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Late to the Club: Small Group Membership and the Secondary Socialization of January Admits

@masterthesis{RavenhallMeinke2020, author = "Ravenhall Meinke, Geoffrey A.", title = {{Late to the Club: Small Group Membership and the Secondary Socialization of January Admits}}, type = {Bachelor's Thesis}, howpublished = "\url{https://ir.hamilton.edu/do/de4dfd51-21b5-4d64-8ca0-928d287af9f0}", institution = {Hamilton College}, year = 2020, month = may, school = {Sociology}, }
BibTeX
@masterthesis{RavenhallMeinke2020,
       author = "Ravenhall Meinke, Geoffrey A.",
       title =  {{Late to the Club: Small Group Membership and the Secondary Socialization of January Admits}},	
       type = {Bachelor's Thesis},

       howpublished = "\url{https://ir.hamilton.edu/do/de4dfd51-21b5-4d64-8ca0-928d287af9f0}",
       institution = {Hamilton College},
       year = 2020,
       month = may,
       school = {Sociology},
}
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Creator
Date

May 2020

Description

This project investigates the mechanisms that allow January admissions students at Hamilton College – colloquially referred to as "Jans” – to become fully integrated members of the college community. In this paper, I work to understand the role of student-led groups and non-organized opportunities for socialization and how they affect new students’ sense of belonging on campus. This research supplements gaps in existing literature on mid-year admissions students by providing a student-driven understanding of what it means to begin college as a first-year student in the spring semester and the effects of this alternative schedule on the first-year socialization processes. Over the course of the research period, I completed 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with six participants, chronicling Jans’ experience adjusting to college over the course of their first few weeks on campus. This data demonstrated that academic success and small-group membership were key factors in student satisfaction and that members of small groups were more confident than other Jans when imagining their future at the college. Throughout the interviews, Jans expressed a strong sentiment of belonging on campus and reported tremendous confidence in their ability to become fully integrated members of the college community.

Type of Work
Institution

Hamilton College

Area of Study
Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Part of Collection

Senior Theses

Rights Statement

The copyright for this work is held by its creators and Hamilton College. More information

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