The impact of demographic and course perception factors on student empowerment to engage in college courses among ethnically diverse students

Holland, SC (Shemiyah)¹, Easley, MI (Monique)², Scott, DM (Darla)^3
1Bowie State University, 25 Promise Lane, 20736, Owings
²Bowie State University, 11406 Sequoia Lane, 20705, Beltsville
³Bowie State University, 14000 Jericho Park Road, 20715, Bowie

 

Submission type

Poster only

Scheduled

Hallway, 10-07-2019, 15:30 - 17:00

Keywords

student empowerment, student engagement, diversity, protective factors

Summary

 

Across the world, students’ experience less supportive teacher-student relationships, a loss of autonomy, interaction, and an increase in teacher control as they matriculate through their schooling (The Conversation, 2018). As education is often the tool used to determine whether a person is knowledgeable, it is imperative to ensure that students from marginalized groups feel empowered to achieve academically. Student empowerment in the classroom is a social justice problem because of inclusion, diversity, and equity. The purpose of this study is to determine what demographic and instructional factors contribute to feelings of student empowerment in higher education. This empirical research utilizes an online survey for university students in the United States (N=50) to collect demographic, instructional, and student empowerment data. The researchers anticipate that race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and parenting style are factors that will influence feelings of student empowerment in the classroom. Understanding the impact of these factors will aid in developing classroom experiences that empower all students, especially students of diverse backgrounds. Worldwide classroom environments are important in helping students to collaborate and communicate with diverse cultures. This investigation benefits school psychologists by providing them with information on best practices to empower diverse students in the classroom across the world.

Auteurs