IDENTITY IN

SOPHOMORES
Brianna Araya, Randy Cloke, Laura May
Learning Outcomes

■ Discuss past identity theories and how they apply to sophomore students
■ Reflect on past experience as sophomores
■ Address current issues that students face in their sophomore year
■ Gain an understanding of how Student Affairs is transitioning to greater sophomore
support
■ Incorporate and implement sophomore-specific strategies in student affairs practice
Language

■ Sophomore: Undergraduate student who is in their 2nd year of college regardless of where their first
year was completed; student is one who experiences college between the ages, roughly, of 18-22

■ Developmentally undecided: The status as undecided will shift as the student becomes more self
aware and develops a sense of purpose and life direction

■ Chronically undecided: Does not make efforts in improving their career or obtaining major decision
making skills

■ Stopping out: taking a leave of absence after sophomore year and eventually returning to higher
education

■ Self Efficacy: An individuals belief in their ability to succeed in the face of situation or challenge.
REFLECTION
ACTIVITY
Reflection Discussion

▪ What was significant about your sophomore year?

▪ In what did you noticeably struggle?

▪ Which office(s) supported your development?

▪ Did your academic focus shift within this year? If so, how?

▪ What activities or events from this year can you recall participating in?

▪ What advice would you give your sophomore self?

Sophomores without support…..
Sophomore Challenges

■ Major and Academic Self-Efficacy

■ Career Development
■ Lack of Faculty Contact
■ Lack of Student Motivation
■ Student’s Values
■ Financial Issues
■ Lacking Social Integration
■ Living Arrangements
■ Larger Class Sizes
■ Academic Disengagement
Assessment

Sophomore Students’ Top 5 Issues, Salem State, Fall 2016

Sophomores with support!
THEORIES
Sanford, 1967

■ Growth requires balance of

challenge and support
■ Too much of either will lead to
frustration and stalled
development
Super, 1992

• Life-span Theory
• Typical sophomore range is between exploration and establishment

Exploration: Difficulty in solidifying “me” while articulating professional and academic factors that are
part of who we are

Establishment: Challenges are understanding expectations while integrating “me” into organizational role.
Sanford  Super
Lent, Brown, Hackett, 1994

■ Social Cognitive Career Theory

■ Individual’s personal and environmental
factors influence their academic and career
experiences
■ These expectations shape their self-efficacy
beliefs and outcome expectations
Schaller, 2005

Random Exploration: Exuberance, lack reflection

Focused Exploration: Frustration, reflection begins (within relationships, self, academics)

Tentative Choices: Relief, lingering anxiety, reflection begins

Commitment: Confidence
Development of Sophomore Theory
CARS Theory:
Araya, Cloke & May, 2016

• CARS: Career, Academic, Relationships, Self

• Linear development in singular area
• Progression in one area can inform and aid development in another area

Focused Exploration: Determined to discover

Reflection: Earnest assessment of experience
Clarity: Depressurized definitiveness
Empowerment: Confidence in continuing CARS development
Institutions Respond!

■ Increased funding
- Ohio State invested 396 million dollars into building a housing community for
second year students by expanding the second year community
■ Increased First Year Programs and Learning Outcomes
– More focused support due to better understanding of challenges in correlation
with First Year Experience, assessments, and research
■ Increased Sophomore offices, initiatives and departments
– In a 7 year period, number of second year programs tripled
– As of 2012, one third of 24 institutions studied had residential programing for
second year students
Sophomore Entrepreneurial Experience
YOUR TURN
Case Study

■ You are a new student affairs professional at a large public institution. Due to your
theory-informed knowledge which includes the CARS theory developed by Araya,
Cloke & May (2016), you have been tasked with addressing a common sophomore
concern in your functional area
■ Create a sophomore-focused initiative which remedies the concern and aids the
developmental process seen in the CARS Theory
Case Study Discussion

■ Share your initiative(s)…please?

■ Walk us through your process
■ How do you anticipate student response and engagement in your initiative?
■ Did you find it difficult to create a program in your given functional area(s)? If so,
why?
Current Sophomore Programs and
Initiatives
■ Orientation Program, Cornell University & Georgia Tech
■ Writing Programs, Cornell University
■ Residence Hall with Second Year Experience, Michigan State
■ Central Sophomore Feature in the Student Life Strategic Plan, Ohio State
■ Sophomore Scholars Program, University of Arizona
■ Summer Sophomore Research Grants, University of Wisconsin, Madison
■ Parent Family Support Towards Sophomore Students, University of California Los Angeles
■ SYNC (Sophomore Year Navigating Carolina), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
■ The Returning Gators Program LLC, University of Florida
CONCLUSION
References

Patton, L.D., Renn, K.A., Guido, F.M., & Quaye, S.J. (2016). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (3rd
ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gump, S. (2007). Classroom research in a general education course: Exploring implications through an investigation of the
sophomore slump. The Journal of General Education, 56(2), 105-125. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27798071
Lemons, L. J. & Richmond, D.R. (2015). A developmental perspective of sophomore slump. NASPA Journal, 15-19. Retrieved
from http://naspa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220973.1987.11072003?journalCode=uarp19
Heier, M. (2012). Summary report: Understanding the sophomore year experience. University of Washington Division of
Student Life.
Schaller, M. A. (2005). WANDERING AND WONDERING: Traversing the Uneven Terrain of the Second College Year. About
Campus, 10(3), 17-24.
Lipka, S. (2006, September 8). After the Freshman Bubble Pops. Chronicle of Higher Education. p. 42.
Tobolowsky, B. F. (2008). Sophomores in transition: The forgotten year. New Directions For Higher Education, 2008(144), 59-
67.