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#ACPA14
That’s Dirty Talk! Reinventing Our Perceptions of Campus Blue-Collar Employees
ACPA Conference
April 1, 2014
Jeremy Reed
Phd Student, University of Iowa
jeremy-reed@uiowa.edu
#ACPA14
Session Overview• Learning Objectives Overview- 1 minute• One Minute Free Write and Discussion- 5 minutes• Presenter Introduction/Background/Positionality- 5
minutes• Discussion of Presenter’s Custodial Dissertation
Study- 20 minutes• Large Group Discussion “How are blue-collar
workers treated on your campus?” -10 minutes• Wrap-up/Questions -5 minutes
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Session Learning OutcomesSession Participants will:
• Explore their personal perceptions of campus blue-collar workers.
• Gain a basic understanding of blue-collar identity theory.
• Discuss strategies for privileging the voice of campus blue-collar employees on their own campus.
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One Minute Free Write
What words come to mind when you think of the blue-collar workers on your campus?
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Presenter Background & Positionality
• 16 years of student affairs work across admissions, career services, orientation, advising, and residence life functional areas
• First-Gen, blue-collar/working-class background• Work with maintenance/custodial staff on a
student paint crew as an undergrad• 11 months of dissertation research on campus
custodians• Philosophical Frame: Critical Theory: Master
Narratives & Counter Narratives
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Why study campus blue-collar workers?
Inclusivity
Student Success
Employee Motivation/Organizational Efficiency
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Critical Questions:
What do custodians think of college students?
What impact might interactions with students have on custodians’ work lives and occupational esteem?
Do interactions between students and custodians have implications for college student success?
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Absence of academic studies of campus custodians
Why? (Critical Theoretical Explanation??)
Okay, so what about related fields/literature????
Communication Studies
Blue-Collar Identity Theory
College Student Development/Success
Faculty/Staff-Student Interactions & Mentoring Literature
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Blue-Collar Identity Theory(Hughes, 1962; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999)
Dirty Work: “Tasks and occupations that are likely to be perceived as disgusting or degrading” (Hughes, 1962).
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Blue-Collar Identity Theory(Hughes, 1962; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999)
Types of stigma or taint:
-Physical Taint: Jobs dealing with garbage, human waste, death. Janitors
-Social Taint: Interactions with socially stigmatized people. Prison guards
-Moral Taint: Perceived as “sinful.” Pawn brokers, exotic dancers
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Blue-Collar Identity Theory(Hughes, 1962; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999)
Dirty workers have surprisingly high occupational esteem.
Relationships with others provide an esteem-enhancing function.
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Relationships
Stigma
“Dirty Work”
Blue-CollarIdentity
Characteristics
Relationships as a Counterbalance to Custodial Staff “Dirty Work” Stigma
Occupational Esteem
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Student-Faculty Interaction/Mentoring Studies
Interactions between students, faculty, and staff positively impact student success in college. (Kuh & Huh, 2001; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Crisp & Cruz, 2009; Nora & Crisp, 2007; Campbell, Smith, Dugan & Komives, 2012)
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Student-Faculty Interaction/Mentoring Studies
There are important academic (Kuh & Ku, 2001) and emotional dimensions of student-faculty interactions (Schreinter, et al., 2011; Museus & Neville, 2012) and mentoring relationships.
Mentoring can be formal/informal, structured/unstructured, short-term/long-term, sanctioned/unsanctioned (Nora & Crisp, 2007).
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A Custodial Staff Dissertation Study
Primary Research Questions:
In what ways do three campus custodians interact with students during their work day at a large public university?
In what ways do those custodians talk about their interactions with students?
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Case Study Research Design
Three Participants
Particularity v. Generalizability!!!!!
Depth v. Breadth
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Participant Characteristics
Participant Inclusion Criteria • English-speaking custodians, employed full-time
in University Housing for at least 1 year• Willing to talk!
Recruitment Strategy• Referrals from Director of Housing
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Data Collection
• Participant Observation– 3-5 non-sequential work days per informant– Field journal as primary data collection tool
• “Guiding Questions” Semi-Structured Interview– Conduct 60-90 minute interview mid-way through
participant observation• Artifact Analysis
– Describe the nature of college student-related artifacts informants possess
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Data Analysis &Verification
• Reflexive Writing– Duel note-taking, memo writing, taking notes on my own
notes– What surprises, intrigues, and disturbs me about what I
observe?• Data Sorting & Coding
– Themes from literature review– Blue-Collar Theory, Typology of Faculty-Student Interactions
• Member Checking– Clarifying questions occur throughout participant observation
• Disconfirming Examples• Data Saturation
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Data Collection-Participant Observation
-Interviews
-Artifact Analysis
Data Analysis-Data Sorting
-Data Coding
-Reflexive Writing
-Member Checking
Data
Verification
-Reflexive Writing
-Member Checking
-Data Saturation
-Disconfirming Examples
Research Methods
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Institutional Mission
Employee Assumed Duties
-Student Mentoring and Support Interactions
Campus Custodian
Institution Assigned Duties
-Cleaning and Maintenance
Indirect Support of
Direct Support ofInformally Performed
Formally Performed
Assigned and Assumed Duties of Custodians as Institutional Agents
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Institutional Mission
Employee Assumed Duties
-Student Mentoring and Support and Interactions
Campus Custodian
Institution Assigned Duties
-Cleaning and Maintenance
Indirect Support of
Direct Support of
Student Interactions
Social Stigma
Informally Performed
Formally Performed
Potential Influence of Assigned and Assumed Duties of Custodians as Institutional Agents
Positive Esteem
Negative Esteem
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Recap
We should care about custodians as a matter of inclusivity and potential students success and employee motivation outcomes.
Interactions with students might positively influence custodial staff occupational esteem and by extension, organizational efficiency.
Interactions with custodians might positively influence student success, as suggested by the emotional components of student-staff interactions/mentoring.
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Large Group Discussion
Do you have anything to share about blue-collar workers on your campus?
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