Students' University Identification: An Exploratory Study in the United States and Italy

Students’ identification with schools or universities is associated with many positive outcomes, such as increased cooperation and completion of studies. This study is a qualitative investigation of university students’ experiences concerning identification. Two hundred and eleven Italian students and 226 U.S. students wrote responses to open-ended questions about a time that they either felt connected (identified) or disconnected to (not identified) with their university. In Italy, students prompted to identify with the university focused their descriptions on didactical aspects such as academic training experiences. Italian students prompted not to identify with the university often described their experiences with the university’s organizational and administrative aspects. U.S. students prompted to identify or not with the university focused on the social aspects of their university experience such as their involvement with fraternities and sororities. Italian and U.S. students rarely mentioned instrumental aspects of their university experience such as how much the university matters for professional training. This close analysis of students’ experiences illustrates how diverse the sources of university identification can be across different countries. These qualitative results help to fully understand the contents of the experience of university students. Policies for enhancing students’ motivation and engagement in higher education should reflect all the different domains of identification, to support the full range of students’ experiences.