Public vs. Private, Large vs. Small: Significant Differences in Student Affective Experience

This study looks at differences in non-intellective measures expressed by two engineering student populations, one at a large public university in the pacific northwest and the other a small private aerospace institution in the southeast. Both student populations are in their first year of study in their respective engineering majors. Previously validated, Likert scale items were used to measure self-efficacy, task value, peer support, two forms of faculty support, and two forms of belonging using a survey instrument. Students at the small private university reported that their institution was friendlier and had a greater sense of togetherness than the public institution. However, no significant differences were found in the sense of belonging to the university reported by the two groups of students. These same students also reported no significant differences in their sense of peer support, but those students at the small private institution experienced a greater sense of faculty support, both within the context of a course and outside of it. Task value scores associated with engineering were high at both institutions and were not significantly different. Finally, students at the small private institution reported higher levels of self-efficacy than their peers at the public institution, although self-efficacy scores between women at each institution had no such difference. While limited in scope to only a single large and a single small institution, these results provide further insight into the academic and affective correlates of institutional differences and also suggest that students may adapt to develop a sense of belonging regardless of institutional culture.