The effect of social identity, social power, professor gender and race on informal student-faculty interactions

Informal student-faculty interaction (ISFI) has been shown by many researchers to positively influence undergraduate students' academic, intellectual, and personal development, as well as their career and educational goals (e.g., Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). However, little is known about why students approach faculty, and how faculty and staff can increase the quality and quantity of informal interactions.;Results revealed that there was a small but significant positive correlation between compliance with soft power tactics and intended ISFI; however, there was no effect for harsh power tactics or social identity. First generation students were somewhat more likely to comply with soft power tactics and were more inclined to engage in ISFI than students who were not first generation. Students were equally likely to comply with harsh and soft power bases regardless of the gender and race of the professor using them. However, students did state that they would be more likely to engage in ISFI with a professor of the same gender.;Further validation of these findings is necessary; nevertheless, results from this study may inform faculty, academic support staff, and administrators interested in increasing academic, intellectual, personal, educational and career outcomes of their students via informal interactions. Professors may have more frequent ISFI if they are perceived as using soft power tactics, especially among first generation students and students who are of the same gender as the professor.;The purpose of this research was to understand how social identity and social power influenced college students' likely informal interaction with faculty. First generation student status, gender, and race were also investigated to determine whether they would influence intended ISFI. Social identity (the professor had either a shared or differentiated identity with the student), gender, and race were manipulated in an online survey by presenting photographs of fictitious professors with comments former students had made about them. The surveys assessed the likelihood of students complying with soft and harsh power tactics the fictitious professor might use and then the students' likelihood of engaging in ISFI. The survey was administered to 316 college students at three colleges/universities in the Midwest.