In a graduate program about 20 years ago, I interviewed six undergraduate students attending one university about their reasons for choosing it. Specifically, I wanted to learn what factors students considered in their decision. Through my review of the literature at that time, I learned that college choice is influenced by factors which can be divided into two types: personal student characteristics and external influences.

For high school students, the external influences of friends, family, and high school personnel impacted their college choice. Students and parents might decide on a college based on their joint perception of the quality of an institution. For my interviewees, religion and parents’ education appeared related to college choice. College costs may affect the probability that a student will attend college and even a particular college. The student characteristic “socioeconomic status” interacted with the two external influences of institutional cost and financial aid.

An external influence outside of family and high school personnel is the economy. For example, when economic conditions produce fewer jobs for college graduates, potential students tend to favor institutions which focus on professional or vocational paths. As the job market improves for non-college graduates, they become increasingly less likely to return to school.

The student characteristic “ability” affected students’ application decisions. They may judge their chances for admission based on their high school achievements and then apply only to those institutions. Financial aid, an external influence, also interacted with ability:  those with high financial need and low ability were less likely to consider as many colleges as those students in the opposite situation. The higher the students’ aptitude, achievement, educational aspirations, family income, and parents’ education, the more likely they were to choose expensive, selective, private, and geographically distant four-year colleges and universities. In addition, race, sex, religion, personality, lifestyle, self-image, personal values, benefits sought, parents’ personalities, and environmental factors may also impact students’ college choice.

The institutional characteristics of location, academic programs, and institutional communications also affected a student’s college choice. Campus visits made quite an impression on my interviewees: for two of them, their visits helped them decide on that particular university. In general, students appeared more attracted to those institutions which offer a broad curriculum, close geographical location, more financial aid awards, and lower overall costs. In terms of their final choice of a college, students seemed most influenced by the institutional characteristics of cost, size, quality, programs, location, athletics, financial aid, social atmosphere, religious emphasis, and job availability. My interviewees had various reasons for choosing the particular post-secondary educational institution: cost, location, religious affiliation, reputation, campus, academic programs, financial aid, transfer option, small classes, and best friend attended the same school.

My interview included a question about the student’s use of the Internet during the search process. For the students I interviewed, their college choice appeared to have been partially determined by how they conducted the college search, if they had the knowledge and skills to perform a search, and if they felt limited by family constraints before beginning their search.

Since my research of about 20 years ago, external influences have expanded beyond the traditional word-of-mouth conversations among friends, families, and neighbors. Whitney Lehmann compared these traditional sources with “eWOM” or electronic word of mouth conversations. Examples of eWOM include blogs, review sites, and social networking sites where individuals or groups, who are often strangers, can interact with each other and share their opinions. Several social networking platforms did not exist until after 2003: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Lehmann asked about the use of traditional word-of-mouth versus eWOM to 276 first-time, non-transfer undergraduate freshmen students who were enrolled at the University of Miami and born between 1985 and 1996. The conclusions: the data suggested that traditional word-of-mouth had a greater perceived influence than eWOM on these students' college choice. On the other hand, the data also suggested that eWOM had a greater perceived influence during the search phase as opposed to the choice phase. A more specific finding about eWOM: it had a greater perceived influence via online reviews or forums rather than through social networking sites. eWOM influenced a certain percentage of students when making application and enrollment decisions: one-third used eWOM when making an application decision and one-fourth used eWOM when making an enrollment decision. (“The Influence of Electronic Word-of-Mouth on College Search and Choice”, College and University, 92 no. 4, Nov 2017: 2-6).

Also in 2017, Marcia Layton Turner examined two specific online sources used by potential college students: school websites and social media. She distinguished the types of information students gathered from these different sources: general information about the school itself from school websites but a sense of the school climate from social media. Per a 2017 report that she cites, 2 out of 5 students decided on where to attend based on social media, but only after gathering information from school websites. The social media sources that students most commonly used include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube so schools do likewise. (“Like, Love, Delete: Social Media’s Influence on College Choice”, Journal of College Admission, no. 237, Fall 2017: 31-33).

Now, six years later, a health pandemic has impacted everyone in the world: the virus Covid-19. The repercussions, which are ongoing, have affected potential college students thinking and planning for college, if they even decide to attend college. Also, what about the misinformation generated over these last six years about Covid and other events? Few states require the teaching of media literacy in schools so how do students learn to check the credibility of what they read and see online?

A New Year so time to write down the stories I heard about my ancestors. I first heard their stories as a small child and as an adult read facts about their lives in US censuses. For many years, I have struggled with how to write about them so today I begin, but with a fictionalized version, starting with me as a child living with them in the 1800s.

The story begins in New York City during the late 1800s where I live with my three aunties. I am just a child so I call them “Auntie” Elizabeth, Delia, and Alice. I am Lizzie, short for Elizabeth, because I look like my Auntie Elizabeth. I have her dark eyes, dark hair, short stature, and fair skin. Auntie Delia is the blond of the trio with green eyes while my Auntie Alice is the more stereotypical Irish with red hair and blue eyes. Though I favor Auntie Elizabeth in looks, I long for the adventures of which Auntie Alice speaks.

All three of my Aunties educate me in their own way so I am an apprentice to them all. I learn household management from Auntie Elizabeth, customer service from Auntie Delia, and dressmaking from Auntie Alice. As the eldest, I learn first and as my two siblings get a bit older, each Auntie adopts one of them as their apprentice, my younger sister and then my brother. My uncle James, a silversmith, lives above us and sometimes my brother would seek him out, as a boy wants to learn how to become a man. The three of us came to live with our aunties after our parents died: my mother during the birth of my brother and my father not long after of grief.

Part of my apprenticeship with Auntie Alice is practicing my reading skills. She claimed that she did not have time to read the news of the day so I read the morning paper to her, every day. I think it was just her way of getting me to practice reading! Also, since I was shy, it forced me to “use my voice” as she always admonished me, even if I was just reading someone else’s words. By the time I reached age 10, Auntie Alice was asking me if I thought the news in the paper was true and correct. My Auntie was so smart! She wanted me to be too! Maybe she was preparing me as a future apprentice – at a newspaper. One of her brother’s was an editor and needed an assistant. My Auntie Alice would not allow my brother, who was younger, to be his assistant just because he was a boy. I share something else with Auntie Alice – I am also the oldest. Her siblings argue but with respect because she was the eldest and always tried to be fair, reasonable, and considerate. After all, as she schooled me, that is what leaders do.

Auntie Alice was such a talented dressmaker that she had her own shop in New York City. She could not possibly do all the work herself so Auntie Delia helped by making all the lace and ribbons for the dresses and skirts. Customers husbands could then be taken care of by my Uncle Kevin who was a tailor and had a shop next door. Twice a year, Auntie Alice would travel to Paris to attend fashion shows, purchase fabric and accessories, and arrange for their shipment back home. Paris was considered the world capital for fashion at that time. It took her so long to travel there by ship (usually 16 days round trip) that she was gone for a month at a time. Due to weather conditions and travel time, she would travel in April and September. As part of managing the household, Auntie Elizabeth always helps Auntie Alice prepare for her trips. It was always such a busy time, getting her ready for Paris. It was scary and sad for me because I always feared that she would not return (like my parents). She did not want anything to happen to her purchases so she always made sure to give the porter and captain dresses for their wives. She took care of those who took care of her. She also had with her, of course, a lady’s maid to protect herself, as much as possible, from any untoward advances by men. A man would not bother her with another woman present. When I was old enough, I would be able to go with my Auntie Alice! By then, my siblings would be old enough to help our other aunties at home, without me.

Book review of “Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread” by Michiko Kakutani. The author is a former chief book critic of The New York Times. In her introduction, she listed her reasons for choosing the particular 100+ books:  they are well written or inspire empathy or cause reflection or teach us about the world or, I think to put it simply, she just liked them. In addition to describing her own reading habits from her childhood, she shared a story about August Wilson's relationship with books: he dropped out of high school and spent his days reading in the “Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh”. I immediately recognized the name of that library: it appeared in a historical novel that I read months ago called “Carnegie’s Maid” by Marie Benedict. I found it very gratifying that in choosing Benedict and Kakutani’s books, I had learned about a real-life library. To me, this served as an example of connecting new knowledge with old knowledge and thus remembering both more easily: by connecting the real-life existence of the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh where August Wilson sat (new knowledge) with the library as described in a historical novel (old knowledge).

Kakutani reviewed works of fiction and non-fiction from different time periods (dating from the 1500s and up to the present) which covered different topics (politics, history, literature, to name a few). She included both female and male authors but I wish she had balanced these better: females numbered only 28 compared to 82 men. That is an extreme difference. Thankfully, she reviewed one of my favorite books, “A Wrinkle in Time”. I wonder though, how she decided to include it and “Where the Wild Things Are”, both published in the early 1960s, but not other well-known children’s books such as “Charlotte’s Web” published in the early 1950s?

Overall, I am glad that I purchased Kakutani’s book for my expanding library. Her short entry for each book gave me enough of an overview to pique my interest, even if I do not like the subject matter. Also, the number “100+” seems a manageable amount to read over the next few years. I will keep it on my shelf as a reference for those books that I have never read but feel that I should, at least some of them, as part of my own professional development.

I recently finished reading about the amazing life of Ida B. Wells in her aptly titled autobiography “Crusade for Justice”.  She was born in Mississippi 3 years before the end of the Civil War.  After the deaths of her parents and against the wishes of her extended family, she initially took charge of her 5 siblings despite her young age of 14.  In short time, she sent 3 of siblings to the care of an aunt.  Miss Wells taught school to earn a living until she found her calling:  journalism.  At about age 14 or 15, she refused to change seats on a train, was forcibly removed from the train, and subsequently sued the railroad company.  So, even at this young age, she was already fighting the expectations of others, both family and society. 

In Chicago, she succeeded in convincing other local women to establish a women’s club.  At one of the club meetings, a gentleman urged the attendees to form an organization which would specifically fight racial prejudice.  Subsequently, many prominent women, teachers, housewives, and girls started attending the weekly club meetings.  While Miss Wells was out of town, they applied for a charter from the state and changed the name of the club from the Chicago Women’s Club to the Ida B. Wells Club.  For the men of Chicago, Miss Wells founded a facility where they could read, sleep, and look for jobs.  She sought out and worked with different people, organizations, and churches.  Though she was a fine example of a collaborator, she did not shy away from criticizing specific people, female and male, Black and White, who she thought were failing in their support of her work. 

Miss Wells was well-known in her day as a consummate and eloquent journalist.  She revealed the horror of lynching and the fact that it happened across the country.  Her husband and children obviously emotionally supported her work as an investigative journalist because she travelled all over the country to collect the facts.  One time, one of her children woke her up and said that her husband was expecting her to take the train to the site of the latest horror because if she did not, no one would know what happened.

I marvel at the courage, conviction, and self-advocacy that Miss Wells expressed in her writings, conversations, and public speeches, and very often at a young age.  Unfortunately, I found myself, as has happened so many times in my adult life, shaking my head that yet another woman’s extraordinary life had not been included in my K-12, high school, or college education.  I had not been taught that a woman, especially an African-American woman, could own a business in the late 1800s-early 1900s in the USA, in her case a newspaper.  I also did not learn in school that those who opposed lynching, Jim Crow laws, unfair trials, and ballot box intimidation sought the influence of other countries to convince USA citizens, the press, and politicians that the racist and horrible practices must end.  My lack of formal education about women’s public involvement and accomplishments reminds me of the 2018 statistic that 80% of the contributors to articles written in English on Wikipedia are men.  The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media claims “if she can see it, she can be it”.  So too for reading.  Ida B. Wells did not revise history but rather revealed it.

Last year I watched and blogged about a documentary film depicting the everyday life of a school teacher and his students in Japan.  The film showed his intense focus on the social-emotional aspects of teaching students rather than on their academic performance.  He paid particular attention to their happiness, collaboration, and communication. 

After viewing this movie, I purposefully read The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … and Why by Richard E. Nisbett.  Like the documentary film, this book discussed aspects of communication.  However, it focused on the different thinking patterns and habits of Asian and Western cultures.  Nisbett prudently explained his use of the terms “East Asian”, “Asian”, and “Easterner” interchangeably to refer to China, Japan, and Korea; “Western” or “Westerner” for European; and “European Americans” for Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics but not Asian from the US.

In the beginning of the book, Nisbett shared that he originally followed the universalist’s view that “all human groups perceive and reason in the same way” so they all have the “same basic cognitive processes” and use the same cognitive tools for perception, memory, casual analysis, categorization, and inference (p. XIV).  Cultural differences only arise because they have been taught different things about the world and not due to different cognitive processes.  However, based on a comment from a new Chinese student, he set out on a course of reading literature by philosophers, historians, and anthropologists which disputes the universalists' views.  These fields asserted that cultures differ in their beliefs about the nature of the world, use different thought processes to understand and explain the world, and align their social structures and concept of self with their beliefs and thought processes. Nisbett’s reading in fields outside of his own (psychology) aligns with my own experience that my training in multiple fields has provided me with alternative ways of looking at issues. 

I am confused about two of his statements.  On page XVII, he claimed “If people really do differ profoundly in their systems of thought – their worldviews and their cognitive processes – then differences in people’s attitudes and beliefs … might not be a matter merely of different inputs and teachings, but rather an inevitable consequence of using different tools…”.  I’m not clear on what he meant by “tools”.  Depending on what he meant by “tools”, maybe people do not differ in the tools they use but rather in their application of such tools?  As human beings, each of us has a brain (a tool?) but use it in different ways (application?).  Later, on page XX, he stated “The social practices promote the worldviews; the worldviews dictate the appropriate thought processes, and the thought processes both justify the worldviews and support the social practices”.  I think he should start with “thought processes”.  Also, I do not see how the “worldviews dictate the appropriate thought processes”.  Don’t the thought processes dictate the worldviews?  I also think that he could have added that a reciprocal relationship exists between social relations, world views, and thought processes.  It may be hard to tease out which came first and may be a question of the chicken and the egg:  which came first? 

Nisbett claimed that the differences in perception, beliefs, communication, and thought processes between these two cultures dates back thousands of years and can be seen in the philosophies of Aristotle and Confucius.  They did not originate these differing approaches but rather they reflected their respective cultures. 

In Aristotle’s time, Greeks believed they had control over their lives as individuals.  With a focus on individualism, they believed in the power of debate and developed rules for debating.  They were very curious about the world, categorized objects within the world, created rules about them, and in that way tried to control their environment.  They also believed that the world is static. This type of thinking continues today in Europe and the USA.  Ancient Greece was a popular maritime trading location with people of different cultures arriving and having different opinions, so they had to develop a way to logically deal with all these contradictions.  Certain Greek occupations (hunting, herding, and fishing) do not require cooperation. 

On the other hand, the Chinese emphasized the collective nature of their roles in reference to their relationships, harmony with others, and self-control.  They did not feel controlled by others but rather willingly fulfilled their obligations to others in light of the various roles they played, for example child to parent.  Easterners believed that the world does change and has contradictions built into it.  Most Chinese, however, originate from the same Han ethnic group so they do not have to deal with such contradictions.  Much of China is / was farmland and farming requires cooperation (you do not have to like your neighbors but you need to work together).  This approach to life arose out of 3 philosophies:  Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.  Today, this way of thinking continues.  

These different approaches mean that parents raise their children differently.  Asian parents emphasize interdependence whereas Westerners stress independence.  For example, Asians suggest what is best for their children whereas Westerners give their children choices so that the children make the decision.  In Eastern books the emphasis remains on relationships whereas in Western books it is on the action of individuals.  Parents also teach their children different verbal communication styles:  Asians emphasize a polite, indirect approach whereas Westerners push for a direct approach, which can sound rude to Asians.  These differing approaches result in misunderstandings, of course, not only in childhood but also in the business world as adults between the two cultures. 

With Asians belief in change and contradictions, they supposedly have difficulty with the logic of math.  However, Nisbett claimed that young Asians outperform their Western counterparts in math due to teachers’ training lasting throughout their career, teaching techniques, teachers spending more time on preparation than actual teaching, and students working harder because their capability is not seen as static.  This does not hold true for the older generations of Asians because literature, arts, and music were stressed during their time. 

In his concluding statements, Nisbett referred to social scientists ongoing debate about Eastern and Western cultures continuing to differ or converge with each other.  Nisbett believed in the latter.  He cited an experiment which prepped participants to act more like Easterners or Westerners regardless of their cultural background. 

I liked the title of this book:  it gave me a heads up on what I might expect about its thesis and peaked my interest based on my sociology training.  Overall, the book was an excellent reminder for me to consider, especially in light of people’s global movements, that those residing in any one country may have been born and raised there, born there and raised somewhere else, or travel around due to their jobs.  Through experiments in which participants are prepped to consider another culture’s thought processes, Nisbett shows that human beings can be flexible in their thinking.