Another Example of Culture Eating Strategy for Breakfast?
Interesting new study on the effects of a statewide Promise program.
A year of research spent on examining one state’s public high school data, as related to post-secondary enrollment using a statewide Promise program, yielded some interesting findings.
- Access to new state funding in the form of a Promise program (free last dollar tuition) did not correlate with more high school students in financial need attending college (TRANSLATION – financial support was not enough to get low-income high school students to register for college)
- More high school counselors negatively correlated (although not significantly) with more high school students attending college using the created state Promise program (TRANSLATION – high school size matters and bigger/more guidance counselors is not necessarily better in relation to college enrollment)
- Demographics like high school student gender and race, in this studied state Promise program, were not found to be statistically significant factors in students accessing the Promise program (TRANSLATION – while the literature largely makes the case that gender and race matter in regards to college enrollment, there was not a significant difference based on these two demographics in this study)
Although this reflects just one study, in one state, regarding statewide Promise program efforts, what does this mean? It seems apparent that high students attend (and don’t attend) college for a variety of reasons. One not so new hypothesis is that organizational culture (both culture of a student’s high school and prospective college) is one of the greatest influencing factors to encourage, or discourage, college enrollment in high school students. Institutions – take note!
The influence of organizational culture as seen in the literature – in schools, corporations, government, etc. is vast. According to research, culture is reported to affect everything from employee job satisfaction to organizational productivity to job performance. The military may provide one of the most distinct examples of an institution with strong organizational culture, as it is ingrained in members from the beginning of their career. Although the structure, reward system, and training efforts in the US military of course all play a part of how this entity functions, these characteristics are in support of, and contribute to, a larger phenomena called (organizational) culture. Nearly everyone in an organization contributes to, understands, and sometimes unknowingly abides by a code of behavior and that is powerful and “the way we do things here”. Culture is a powerful factor that must be considered in looking at individual and community success.
Educational entities often also are examples of organizational cultures that are powerful and thus difficult to change/affect. Breaking through what institutional members are taught or know, in the field of education or any industry, to something new is fraught with challenges. History (organizational and individual) matters and creates an expectation and sense of what will work best in particular organizations, and how members of institutions, should behave. When an institution possesses an organizational culture that is adaptable in times of a changing industry, with strong vision and unified shared goals, an organization can thrive. For high schools, for example, according to this study a key part of institutional culture is influenced by parent and student expectations at that school. Expectations of organizational members also affects colleges and workplaces too. When members of an organization expect to be engaged, to do well, and to advance – they do. To learn more about this study, check out the research.
Julie Murray-Jensen
To exchange more ideas on the power of organizational culture in and out of education, find me on LinkedIn.