Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice (review)

Reviewed by: Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice Elisa S. Abes Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice. (Second Edition) Nancy J. Evans, Deanna S. Forney, Florence M. Guido, Lori D. Patton, Kristen A. Renn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009, 480 pages, $60.00 (hardcover) Much anticipated, the second edition of Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice is a comprehensive and forward thinking text that reviews and comments upon the current landscape of student development theory. Written by five diverse student development theory scholars who have utilized multiple approaches to student development theory research, they accomplished in an impressive manner the daunting task of reviewing in some detail a broad spectrum of literature in a scholarly yet accessible manner that is relevant to researchers, practitioners, and graduate students. An update to the first edition published in 1998, the authors intend for this book "to provide a comprehensive, in-depth review of the major student development theories as they relate to student affairs and educational practice" (p. xviii). The preface provides a detailed rationale for the need for the second edition and explains how this edition differs from the first. Acknowledging the limitations of the first edition for effectively working with contemporary college students, the second edition includes not only many of the theories that were the basis of the first edition of the book, but also theories that describe an integrative perspective on student development and theories describing the nature of social identities that are important for working with diverse student populations. As with the first edition, it is written in a manner similar to a literature review with realistic case studies framing each chapter, and often critiques, applications, and suggestions for research. Given the varied approaches to thinking about student development and relationships among student development theories, the authors were wisely transparent in discussing how they structured this book, especially what to include and what to omit from the first edition. Although impossible to discuss all of the theories in detail, the decisions the authors made regarding structure result in a text that, through its breadth, grounds student development theory in its roots and highlights contemporary conceptualizations, research, and applications. Setting the context, part 1 defines student development theory, provides a historical overview of student development within student affairs, and offers some considerations regarding the application of student development theory. Part 2 reviews what the authors describe as "foundational theories," including psychosocial, cognitive-structural, and learning style. Through the use of the term foundational rather than something along the lines of historical, the authors show welcome respect for the enduring contributions of these theories to the profession. The foundational theories described in these five chapters, including Erikson, Marcia, Josselson, Chickering and Reisser, Perry, Kohlberg, Rest, Gilligan, Belenky and colleagues, Baxter Magolda, King and Kitchener, and Kolb, comprised much of the first edition. Offering a preview of topics discussed in more depth in later chapters, they [End Page 131] review not only the details of these theories but also how they have been built upon through inclusion of diverse populations and paradigms. After tracing the roots of student development theory, the authors transition into contemporary and holistic portrayals of students impacted by context. Part 3 reviews integrative theories, including Brofenbrenner's ecological model, Kegan's theory of self-evolution and Baxter Magolda's related research on self-authorship, Fowler's and Parks' theories of faith and spiritual development, and Schlossberg's transition theory. Aspects of these theories are complex in nature, and one of the contributions of this section is that the authors summarize these complex theories in an accessible manner. Together these theories explore the interaction between context and development, relationships among interpersonal, intrapersonal, and cognitive development, and life transitions. In part 4, the authors provide an in-depth review of social identity development. They begin by introducing broad concepts relevant to all social identities, including privilege, oppression, and multiple identity models that show interactions between and among social identities and context. After this critical and holistic background, they then individually review racial, ethnic, multiracial, sexual, and gender identity development. Each of these chapters recognizes the diversity within these social identities. For instance, the...