Review by Choice Review
Two important contributions to the field of higher education bookend this volume--an opening chapter on the uniqueness of today's college students includes an outstanding explanation of why financial barriers to independence lengthen the maturation process, and an appendix suggests active learning exercises to help students begin grappling with the issues of emerging adulthood. The substantive chapters include three perspectives on each issue: narratives by college students and perspectives from higher education professionals and from faculty. Surprisingly, theoretical application comes as often from the students themselves as the professionals and scholars. This volume positions itself as a potential text for first-year courses, though its overall depth of sociological theory may be too weighty for first-year students. Select chapters, however, would benefit such a curriculum, especially the excellent chapters on resiliency and setbacks, unveiling uniqueness and finding community, and making informed choices. The theoretical and scholarly underpinnings mainly pull from sociology, but higher education scholarship would also be highly relevant here and would support many of the key points. For example, greater discussion of George D. Kuh's research on high-impact educational practices could have provided useful perspective on the hidden curriculum and learning beyond the classroom. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --Rebecca Troendle Hewitt, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
