UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2006 Public college students' academic experiences and performance in Utah's religious enclave Joe Peterson University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Peterson, Joe, "Public college students' academic experiences and performance in Utah's religious enclave" (2006). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2664. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/gxep-qocl This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PUBLIC COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES AND PERFORMANCE IN UTAH’S RELIGIOUS ENCLAVE By Joe Peterson Bachelor of Arts Brigham Young University 1980 Master of Arts Brigham Young University 1982 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Educational Leadership Department of Educational Leadership College of Education Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3226626 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3226626 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Joe Peterson 2006 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Approval IJNTV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 13 ■ 20 06 The Dissertation prepared by Joe Peterson Entitled Public College Student's Academic Experience and Performance in Utah's Religious Enclave is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examir^ion Committee Member Examination Conyr^tteeMember Graduate College Faculty Representative 1017-52 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Public College Students’ Academic Experiences and Performance in Utah’s Religious Enclave By Joe Peterson Dr. Robert Ackerman, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor, Educational Leadership University of Nevada, Las Vegas Many American colleges were established in “religious enclaves,” regions dominated by somewhat homogeneous religious cultures that were formed when co­ believers experienced socially inhospitable conditions and removed themselves from the culturally diverse mainstream and gathered into more homogeneous cultural strongholds. Through modernization and urbanization, many former religious enclaves have evolved into pluralistic social settings; however, one large enclave remains. In Utah, students at public colleges and universities experience a cultural environment where the LDS (Mormon) religion has overwhelming demographic dominance (77 percent of Utah’s population in 2000, Grammich, 2004, p. 20). This dissertation explores the influence of the enclave milieu on the lived experience and academic performance of college students at a publicly funded Utah college where many Mormon students feel that they belong to an entitled majority, and many religiously diverse students feel they are part of a beleaguered minority. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The dissertation describes the processes through which students and faculty identify one another’s religious affiliation and negotiate with the predominant value system. The dissertation employs three methodological components to describe the influence of the religious enclave on students’ performance and academic experience. First, a quantitative survey of 285 students gathers descriptive information about students’ religious participation and intrinsic religiosity. Using regression analysis techniques, the study shows that religious affiliation influences academic performance as measured by cumulative GPA, with Mormon students achieving higher grades. Second, the author uses Masland’s (1985) paradigm to analyze religious elements in the college’s campus and culture. This analysis shows a consistent pattern of religious influence on campus symbols, rituals, and crisis narratives. Third, the author reports results of in-depth qualitative interviews with twelve students, including Mormon students and students with varied religious beliefs and affiliations, and students with high and low levels of religiosity. These interviews reveal students’ methods of engaging the campus religious culture and illustrate Mormon students’ sense of entitlement and diverse students’ sense of alienation. Finally, using concepts from identity theory (Mael & Ashforth, 2001; Brewer, 1999), the dissertation suggests that in religious enclaves homogeneity pushes the religious dimension of identity to the fore, where it dominates all other dimensions of identity. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................viii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 1 Religion in America’s Religious Enclaves ........................................................... 1 The Need for Further Research ............................................................................16 The Continuing Influence of Utah’s Religious Enclave on Public Higher Education ................................................................................................. 18 Statement of Problem and Research Questions ..................................................22 Purpose, Limitations, and Significance of the Study ......................................... 24 Purpose ...................................................................................................24 Limitations .............................................................................................24 Significance ............................................................................................25 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE...........................................................27 College Student Religiosity ................................................................................ 29 Emerging Adulthood ............................................................................. 29 Socialization ...........................................................................................32 Religious Mobility .................................................................................33 Religious Mobility for Mormons ..........................................................38 The Interaction of the National and Enclave Religious Environments ............ 40 Sects’ attitudes toward other religious and secular entities .................41 Sects, “Strictness” and the Problem of the Free-Rider ........................44 Secularization Theory and Ideological Conflict ..................................47 Religious “Distinctiveness” and Church Growth ................................48 Rational Choice Theory and Religious Competition ...........................50 Pluralism, Religious Competition, and Denominational Growth 52 Mormonism’s De Facto Religious Monopoly in Utah ........................54 Competitive Strategies of Mormonism .................................................55 The Impacts of Pluralism and Homogeneity in Utah ...........................59 Student Religiosity, College Religiosity, and Educational Outcomes .............. 61 The Association between Educational Attainment and Religiosity.... 62 Strength and Direction of the Association between Religiosity and Educational Attainment