Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Scott Moeschberger

Second Advisor

Tim Herrmann

Third Advisor

Scott Gaier

Abstract

Males have been traditionally thought of as being less engaged than their female peers while attending an institution of higher education. However, little research has been done on this topic at religious institutions of higher education, where overall engagement has been thought to be higher than secular institutions (Kuh, 2003b; Porter, 2006; Weaver-Hightower, 2010). This quantitative study looks at one religious institution and measures male student engagement using the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Males’ level of engagement was assessed in terms of 3 separate variables: community service, study abroad, and social activities. It was measured for engagement in 2 NSSE benchmarks, Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL) and Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI). Males’ overall engagement was also compared to females’ overall engagement in these 2 areas (ACL and SFI). Males were found to be more engaged if they had been involved in community service and study abroad while no differences were found for social activities. Males and females also had similar levels of engagement overall.

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