Students as Carers across Three Disciplines: Quantifying Student Caring in Higher Education

Sandra Nadelson, Boise State University
Louis Nadelson, Boise State University
Richard Osguthorpe, Boise State University

Article comments

The Researcher, Volume 23, Issue 1, 59-73. http://www.nrmera.org/researcher.html

Abstract

This research project evaluated nursing, education, and engineering students’ perceptions of themselves and their academic peers as carers using survey methods. Findings indicated the three academic majors have above average levels of caring and that there was a relationship between students’ perceptions of themselves as carers and their academic peers as carers, but that these perceptions vary by academic major (p< 0.01). The research results also revealed that age and amount of postsecondary education were unrelated to students’ perceptions of themselves as carers, but that the amount of post-secondary education influenced students’ attitudes about their academic peers as carers. Students who had more years of higher education viewed their academic peers as more caring individuals than students with less time in the academic world.