developmental status of students.
- Penny: As Dean of Students, I worked with many students who had derailed. In helping them get back on track, I began to see the interrelatedness of the various dimensions of wellbeing, as well as their impact on academic success. It just didn’t work to focus on one dimension if the others were way out of balance. Importance of well-being dimensions for academic success Mental health challenges Relationship between well-being and good citizenship Job satisfaction and productivity Purpose Social Capital Health and longevity Promote self-actualization What does the wider landscape tel us about how to achieve well-being? Live in a democratic and stable society that provides material resources to meet needs Have supportive friends and family Have rewarding and engaging work and adequate income Be reasonably healthy and have treatment available in case of mental problems Have important goals related to one’s values Have a philosophy or religion that provides guidance, purpose, and meaning to ones life (Diener & Seligman, 2004) Can the college experience contribute to achieving well-being?
- Andy: Current surveys relevant to well-being: HERI ACHA NESI The Gallup-Purdue Index Aims to assess the extend to which graduates have “great jobs and great lives” Will assess five dimensions of well-being Purpose Social Well-Being Physical Well-Being Financial Well-Being Community Well-Being Also will assess workplace engagement However, focus on quantifying the “value” of college as opposed to focusing on student well-being itself “The initiative aims to create a national movement toward a new set of measures, created by and for higher education, and to help foster a new level of accountability for the sector.”
- Andy Swarbrick’s model has gained currency among college administrators interested in promoting well-being on college campuses Wellness is a conscious, deliberate process that requires a person to become aware of and make choices for a more satisfying lifestyle. A wellness lifestyle includes a balance of health habits such as adequate sleep and rest, productivity, exercise, participation in meaningful activity, nutrition, productivity, social contact, and supportive relationships (Swarbrick, 1997). This model has been used for development various programs, but one challenge has been developing appropriate outcome assessment tools for such programming focus of current project.
- Eranda
- Eranda Rising literature on emerging adulthood Planting “seeds”– habits Measurement strategy Include permanent measures that are used in all samples that focus on all dimensions -Include in-depth measures over time on subsamples in order to assess specific questions (e.g. campus-specific questions; daily experience as it occurs as opposed to people’s recall of that experience) -Track subsamples longitudinally to provide a better understanding of changes across time
- Eranda Explain intellectual journey behind this model
- Eranda Make point here about how college satisfaction transitions to career satisfaction High SWB is causally implicated in a large number of positive outcomes, as opposed to being merely caused by these positive outcomes (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005) Better health Better work performance Better social relationships More ethical behavior (Diener & Tov, 2007)
- Eranda A complementary approach to SWB, psychological well-being (PWB; Ryff, 1989) Positive relations Personal growth Purpose in life Environmental mastery Self-Acceptance Autonomy
- Eranda A principal predictor of subjective and eudaimonic well-being, along with autonomy and competence (Ryan & Deci, 2000)
- Eranda This is essential to the development of a healthy adult (Erikson, 1950) Setting the seeds of health development– matters from the societal standpoint and also from the development of meaning and purpose at the individual level Classical views of well-being (e.g. Aristotle, 350BC/1998) proposed a perfectionist version in which the well-being of an individual is judged by considering how close they are to reaching the full potential of humankind. Maslow’s (1954, 1971) conception of a self-actualized individual includes her commitment to others and even an identification and concern for all humanity. This dimension fits at the heart of WFU’s Pro Humanitate ethos. Identity vs. role confusion
- Eranda Nathan Hatch’s discussion Put in items that we wrote for John Proyer Conscientiousness A broad personality trait from the Big 5 model Associated with multiple important life outcomes E.g. educational achievement and job performance across a wide range of occupations (Almlund, Duckworth, Heckman, & Kautz, 2011).
- Eranda (need to measure inputs– habits may be most important) Examples of metrics Smoking Alcohol consumption Academic performance-related substance use Exercise frequency Sleep habits
- Eranda (maybe Andy as well?)
- Penny: Break into groups to discuss a couple of these questions of greatest interest to you in time remaining (10:50 = end) Please select a note taker—we’d like to capture your thoughts to help us move forward with our project Do these dimensions resonate with your understanding of student growth and development? How does the way in which we ask about well-being differ in the post-college environment?—assumes longitudinal work, // Marcia B. Baxter Magolda What dimensions would you add to this list? Would this measurement strategy be helpful to you in your professional practice? Are there people in your institution who could contribute to this conversation? (select note-taker)