TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023

RESEARCH JOURNAL TAFCS fifffflffifl10flflflfl3 The Official Publication of the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences-Texas Affiliate AAFCS-TX ISSN: 1089-3385

i TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 TABLE OF CONTENTS From the Editors………………………………………………………………………………..…1 What Suits Teachers: Professional Attire and Remote Work……………………………………..3 Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Ph.D. Yuli Liang, Ph.D. High-Impact Practices and Mentoring Opportunites…………………………………………….28 Aubry McKenzie Jones, Ph.D. Karen L. Alexander, Ph.D., CFCS Cara R. Lawson, Ph.D. Cynthia L. Miller, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE Kyle L. Roberson, Ph.D. iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood: and What That Means for the Rest of Us. By Jean M. Twenge: A Book Review……………………………….41 Melanie D. Schmitt, Ph.D. Maintaining Cultural Identity in the Foster Care System: An Analysis of Policies for Transracial and Transcultural Adoptive and Foster Placements………………………………....55 Felish M. Burleson, M.A., CFLE Joyce Armstrong, Ph.D., CFLE Marcena Crawford, M.S.W. Policy Brief: The Silent Threat of Reassigned FCS Courses……………………………………78 Meghan Champagne, Candidate for B.S. in Family & Consumer Sciences Education Cynthia L. Miller, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE

ii TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Preparations for Careers with Young Children: An Exploratory Case Study with High School Students in Child Development Courses………………………………………………………..93 Bethany N. Ringer, M.S. Nicole C. Wanago, Ph.D. Kalli Decker, Ph.D. J. Mitchell Vaterlaus, Ph.D., LMFT, CFLE

1 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 From the Editors August 24, 2023 Hello TAFCS Research Journal readership. It was a pleasure working with our last group of authors to publish our first issue as co-editors. We are looking forward to this year’s round of manuscripts to publish and add new information to the FCS Body of Knowledge. We aim to increase the number of manuscripts received, the number of manuscripts published in each issue, and the number of citations our authors generate from their scholarly work. To help achieve these goals, we decided to move the TAFCS Research Journal to an openaccess publication and use a Creative Commons (CC) license. Soon, our journal will be available on our AAFCS-TX website and accessible to anyone visiting the site. We plan to have the most recent issues available and presented using applications from the website anyflip.com. We will maintain our relationship with EBSCO as an archival destination for all issues, past and present. EBSCO is a database universities use to provide access to many academic journals. If your university is not subscribed to the TAFCS Research Journal through EBSCO, we encourage you to make that request. Help us help you make your scholarly work more accessible and searchable. Additionally, we are moving to a running publication each calendar year and using the Creative Commons (CC) license mentioned above. The move to a running publication will mean that it will be published as soon as an article is accepted and peer-reviewed. No more waiting until we have enough manuscripts to justify an issue or until all work is peer-reviewed and approved before your manuscript is published. Coinciding with this move is the CC license that allows our authors to maintain the copyright status of the work submitted to the TAFCS Research Journal. After publication, you will have the ability to immediately share your work as you see fit. The CC license will allow you to distribute and promote your work without our consent. The CC will be included on each accepted manuscript. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. What this means for you, is anyone using your work must provide appropriate credit, no commercial use is allowed, and if you remix, transform, or build upon your work you must

2 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 distribute the material under the same license. You can click the link above to learn more about Creative Commons licensing. Another update we want to inform you about is, starting with our next annual conference, we plan to publish the proceedings of our AAFCS-TX conference in the TAFCS Research Journal. By doing this we hope to generate more interest in your respective research, activities, and help develop collaborative efforts. It also serves TAFCS in that the proceedings are citable items and can assist in pulling in more citations on the journal itself. We are confident our members and readership will appreciate the direction we are taking the TAFCS Research Journal. Our members and readership have much to offer in the many disciplines that make up Family and Consumer Sciences. Choose to publish with TAFCS and we will do our part to elevate FCS by sharing your work and scholarship through our now openaccess double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal. Sincerely, Karen L. Alexander, Ph.D., CFCS Kyle L. Roberson, Ph.D. TAFCS Research Journal Co-Editor TAFCS Research Journal Co-Editor Texas Tech University Texas Tech University

3 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 What Suits Teachers: Professional Attire and Remote Work Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Ph.D. Texas State University Yuli Liang, Ph.D. Texas State University Abstract This study aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions of the role, expressiveness, and maintenance effort of their professional dress in both in-person and remote teaching. A national sample (n=157) of primary, secondary, and university teachers from the United States were recruited through Amazon MTurk, including twenty-seven from Texas. The results indicated that Texas teachers value the role and expressiveness of their professional dress differently than teachers from other parts of the country. Further, teachers who work in different remote teaching modalities have significantly different perceptions of the role and expressiveness of dress, and appearance maintenance effort. Keywords: Professional dress, culture, teachers, role, expressiveness Introduction Fashion researchers have long considered the role that dress plays in professional settings (Dillon 1980; Thurston et al., 1990; Kwon, 1994). Many professionals believe that what they wear is important in their own career (Kim & Song, 2021; Peluchette & Karl, 2018; Sulanke & Shimp, 2015), but teachers believe as well that what they wear can improve their students’ learning (Sampson, 2016), not just their personal career opportunities. Previous research on professional attire has focused on the formal vs. casual dichotomy and some of this work has been conducted with teachers, in part because they provide a convenience sample for certain researchers and also because they are one occupation that copes regularly with dress code issues (Freeburg & Workman, 2010). However, the students’ level (e.g., preschool vs. university), the

4 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 subjects taught (e.g., agriculture vs. language), and the region (e.g., North America vs. Asia), heavily influence what is considered appropriate for teachers to wear. The expansion of remote or hybrid teaching modalities that the COVID-19 pandemic increased introduced another factor into the considerations of appropriate attire for teachers. Teachers at different levels in many places worldwide experienced remote teaching or remote working during the first two years of the pandemic. A recurring theme in the media during the pandemic was the opportunity that remote working provided for a wide range of workers, primarily white collar, but also professionals in many other categories, to adapt their attire during working hours. Anecdotal evidence and reports of surveys conducted during the pandemic found a “definitive shift to more casual attire” (Lipton & Basu, 2022, p. 6) on remote workers’ part. However, the question is, in what way did this opportunity to alter their attire because of the change in work modality affect teachers? The purpose of this study is to examine teachers' attitudes towards their professional dress, specifically towards the role that their attire plays and their perception of its expressiveness as well as how they feel about the effort they expend in maintaining their professional dress. This study compares these attitudes among teachers in Texas versus those elsewhere in the United States and teachers in the U.S. with those in East Asia. It also examines the impact that gender and teaching remote teaching modality has on attitudes towards professional dress. Literature Review The research on professional dress in schools includes content analyses of media and dress codes and qualitative and quantitative studies with students (e.g., Lapolla, 2017) and teachers. However, only a handful has provided clear measures that can be implemented reliably

5 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 in an online survey of teachers. Butler and Roesel’s (1989) survey found that students respected teachers who wore suits significantly more than those who wore jeans or casual dress. Students also reported that they would obey them and thought they were more knowledgeable, but they still preferred to interact with teachers who dressed more casually. Sampson’s (2016) qualitative study concluded that teachers feel that professional attire affects students positively by presenting teachers as role models. In her qualitative study of teachers’ dress, Ivery (2019) recommended that “Teachers should be encouraged to choose comfortable clothing that reflects their professionalism as educators but also their individual personality” (p. 104). This hints at the dual purpose of professional dress for teachers: to support them in their role as teachers but to also allow them to express themselves. A survey of more than 500 students in Trinidad and Tobago conducted by Joseph (2017) used seven items that examined the effect of teachers’ dress on the student (e.g., “the way my teacher dresses influence[s] what I learn in class”) and on the student’s perception of the teacher (e.g., “the way my teachers dress affects the way I interact with them”). The survey also asked about casual versus formal clothing with items such as “Professional attire (dress pants/skirts/shoes, shirt, and tie) makes a teacher seem more competent to teach,” or “Casual attire (jeans, T-shirts, sneakers, short dresses) makes a teacher seem more approachable and likable.” The challenge in all of this research on teachers’ perceptions of the role that their attire plays in their professional lives is the lack of well structured, easy to use measurements that can be included in surveys of teachers on an ongoing basis to understand the way that their attitudes toward dress might be changing or differ across levels of teaching or cultures.

6 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Teachers in the US vs Sri Lanka Ultimately, only two studies were identified that used measures that could be included in a survey that examines teachers’ perceptions of their own attire as professionals. A team of faculty from Sri Lanka and Japan conducted mixed-methods studies with female teachers at three schools in Japan (Jayasooriya et al., 2020) and 20 schools in Sri Lanka (Jayasooriya et al., 2021). The scales they developed would be useful, with some adaptations to measuring the attitudes of teachers in the U.S. Their studies focused on teachers’ use of traditional dress, the kimono in Japan and saree in Sri Lanka, and their conclusions overall were that teachers prefer to wear casual attire and believe that traditional dress limits their ability to perform their role as teachers in several ways requiring more effort to manage. Jayasooriy’s (2021) study in Sri Lanka also included a measure of teachers’ attitudes toward the role that their attire plays in their professional lives and a measure of their perception of its expressiveness, which are the two scales chosen for adaptation for this study. With respect to their dress and their role as teachers, the study found that teachers agreed on a 5-point Likert Scale that their traditional attire was more professional (M=4.05, SD=.80) and that it was important to look professional (M=4.08, SD=.86). Further, teachers disagreed that students are reluctant to approach them for guidance when they are wearing their traditional dress (M=2.02, SD=.82) or that the dress they “wear to school is a barrier to communication” (M=2.31, SD=.90). The second measure asked the teachers to rate the ability of their traditional dress to communicate with others on a 5-point Likert-type scale on which 1 is very low and 5 is very high. Sri Lankan teachers perceived sarees’ ability to “express yourself as a teacher” highest (M=4.00, SD=.88), but lowest to “express your authority” (M=2.95, SD=1.12). In comparing the

7 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 professional attire of US teachers with those in Asia, the teachers’ lack of agreement on traditional attire, in which they revert to the suit for the most formal teaching attire, suggests that US teachers have more options to dress casually. This would increase their rating of their attire’s role and expressiveness by offering them more flexibility to choose professional attire that meets these needs, making their dress a more important tool to affirm their role and express themselves as teachers. Therefore, the following hypotheses were proposed: H1ab: Teachers in the US differ from those in Sri Lanka in their perceptions of (a) the role of dress and (b) expressiveness of dress. Teachers in Texas versus the rest of the US In the case of American teachers, the most formal attire is not a form of ethnic dress, such as a kimono or saree, but a suit, meaning that these scales would need to be revised to remain culturally relevant. Another difference between Asian and North American teachers may arise from the measures of specific effort required to maintain professional attire (e.g., ironing or washing) or efficiency that casual dress provides, given that professional attire in the US does not necessarily require different care from casual wear or when it does, professional cleaners can provide such care. In order to examine this effort for American teachers a different measure, the measure of maintenance effort that Peluchette et al. (2006) developed and adapted from that in Rafaeli et al. (1997) qualitative study was chosen. This scale examines the amount of physical and mental effort, time, and money required to care for apparel. They converted the sentiments in this study to use an expectancy-value measurement model in which the perceived value of the effort (mental, physical, time, and money) was multiplied by the perceived dislike of the amount that each type of effort required. This maintenance effort measure was included as published to validate the revised scales and understand the different amounts of effort expended by different

8 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 types of American teachers. A national sample of teachers means that comparisons can be made not only between teachers based on gender or teaching modality, but also between different regions to understand if teachers' attitudes towards attire is uniform across the U.S. Texas is a region with a distinctive culture and unique apparel styles. No studies on this specific issue have compared teachers in Texas with those elsewhere, which makes it difficult to hypothesize how Texas teachers’ perceptions of dress differ from those of teachers elsewhere. Therefore, the following hypotheses were proposed: H2a-c: Teachers in Texas do not differ from those elsewhere in the US in their perceptions of (a) the role of dress, (b) expressiveness of dress and (c) maintenance effort. Gender Differences Finally, the timing of the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic and the type of sample requires some consideration of the role of gender and working remotely in teachers’ perceptions of attire. Many studies have compared male and female professionals, focusing on how workplace sexism and objectification can affect women (Alsop, 2021; Peluchette & Karl, 2018). Kwon (1994) suggested that the differences in attitudes toward attire based upon gender extend into the workplace and that men and women relate to their clothing and others’ clothing differently. However, while research has suggested that both male and female teachers agree that professional attire is important in their role as teachers (Gordon, 2010), research continues to investigate whether students judge male and female teachers’ dress differently (Chatelain, 2015; Sebastian & Bristow, 2008). This supports a hypothesis that female teachers highly rate the role and expressiveness of dress and the continuing complexity of female professional dress. This is compared to male dress which supports a hypothesis that males rate the effort that dress requires higher. The respect conferred to teachers attributable to attire has some limits, as seen in

9 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Sebastian and Bristow (2008). They found that male professors who dressed formally were perceived to be more competent than those who dressed casually while female professors who dressed formally were perceived to be less competent. These results suggest that members of an “out group” within the field (in this case women) would be perceived to use professional attire to mask lack of competence. In the survey conducted by Joseph (2017), they asked students whether “Women teachers trade-off more power than men when they dress down, so that women need to dress up to gain the same level of respect” to explore the role of gender and power in teachers’ dress but did not necessarily examine the way that students feel about the purported trade-off or its result. Shoulders and Smith (2018) also examined the issue of the congruence between attire and professional expectations in a study of agriculture teachers and students. Their analysis found that a middle ground “business casual” produced the highest levels of respect among students for guest teachers, regardless of gender. These results, while valuable in identifying many of the issues that teachers consider when selecting their attire, do not use readily reproducible measures that can be included in surveys of teachers or students. Therefore, the following hypotheses were proposed: H3a-c: Female teachers have higher perceptions of (a) the role of dress, (b) expressiveness of dress, and (c) maintenance effort. Teaching Modalities Similarly, the addition of remote work for teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic may affect their perceptions of the role, expressiveness, and effort of their dress. An experimental study conducted during the pandemic assigned participants to wear “work attire”, “home attire”, or “mixed attire”, and reported that they feel significantly more authentic when they were home rather than work attire during their remote workday (Bailey et al., 2022). This suggests that

10 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 teachers who work remotely may also feel that the role and expressiveness of dress are less important in their professional attire and may feel that their attire requires less effort in the remote teaching situation. Therefore, the following hypotheses were proposed: H4a-c: Teachers who work in remote modalities have lower perceptions of (a) the role of dress, (b) expressiveness of dress, and (c) maintenance effort. Methods Procedure This study was conducted throughout the US in early 2022. The participants included K1 to K-16 teachers recruited through Amazon MTurk. The questionnaire included questions about the percentage that they work Remotely vs. In-Person, their vaccination status, and how they would compare the attire they wore for teaching before and during the pandemic. In addition, an 8-item scale of the formality of dress (Jayasooriya et al., 2021), an 8-item scale of the communication of dress (Jayasooriya et al., 2021), and an 8-item scale that includes 4 items that measured their effort and 4 items that measured the extent to which they dislike maintenance effort (Peluchette et al., 2006) were adopted or adapted from previous research. After a 10-day data collection period, 174 responses were obtained, and 157 responses were retained for data analysis after incomplete responses were eliminated. Measurements Jayasooriya et al. (2021) Perceived Formality and Awareness scale was revised and retitled Role of Dress, defined for this study as use of dress by teachers to support their professional goals. The original scale included nine items measured on a 5-point Likert Scale. Examples of the revisions include reframing “I am abided by law to wear the dress I wear to school” as “I am required by rules or regulations to wear the attire I wear to work” to reflect the

11 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 diverse situations of American teachers as well as to remove the potential difficulty of the word “dress” for those who see this as a specific type of garment. Another change made to the original scale was that the culturally specific “saree” was changed to the more general “suit”, which retains the formal connotations but is culturally appropriate for teachers who wear Western attire. The final revision to the last item was intended to capture the question’s intent better without the potentially negative reaction to the term “show-off”, such that “I can show-off from the dress I wear at school” was changed to “The attire I wear to school draws positive attention.” If the question also captured an element of the apparel’s flexibility for use in other situations, an item was added asking, “The attire I wear to school is appropriate to wear on other occasions.” Jayasooriya et al. (2021) Perceived Ability to Communicate scale was revised and retitled Expressiveness of Dress, defined as the perceptions of teachers of the ability of their dress to communicate with others. The primary reason for the change was to make it possible to answer the questions on a Likert Scale. Rather than the low to high scale that the previous authors have used, the questions were rephrased from the second to the first person (e.g., “Express yourself as a teacher” became “Express myself as a teacher”). Several items were also revised slightly to reflect cultural differences. Unlike the revision in the previous scale used to soften the negative connotations of “showing off” the item, “Express my authority” was removed completely given that items related to seriousness, trustworthiness, and professionalism already covered dimensions related to this sentiment in a more positive manner. To manage the complexity of terms such as “nationalism” in a diverse country, “Express nationalism” was divided into two questions “Express my patriotism” and “Express my ethnicity or other important identity.” The final scale, Maintenance Effort (Peluchette et al., 2006), was used without revision to make it possible to validate the revised scales and is defined as the perceived effort used to

12 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 maintain dress. The participants were asked about their teaching modality to divide the sample into groups based upon the percentage of time they engaged with in-person teaching. The teachers who reported “What percentage of your job do you work remotely versus in-person?” with a percentage of 49% or less were considered those who teach In-Person. Those reporting 50% remote work and 50% in-person were considered Hybrid teachers, and those who reported 51-100% remote work were considered as teaching Remotely. These three groups were used to conduct MANOVA and ANOVA analyses on the three scales to explore the effect of remote teaching on the perceived role of dress, its expressiveness, and maintenance effort for each modality. Results The participants, 51.6% of whom were women, were currently employed full-time or part-time as teachers in the US. The teachers taught at all different levels (early childhood education: 2.5%; primary education: 14%; secondary education: 19.7%; postsecondary nontertiary or short-cycle tertiary education: 5.1%, and university educators: 60.6%). The participants ranged from 23 to 67 in age (Mean=34), and 63.7% were 34 years old or younger. The participants included 7 African Americans, 3 Asian/Asian Americans, 124 Caucasians, 6 Hispanic/Latinos, 13 Native Americans, and 4 Others or prefer not to say. Regarding geographic distribution, Texas teachers comprised 17.19% of the sample. The zip codes reported for the school location were from all regions of the US with the Midwest region (Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky) and the Central South (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana) having the largest share and the Northern Plains (Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa) and the Mountain West (Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico) having the least representation. This is consistent with the population

13 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 distribution of the US. Based upon their current teaching modalities, the respondents were split into three groups (more In-Person = 75, more Remotely = 25, and relatively equal in Hybrid = 57). More detailed information is provided in Table 1. Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Research Sample (n = 157) Characteristic Percent Characteristic Percent Gender Education Men 48.4 Early childhood education 2.5 Women 51.6 Primary education 14.0 Age Lower secondary education 7.6 18-24 4.5 Upper secondary education 12.2 25-34 59.2 Postsecondary non-tertiary education 3.2 35-44 19.8 Short-cycle tertiary education 1.9 45-54 10.8 Bachelor’s or equivalent level 33.8 55-64 5.1 Master’s or equivalent level 22.9 65 and above .6 Doctor or equivalent level 1.3 Prefer not to say .6 Total Household Income Ethnicity Less than $10,000 1.3 Caucasian 79.0 $10,000-$29,999 8.9 African American 4.5 $30,000-$49,999 22.3 Asian/Asian American 1.9 $50,000-$79,999 39.5 Hispanic/Latino 3.8 $80,000-$99,999 10.8 Native American 8.3 $100,000-$199,999 15.9 Others/Prefer not to say 2.5 $200,000 or more 1.3 Hypothesis Testing Comparison of the US with Sri Lanka The 10-item Role of Dress scale was reliable with a Cronbach’s alpha of .79. Using the data provided in Jayasooriya et al. (2021) from their survey of 100 female Sri Lankan primary and secondary teachers from primary and secondary teachers from both private and government schools, we performed a 2-tailed t-test to compare the means of the US teachers with those of the corresponding items that the 100 participants from Sri Lanka reported (see Table 2). For the 8 Role of Dress items that were changed only slightly (e.g., changing “law” to “rules and

14 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 regulations” or “saree” to “suit”), all but 3 were significantly higher for the US teachers than the Sri Lankan teachers. However, “The attire I wear to school is pleasant to others”, “I believe that I look professional when I am in a suit”, and “I think it is important to look professional at school”, did not differ significantly between the two cultures. The last item, which was divided into two and captured some of the variations in showing-off, was also significantly higher for US teachers than the single item, “I can show-off from the dress I wear at school”, was for Sri Lankan teachers. Table 2 Means of items from Role of Dress in Two Studies Statement US (N=157) Sri Lanka (N=100) p-value Mean SD Mean SD two-tailed I am required by rules or regulations to wear the attire I wear to work. 3.80 1.00 3.46 .93 .02 The attire I wear to school is pleasant to others. 4.12 .82 3.97 .7 ns The attire I wear to school is physically attractive. 4.04 .91 3.68 .83 .002 I believe that I look professional when I am in a suit (for Sri Lankan participants: in saree). 4.04 .92 4.05 .8 ns I think it is important to look professional at work. 4.14 .93 4.08 .86 ns I look formal when I am in a suit (for Sri Lankan participants: in saree). 4.17 .84 3.79 .94 .001 When I am in a suit (for Sri Lankan participants: in saree), students are reluctant to approach me for guidance and advice. 3.65 1.16 2.02 .82 .0001 What I wear at school is a barrier to communicate with students. 3.57 1.25 2.31 .9 .0001 The attire I wear to school is appropriate to wear on other occasions. 4.06 0.74 2.28 .93 .0001 The attire I wear to school draws positive attention. 4.03 .87 2.28 .93 .0001 Note: SD = standard deviation The 8-item Expressiveness of Dress scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .80, and thus was

15 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 reliable. The comparison was repeated for the Expressiveness of Dress items, and 4 of the items modified slightly were significantly higher for US teachers: maintain professional status; show my trustworthiness; show my seriousness; and maintain distance between me and my students (see Table 3). “Express myself as a teacher” and “Gain social recognition” did not differ between the US and Sri Lankan teachers. The responses to the single item, “Express nationalism”, which was split into two, “Express my patriotism” and “Express my ethnic or other important identity”, also did not differ significantly between the Sri Lankan and US teachers. Therefore, both Hypothesis 1 a and b were supported. Table 3 Means of items from Expressiveness of Dress in Two Studies Statement US (N=157) Sri Lanka (N=100) p-value Mean SD Mean SD two-tailed Express myself as a teacher 4.03 .82 4.00 .88 ns Maintain my professional status 4.15 .77 3.68 .91 .0001 Show my trustworthiness 3.95 .93 3.43 1.02 .0001 Show my seriousness 3.96 .95 3.06 1.10 .0001 Express my ethnicity or other important identity 3.69 1.20 NA NA NA Express my patriotism 3.62 1.25 3.64 1.20 ns Gain social recognition 3.69 1.21 3.66 .96 ns Maintain distance between me and my students 3.80 1.16 3.51 .95 0.0373 Note: SD = standard deviation Comparison of Texas with the US We performed an ANOVA to compare the means of 27 teachers whose schools are in Texas with the remaining 130 US teachers (see Table 4). Of these 10 items, 4 were significantly higher for teachers in Texas. They included “I am required by rules or regulations to wear the attire I wear to work”, “The attire I wear to school is pleasant to others”, “What I wear to school is a barrier to communicate with students”, and “The attire I wear to school draws positive attention.”

16 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Table 4 Means of items from Role of Dress Statement US (N=130) Texas (N=27) p-value Mean SD Mean SD two-tailed I am required by rules or regulations to wear the attire I wear to work. 3.72 1.03 4.19 .79 .03 The attire I wear to school is pleasant to others. 4.06 .81 4.41 .84 .05 The attire I wear to school is physically attractive. 4.00 .93 4.26 .76 ns I believe that I look professional when I am in a suit. 4.00 .93 4.26 .86 ns I think it is important to look professional at work. 4.08 .95 4.44 .80 ns I look formal when I am in a suit. 4.15 .83 4.22 .89 ns When I am in a suit, students are reluctant to approach me for guidance and advice. 3.61 1.15 3.85 1.23 ns What I wear at school is a barrier to communicating with students. 3.47 1.23 4.1 1.24 .02 The attire I wear to school is appropriate to wear on other occasions. 4.05 0.74 4.11 .75 ns The attire I wear to school draws positive attention. 3.94 .88 4.48 .70 .00 Note: SD = standard deviation The comparison using ANOVA was repeated for the Expressiveness of Dress items, in which 6 of 8 items were significantly higher for Texas teachers (see Table 5). Only “Express myself as a teacher” and “Maintain my professional status” did not differ between the two groups of teachers. Hypotheses 2 a and b were not supported, but because of the lack of previous research to guide directionality in this set of hypotheses, null hypotheses were used, and the lack of support indicates that differences exist. Table 5 Means of items from Expressiveness of Dress Statement US (N=130) Texas (N=27) p-value Mean SD Mean SD two-tailed Express myself as a teacher 3.97 .83 4.30 .78 ns Maintain my professional status 4.13 .74 4.26 .90 ns Show my trustworthiness 3.87 .95 4.33 .73 .02

17 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Show my seriousness 3.87 .95 4.37 .84 .01 Express my ethnicity or other important identity 3.57 1.23 4.30 .82 .00 Express my patriotism 3.49 1.28 4.22 .85 .01 Gain social recognition 3.57 1.25 4.26 .81 .01 Maintain distance between me and my students 3.69 1.15 4.30 1.10 .01 Note: SD = standard deviation Comparison of Gender and Teaching Modalities Because maintenance of dress (Peluchette et al., 2006) were designed as an expectancyvalue measure, the four Effort items (related to mental effort, physical effort, money and time) were multiplied by their respective Dislike of Effort items to create four Maintenance Effort items. The Cronbach’s alpha of the 4-item Effort Related to Dress portion of the Maintenance Effort scale was .88, while the Dislike of Effort was also reliable with a Cronbach’s alpha of .90, in comparison with the Cronbach’s alpha of .91 for the effort and .83 for the dislike that Peluchette et al. (2006) obtained in their study. This indicates that the revised scales of the Role of Dress and Expressiveness of Dress can be considered valid because the scales were reliable in a previously validated and unrevised scale. The four items were then summed to create a single Maintenance of Dress variable. These revised scales were then used to compare the role and expressiveness of dress and maintenance effort for male and female teachers and those working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic versus their counterparts working in either a Hybrid mode or in person. The ANOVA conducted with this variable to determine if Texas teachers differed from those elsewhere in the U.S. was insignificant (Mean Square = 52.71, F=1.55; p = 0.135), meaning that H2c is supported. A MANOVA was conducted with teaching modality and gender as independent variables, while the dependent variables were role of dress, expressiveness of dress, and

18 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 maintenance effort. The teaching modality had significant effects on all three dependent variables [F (6, 298) = 2.62; p < 0.05], and gender also had significant effects on the expressiveness of dress [F (3, 149) = 3.13; p < 0.05]. An ANOVA with post hoc tests was performed thereafter to compare the means for the role and expressiveness of dress and maintenance effort among teaching modality groups (see Table 6). The post hoc testing showed that the role of dress did not differ significantly among the teaching modalities. Although the Hybrid modality was slightly higher, both expressiveness of dress and maintenance effort was significantly higher for teachers in the Hybrid group than for those in the In-person group, but not those in the Remote group. Table 6 ANOVA results for Role of Dress, Expressiveness of Dress, and Maintenance Effort by Teaching Modalities and Gender Scale Mean SD Mean Square F p-value Role of Dress Teaching Modalities 1.40 4.12 .02 In-person 3.83a .56 Hybrid 4.12a .62 Remote 3.90a .55 Gender .100 .28 .60 Men 3.97 .60 Women 3.92 .60 Expressiveness of Dress Teaching Modalities 2.60 5.93 .003 In-person 3.70a .70 Hybrid 4.10b .63 Remote 3.80ab .64 Gender 2.14 4.69 .03 Men 3.98 .60 Women 3.75 .74 Maintenance Effort Teaching Modalities 159.54 4.80 .01 In-person 11.68a 5.52 Hybrid 14.79b 6.04 Remote 13.56ab 5.87 Gender 51.10 1.47 .23 Men 13.69 5.86

19 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Women 12.55 5.93 Note: Means that share the same superscript did not differ significantly (Tukey’s-b post hoc test). SD = standard deviation The ANOVA revealed that teachers’ perceptions of the role that dress plays based upon gender did not differ significantly, but that the genders differed significantly (p < 0.05) with respect to their perception of the expressiveness of dress (MMen = 3.98; MWomen = 3.75). Another benefit of well-developed, multi-item scales is that they allow the facets that influence the variable to be examined in greater depth. In the case of the Expressiveness of Dress, men and women’s perceptions of the role that dress plays to “express my patriotism” (MMen = 3.93; MWomen = 3.32) and “maintain distance between me and my students” differed significantly (MMen = 4.01; MWomen = 3.59). These results suggest that men find it more important to express their patriotism in professional settings and may use their attire to help maintain appropriate boundaries with their students. Therefore, only Hypothesis 3b was supported. While the ANOVA demonstrated that teachers who teach through different modalities differed significantly in their perception of the role of dress overall and the expressiveness of dress, the examination of the specific items in the measure illuminates some of the determinants of these differences. Specifically, post hoc testing of the items in the role of dress (see Table 7) shows that Hybrid teachers are significantly more likely than In-Person teachers to agree that their attire is a barrier to communicating with students. They indicated that students are reluctant to approach them for guidance and advice when they wear a suit. Compared with the other two groups, In-Person teachers indicated that the attire they wear to school is appropriate for other occasions. Table 7 Means of items from Role of Dress by Teaching Modalities (N=157) Statement In-person Hybrid Remote Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

20 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 I am required by rules or regulations to wear the attire I wear to work. 3.77a 1.03 3.98a .88 3.48a 1.12 The attire I wear to school is pleasant to others. 4.04a .91 4.16a .73 4.28a .74 The attire I wear to school is physically attractive. 3.95a .94 4.21a .90 3.96a .79 I believe that I look professional when I am in a suit. 4.05a .94 4.05a .92 4.00a .91 I think it is important to look professional at work. 4.16a .89 4.19a .99 3.96a .94 I look formal when I am in a suit. 4.15a .90 4.21a .75 4.12a .88 When I am in a suit, students are reluctant to approach me for guidance and advice. 3.31a 1.23 4.04b .96 3.80ab 1.08 What I wear at school is a barrier to communicate with students. 3.17a 1.36 4.09b .89 3.60ab 1.23 The attire I wear to school is appropriate to wear on other occasions. 4.21a .64 4.00ab .76 3.72b .84 The attire I wear to school draws positive attention. 3.99a .89 4.12a .83 3.96a .94 Note: Means that share the same superscript did not differ significantly (Tukey’s-b post hoc test) at the .05 level based upon an ANOVA. SD = standard deviation In addition, post hoc testing of the items in the role of dress (see Table 8) shows that Hybrid teachers agree more strongly that their attire expresses their ethnic or other important identity and both hybrid and remote teachers perceive that attire is a way to maintain distance between themselves and their students, which may reflect the more intimate nature of being on camera in front of students in their own homes—accordingly, Hypotheses 4 a-c were supported. Table 8 Means of items from the Expressiveness of Dress by Teaching Modalities (N=157) Statement In-person Hybrid Remote Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Express myself as a teacher 4.00a .85 4.14a .72 3.84a .94 Maintain my professional status 4.11a .83 4.19a .67 4.20a .82 Show my trustworthiness 3.89a .89 4.11a .99 3.76a .88 Show my seriousness 3.93a .95 4.02a .92 3.88a 1.05 Express my ethnicity or other important identity 3.40a 1.37 4.16b .84 3.52a 1.05 Express my patriotism 3.39a 1.37 3.96a .96 3.52a 1.33

21 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Gain social recognition 3.45a 1.31 3.98a 1.04 3.72a 1.17 Maintain distance between me and my students 3.43a 1.28 4.21b .80 3.96b 1.17 Note: Means that share the same superscript did not differ significantly (Tukey’s-b post hoc test) at the .05 level based upon an ANOVA. SD = standard deviation Discussion With respect to the role that dress plays, teachers in Texas appear to be more constrained both by regulations of dress in the workplace as well as their desire to be pleasant and draw positive attention. However, they acknowledge that their attire is a barrier to communicating with their students. Texas teachers in many school districts have dress codes intended to uphold professionalism but, as previous research has reported, this does not always translate into a better relationship with students. Concerning the expressiveness of dress, Texas teachers find that, regardless of the rules about what they can wear, they can express themselves over a variety of dimensions using their dress at a higher level than other teachers in the US. Expressing ethnicity, patriotism, gaining social recognition, and being perceived as serious would appear to be positive results from the type of attire that Texas teachers chose, while enforcing a barrier between teachers and students may be a necessity in their school environment. Working remotely in many professions provides the ability to optimize the work setting and social interactions. However, for teachers, hybrid work, in which they teach students in the classroom and those who cannot attend in person, does not seem to have an advantage in managing their attire. Hybrid teachers reported a significantly higher level of dislike and effort than teachers who teach in just one modality. A second set of ANOVAs was conducted to examine the nuances of the items in each measure. In the case of the Role of Dress, the main differences were found in the items in the barrier to communication and appropriateness for other settings. Table 7 shows that, compared with In-Person teachers, the Hybrid teachers agree to a greater extent that their attire is a barrier to communicating with students, while Remote teachers

22 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 are significantly less likely than In-Person teachers to agree that their dress is appropriate for other settings. Given that many remote workers report wearing leisure or other very comfortable clothing (Liu et al., 2021), this difference between teachers is entirely understandable. However, the barrier to communication that the hybrid teachers perceived may be attributable to the modality itself, not the attire. For example, a hybrid teacher with remote students who join them in the classroom may find that the attire that allows them to communicate with students in person does not translate via the camera or the converse. Over time, if hybrid work continues in various professions, a new mode of professional attire that is more flexible and spans the modalities may arise that resolves this tension. This barrier or distance is echoed in the Expressiveness of Dress items (Table 8), where In-Person teachers agree significantly less than either Remote or Hybrid teachers that their attire “maintains distance between me and my students.” Texas and other US teachers also differed significantly in maintaining distance from students, as the teachers in Texas had a mean of 4.30 (SD = 1.10) for the same item compared with 3.69 for other American teachers. If attire is meant to maintain professional status and create distance from students, the more casual attire that the remote setting affords conflicts with this goal. Another significant difference across modalities for American teachers was found in the expression of ethnicity or other important identities. Hybrid teachers agreed significantly more that their attire expressed their ethnicity or other valuable identity. The consideration of the way this type of attire translates in the remote setting may indicate that hybrid teachers are paying more attention when they wear this type of expressive attire compared with those who do not have to consider the teaching modality when they select their attire. For example, if there is a specific occasion related to dress (e.g., Cinco de

23 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Mayo or Kwanza), teachers who shift across modalities may feel that attire chosen carefully is more significant as a way to connect with students. For Maintenance Effort, splitting out the items to conduct the ANOVA revealed the complexity of teaching in various modalities. Concerning their dislike of the mental effort their dress requires, Hybrid teachers report that they dislike the amount of mental effort required significantly more than either In-Person or fully Remote teachers. This confirms previous results, which suggest that some thought goes into the expressiveness of dress. Concerning physical effort, the In-Person teachers report that they dislike their level of effort much less than both Remote and Hybrid teachers. In person teachers can revert to old routines related to attire without needing to find or coordinate new types of attire for the new modality. Post-hoc testing shows that neither the dislike of the amount of time nor the money involved in attire differed significantly between the three groups. Perhaps the ease of selecting casual wear for remote teaching balances the habitual nature of dressing in person, and because casual wear is not as expensive as professional attire, acquiring casual attire may not represent a significant investment, even if it requires new purchases. In the study of Sri Lankan teachers (Jayasooriya et al., 2021), they reported that their professional attire required significantly more time than casual attire (p. 119). Still, in this case, it was related to the complexity of care and donning the saree, time that professional wear in the US may not require. Implications The primary theoretical implication of the results is the validation of two multi-item scales that can be used to measure teachers’ attitudes toward professional attire. Identifying specific differences between teachers in one state and those in other regions of the US helps demonstrate the scale’s usefulness in comparing teachers in different regions and cultures. The

24 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 adjustment of the scale to include a less culturally specific example of dress (e.g., a suit), indicates that future research can compare teachers’ attitudes toward dress with those of other professionals. In addition, the small differences between the expressiveness of dress and the lack of any differences between male and female teachers in the role that dress plays suggest that men and women’s differences in attitudes toward professional dress identified previously in older studies may need to be re-examined. New ways of working, such as remote work, also mean that old assumptions about the nature of professional attire will continue to change and new generations of workers’ attitudes should not be assumed. Naturally, future research is needed to understand the specific aspects of appearance for teachers at various levels and in various cultures that supports their role, facilitates their expressiveness, or creates or reduces effort. Having a set of validated and reliable measures simplifies this effort. Concerning managerial implications, previous research on teachers’ professional attire has agreed that the role model element of teaching affects their attire beyond professional success or influence among peers. Balancing the role that dress plays in facilitating the functional aspects of teaching with the ability that attire gives teachers to express themselves both as professionals and individuals is complex. This balance is complicated by the type of attire that a community deems or decrees appropriate for their children’s teachers. The results of this study should allow many more teachers to engage in productive dialogue about their professional dress by facilitating inclusion of the topic into surveys used with students and parents about school dress codes, as well as in job satisfaction surveys of teachers conducted by school districts Further, the managerial implications will expand as the measure is included in studies of teachers in other cultures. Together with their theoretical implications, the results that suggest that male and female

25 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 teachers do not differ greatly in their attitudes toward professional attire imply that discussions with pre- and in-service teachers should highlight this agreement rather than revisit old stereotypes to imply that male teachers have less at stake. However, the fact that male teachers use dress to provide a barrier between themselves and students or that they see their dress plays a greater role in expressing patriotism than female teachers could be considered when crafting dress codes. The discovery that the hybrid teaching modality increases perceptions of the expressiveness of dress and maintenance effort also has implications for teachers and administrators. Where hybrid or remote teaching continues, some conversation is needed about the role that attire plays in creating some distance from students while teaching from home. At the very least, discussions can be used to suggest ways to reduce the effort that managing appearance has for remote teachers and ease the switching costs for teachers who work in hybrid modalities and have additional effort attributable to managing two different sets of considerations in their attire. References Alsop, G. (2021). The effect of work-attire on perceptions of competency of women in the workplace. [Master’s thesis]. University of Canterbury. Bailey, E. R., C Blaine H., and Adam, G. (2022). Enclothed harmony or enclothed dissonance? The effect of attire on the authenticity, power, and engagement of remote workers. Academy of Management Discoveries (ja). Butler, S., and Kathy R. (1989). The influence of dress on students' perceptions of teacher characteristics. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 7(3), 57-9. http://doi: 10.1177/0887302X8900700309 Chatelain, Amber M. 2015. The effect of academics’ dress and gender on student perceptions of instructor approachability and likeability. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(4), 413-23. http://doi: 10.1080/1360080X.2015.1056598 Dillon, L. S. (1980) Business dress for women corporate professionals. Home Economics Research Journal, 9(2), 124-9. http://doi: 10.1177/1077727X8000900204 Freeburg, B. W., and Workman, J. (2010). Media frames regarding teacher dress: Implications for career and technical education teacher preparation. Career and Technical Education Research, 35(1), 29-45. http://doi: 10.5328/cter35.103

26 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Gordon, H. RD. (2010). Career and technical education administrators’ perceptions of secondary teachers' attire as indicated by selected professional attributes. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 25 (1), 47-61. Ivery, G. (2019). Teacher perceptions of how attire affects student behavior and academic performance: A case study. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Concordia University. Jayasooriya, U.G.L.B., Silva, S. D., and Wanigasundera, W.A.D.P. (2021). Effect of dress code of Sri Lankan female school teachers on their job performance. Vidyodaya Journal of Management, 7(1). http://doi.org/10.31357/vjm.v7i1.4911 Jayasooriya, U.G.L.B., Silva, S. D., and Wanigasundera, W.A.D.P., (2020). Impact of female school teachers’dress code on job performances: A cross-sectional study in saga city, Japan. Indonesian Journal of Social Research (IJSR), 2(3), 170-82. http://doi: 10.30997/ijsr.v2i3.62 Joseph, S. (2017). Student perceptions of teacher professional attire. Journal of Education and Human Development, 6(2), 31-41. http://doi: 10.15640/jehd.v6n2a4 Kim, M., and Song, C. S. (2021). Understanding police officers’ usage of high-visibility safety apparel: The role of safety ethics and professional appearance. Safety, 7(1), 15. http://doi: 10.3390/safety7010015 Kwon, Y. (1994). The influence of appropriateness of dress and gender on the self-perception of occupational attributes. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 12(3), 33-9. http://doi: 10.1177/0887302X9401200305 Lamb, Jane M, and M Jo Kallal. 1992. A conceptual framework for apparel design. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 10(2), 42-7. http://doi: 10.1177/0887302X9201000207 Lapolla, K. (2017). A co-creative approach to designing formalwear for female teenagers complying with dress codes.” Fashion Practice, 9(3), 329-48. http://doi: 10.1080/17569370.2017.1358419 Lipton, B., and Basu, S. (2022). COVID Casual: Refashioning Professional Work Attire in the Age of Remote Work. The University of Sydney. http://doi: 10.25910/ 2bwq- pg97 Liu, C., Xia, S., and Lang, C. (2021). Clothing consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from mining tweets. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 39(4), 314-30. http://doi: 10.1177/0887302X211014973 Peluchette, J. V., Karl, K., and Rust, K. (2006). Dressing to impress: Beliefs and attitudes regarding workplace attire. Journal of business and psychology, 21(1), 45-63. http://doi: 10.1007/s10869-005-9022-1 Peluchette, J. V. E., and Karl, K. (2018). She’s got the look’: examining feminine and provocative dress in the workplace.” In Research handbook of diversity and careers. Edward Elgar Publishing. Rafaeli, A., Dutton, J., Harquail, C. V., and Mackie-Lewis, S. (1997). Navigating by attire: The use of dress by female administrative employees. Academy of Management Journal, 4(1), 9-45. http://doi: 10.5465/257019 Sampson, Elizabeth Clemons. 2016. Teachers’ perceptions of the effect of their attire on middleschool students' behavior and learning. Walden University. Sebastian, R. J., and Bristow, D. (2008). Formal or informal? The impact of style of dress and forms of address on business students' perceptions of professors. Journal of education for business, 83(4),196-201. http://doi: 10.3200/JOEB.83.4.196-201

27 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Shoulders, C. W., and Smith, L. (2018). Impact of teacher attire on students' views of teacher credibility, attitude homophily, and background homophily within school-based agricultural education programs. Journal of Agricultural Education, 59(2) 275-88. Sulanke, J., and Shimp, K. (2015). What works: Implementing an evidence-based nursing dress code to enhance professional image. American Nurse Today, 10(10). Thurston, J. L., Lennon, S. J., and Clayton, R. V. (1990). Influence of age, body type, fashion, and garment type on women's professional image. Home Economics Research Journal, 19(2), 139-50. http://doi: 10.1177/1077727X9001900204 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. Article Citation Hustvedt, G. & Liang, Y. (2023). What suits teachers: Professional attire and remote work. TAFCS Research Journal, 10(1), 3-27.

28 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 High-Impact Practices and Mentoring Opportunities Aubrey McKenzie Jones, Ph.D. Texas Tech University Karen L. Alexander, Ph.D., CFCS Texas Tech University Cara R. Lawson, Ph.D. Ohio State University Cynthia L. Miller, Ph.D., CFCS, CPFFE Texas Tech University Kyle L. Roberson, Ph.D. Texas Tech University Abstract Kuh’s (2008) High-Impact Educational Practices define scholarly teaching and learning practices that positively impact students. This study examined university student perceptions of mentoring and whether high-impact practices increased mentoring opportunities. The study data found most students in the sample had a positive perception of mentorship. Respondents who reported not having a mentor also had a positive perception of mentoring and stated they could have stayed on track if they had a mentor while enrolled in college. The data also found students believed highimpact practices provided greater exposure to more mentoring opportunities. Introduction Mentorship is designed to promote personal and professional development through a oneon-one mutual, committed relationship between a junior (mentee) and a senior person (mentor) (Saperstein et al., 2012). Mentorship can also be mutually beneficial for the mentor and mentee giving both support for continuing their academic and professional goals (Kiyama & Luca, 2014). High-Impact Educational Practices, defined by Kuh (2008) as scholarly teaching and

29 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 learning practices that positively impact students and can provide opportunities for individuals to interact with professionals and form mentoring relationships. In the Family and Consumer Sciences Body of Knowledge (FCS BOK), a mentor could be in an individual’s microenvironment of the human ecosystem. The FCS BOK promotes empowering individuals to be self-aware, motivated partners increasing their social capital, cultural competence, technological advancement, and maximizing their natural environments (Anderson & Nickols, 2001). The FCS BOK brings the individual and community together as an ecosystem working interdependently to achieve a larger goal. Mentorship is a key component to help satisfy human needs of individuals to meet shared goals (Nickols, 2002). Mentorship Academic leaders suggest that mentorship programs should be a part of all academic institutions as mentors can coach and guide students through the academic process by helping them overcome obstacles and being a consistent point of contact (Talbert et al., 2021). Quality mentorship can be a source of viable assistance for the faculty and students as mentoring can provide a safe space for communication and a supportive network. Students' Perceptions of Mentoring Some students consider mentorship to be the most important component of their educational training (Farkas et al., 2019). In higher education, valuable mentorship increases student and educator satisfaction. These experiences are also important for student retention in their academic programs (Steele et al., 2013). The opposite is more likely with a lack of mentorship, poor quality mentorship, and mismatched mentorship. Nickols (2002) indicated the mentorship relationship should be strong and have consistent communication, especially when sustaining the FCS profession (Nickols, 2002).

30 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 High-Impact Educational Practices Kuh’s (2008) High-Impact Educational Practices define scholarly teaching and learning practices that positively impact students. Kuh used data from the National Survey of Student Engagement to explain the benefit of these high-impact practices for all students, especially underserved students who may lack access to these practices. High-impact practices consist of first-year seminars and experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, diversity and global learning, service-learning and community service, internships, and capstone courses and projects. These practices can promote greater student outcomes as they require students to devote time and effort, which can strengthen the students' investment in the group and their university. High-impact activities can also create an opportunity for more interaction between peers and faculty, creating a space for developing an informal mentorship. The informal mentorship practice happens organically in situations such as social groups or departmental organizations (Russell & Adams, 1997). In these settings, students are surrounded by like-minded peers who may share the same or similar goals, and faculty are there to help them reach those goals. In this situation, an organic mentorship could easily form with an upperclassman or faculty member who had been working with the student throughout the program. A formal mentorship can also take place if a faculty member or peer sees a connection the student may have with a potential mentor not in the group (Russell & Adams, 1997). Methods This study used a descriptive quantitative research design with a convenience sample. Participants were recruited through an electronic university announcement system, and student

31 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 groups. Data were collected from university students using an adapted electronic survey instrument, which included a Likert-scaled survey instrument to determine the perceptions of mentoring from current university students and a numerical scale to determine student perceptions of the importance of specific mentor traits, program completion, and need satisfaction through mentorship. The survey instrument gathered self-reported demographic data for gender, race, years in their program, employment status, SES, perception of mentor traits, and basic psychological needs. Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. Instrumentation To explore whether high-impact practices were related to positive mentoring relationships, the researchers created an instrument with survey items to assess the student’s participation and perception of high-impact practices and mentoring opportunities. The survey instructions provided respondents with a definition and Kuh’s (2008) examples of high-impact practices. The instrument used a branching approach to its construction, which means questions participants answered were based on their responses to an initial question about their experience with high-impact practices. Respondents were asked if they participated in high-impact practices while enrolled at the university. If the respondents answered yes, they were asked which activity they felt made mentorship opportunities more accessible. An open-ended item was also available for respondents who may have participated in a high-impact practice that was not provided on the list. Respondents who replied they did not participate in high-impact practices were redirected to another question, which asked if the respondent would have had the opportunity to participate in high-impact practices, did they believe they would have also had more exposure to potential mentoring relationships. Respondents were also provided an optional qualitative item to provide any additional details regarding their experience and perceptions of mentorship. The

32 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 instrument was piloted with a similar group of respondents at another Texas university before its use in collecting data with the sample described below. Study Population and Survey Sample The university had a population of more than 40,000 students. The enrollment demographics are approximately 60% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 5% African American, 8% international residents, and 84% of students are Texas residents. After data cleaning the convenience sample consisted of 99 usable responses of currently enrolled university freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students. The majority of respondents were females (n = 67, 67.7%) and graduate students (n = 47, 47.5%). The average age of the respondents was 24 with a mode of 21, and the age range was 18 to 47. Demographic data is presented in Table 1. Most of the respondents (n = 80, 73.4%) reported they had a mentor while attending school. Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants Characteristics n % Gender Female 67 67.7 Male 26 26.3 Prefer not say 4 4.0 No response 2 2.0 Race/Ethnicity White 40 40.4 Asian 25 25.3 Hispanic 16 16.2 Black/African American 11 11.1 Other 5 5.1 No response 2 2.0 Education level Freshman 6 6.1 Sophomore 9 9.1 Junior 12 12.1 Senior 23 23.2

33 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Graduate 47 47.5 No response 2 2.0 Note. N = 99. Participants on average were 24 years old Study Results High-Impact Educational Practices While attending the university, 77.5% (n = 62) of respondents reported participating in high-impact practices. Respondents could select “Other” (n = 16, 20%) and provide the highimpact practices they felt benefited them most in developing a mentoring relationship. Most respondents who participated in high-impact practices selected other reported opportunities like graduate research assistant, a college ambassador program, an educator preparation program, departmental mentoring programs, university career fairs, and their religious/spiritual leader as the most beneficial high-impact practices for mentoring opportunities. First-year seminars (n = 14, 17.5%), such as orientation, were reported as the second highest-impact practice for mentoring opportunities. The respondents who reported not participating in high-impact practices (n = 18, 22.5%) felt participating in these activities would have exposed them to more mentoring opportunities (n = 11, 13.8%). Respondents were also allowed to provide additional input about their mentorship experience. Ten of 50 open-ended responses are presented below. Table 2 Participant Open-ended Responses Mentoring Positives Mentoring Negatives Autonomy a “My mentor really guided me on my current path in graduate school and helped me understand the path I truly “I have had incredibly bad mentors in the past, people who blatantly don't agree with my lifestyle, choices, or preferences and

34 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 wanted to pursue.” “Without having a mentor, I feel like I would be very behind in school and not sure what I still wanted to do in life. therefore tried to discredit me and break my career because of it” Competence b “The mentor I was thinking about is for a summer internship who has helped me prepare not only for the summer, but for life.” “My current mentor/advisor, I feel there is mutual respect there amongst colleagues. They consider my ideas and interests in specific areas of research and encourage me to follow them.” “I do not like to have a mentor because no one is perfect” Relatedness c “My mentor and I share the same spiritual beliefs and practices also. I believe that contributes to our relationship.” “My mentor has treated me like family and has been a critical supporter and motivator during my academic career.” “When one is able to connect with the “In comparing my mentorship experience at TTU in a formal program to that of my informal program at a different university for my master's degree, I can see how a formal one can be beneficial but limited as well. Sometimes our arranged meetings feel too much like meetings and not so much as peers socializing.”

35 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 right person, a mentor-mentee relationship is one of the best ways to develop one's skills and also reach desired goals.” a Autonomy: the individuals’ desire to self-govern and be in control of their activities while pursuing tasks that are reflective of their interests (Deci & Ryan, 2000). b Competence: efficacy for autonomously selected goals or areas of growth (Ryan & Deci, 2020) c Relatedness: the sense of being cared for and connected with others (La Guardia et al., 2000). The figure below provides a word cloud of frequently used terms within the responses. Students often used terms such as helpful, encouraging, relationship, and guide when expressing their mentoring experiences. This feedback allowed the students to share their stories and voice their experiences. This may also provide future researchers with ideas of what to further explore based on student feedback. The responses were largely positive, with feedback such as “My mentor was a big help in guiding me through my first semester in college” and “They've helped me in all aspects of life.” Figure 1

36 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Discussion Review of Findings This study found that most students believed high-impact practices provide greater exposure to mentoring opportunities. Several students provided feedback specific to high-impact practices and their benefits, such as being mentored by mentors in their respective fields or departments or gaining mentors from involvement in campus organizations. These findings support those of Ricks and Van Gyn (1997), whose research found mentorship provided to college students by professionals in their prospective field could yield greater academic and career success. Also, most of the students who reported not participating in high-impact practices stated they felt if they did, they believed it would have provided them with more mentorship exposure. The feedback from the results is consistent with research by Farkas et al. (2019), who found that mentoring is an important factor in education, and Steele et al. (2013), who found that mentorship increases student satisfaction in their respective program. Some respondents reported negative experiences, particularly in formal mentoring, expressing experiences such as “I think I just have a bad match with my mentor. I can tell they care about me and wish me well, but the way they convey their care sometimes comes off as rude in my opinion. It is likely just the style of mentorship that is causing the distance between us.” Similarly, Limeri et al. (2017) suggest the pairing of mentor and mentee is critical to the success of the mentoring relationship. If the mentee and mentor develop a disconnect in their relationship, the experience may be seen as less valuable (Brodeur et al., 2017). Implications for Professional Practice

37 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Programs matching mentees and mentors should consider finding opportunities for informal meetings before establishing formal pairing. High-impact practices can create these meeting opportunities for mentees to form relationships with professionals who may become their mentors. The researcher also recommends that mentees be paired with mentors from the same or related fields, as mentees found it beneficial to have someone from their field as a guide. Mentors in the respective field of the mentee can provide the mentee with insight on how to navigate the profession and connect them with additional professionals within the field. This implication also supports the findings of Kiyama & Luca (2014), who found that pairing compatible individuals within the same profession led to a mutually beneficial relationship. Moreover, it aligns with study results from the 2002 AAFCS professionals survey, which found that FCS professionals were more likely to remain in the field if they had mentoring opportunities (Robert, 2016). In the field of FCS, this research can be used as a start to conduct more mentoring studies in relation to the FCS BOK. Specifically, how mentoring opportunities aid the fulfillment of the FCS BOK. Future Research Presently, there are limited studies that explore mentoring and the FCS BOK. Anderson & Nickols (2001) suggest that mentoring is important to the future of FCS and professionals in the field. FCS researchers could begin studies specifically exploring quality mentorship for FCS students and FCS professionals. Quality mentoring may provide new FCS professionals with the support they need to remain in the field and better understand their role in FCS and how it relates to the Body of Knowledge. FCS educators could provide mentoring opportunities for incoming students and research their mentoring experiences from their first year to the completion of their program. Implementing consistent inclusive high-impact practices can provide informal

38 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 opportunities for students and professionals to build strong mutually beneficial mentoring relationships. Study Limitations The first limitation of this exploratory study was COVID-19 protocols, leading the researchers to use a convenience sample. The convenience sample was comprised only of university students, and the respondents were primarily female. The decision not to collect data on the student's field of study was also a limitation, and future studies should ask a question in the demographics that would allow respondents to report their college and/or major. Recruitment was entirely online. This recruitment method could have limited the study participation. Many individuals may have been experiencing technology burnout due to COVID-19 protocols, causing more technological mandates and increasing the desire for more in-person interaction. Conclusion This study explored student perceptions of mentorship and the relevance of high-impact practices and mentoring opportunities. Most students indicated participating in high-impact practices exposed them to more mentoring opportunities. FCS professionals have suggested that mentoring is at the heart of the profession and is a key role in the retention of young FCS professionals and college students (Roberts, 2016; Anderson, & Nickols, 2001). The creation of quality mentoring programs in the field of FCS can help achieve retention and career satisfaction goals. Moreover, implementing high-impact practices for FCS professionals can provide more mentoring opportunities. Students with positive mentoring experiences express their mentors as people they respect and admire and who help them navigate life as students and professionals. These experiences relate to the cross-cutting themes and integrative elements of the FCS BOK as

39 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 these positive mentoring relationships enhance the student’s ecosystem through shared connections and access to resources the mentor provides. Mentoring programs are a growing interest in academia and various professional settings to support budding students and professionals. The findings from this study can be expanded on to help promote and build stronger mentoring opportunities through high-impact practices that benefit both the mentee and mentor to enhance organizational success. References Anderson, C. L., & Nickols, S. Y. (2001). The essence of family & consumer sciences: State of the profession at the dawn of the 21st century. Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, (37) 3, 266-283 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The" what" and" why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. Farkas, A. H., Bonifacino, E., Turner, R., Tilstra, S. A., & Corbelli, J. A. (2019). Mentorship of women in academic medicine: a systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34(7), 1322-1329. Kiyama, J. M., & Luca, S. G. (2014). Structured opportunities: Exploring the social and academic benefits for peer mentors in retention programs. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 15(4), 489-514. Kuh, G. D. (2008). Excerpt from high-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities, 14(3), 28-29. La Guardia, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Within-person variation in security of attachment: A self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 367-384. Limeri, L. B., Asif, M. Z., & Dolan, E. L. (2019). Volunteered or voluntold? The motivations and perceived outcomes of graduate and postdoctoral mentors of undergraduate researchers. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 18(2), ar13. Nickols, S. Y. (2002). Resiliency: A key to the future of AAFCS. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences, 94(3), 1. Ricks, F., & Van Gyn, G. (1997). Mentoring relationships as learning opportunities. Journal of Cooperative Education, 32(3), 31-55. Roberts, L. (2016) The essence of family & consumer sciences: State of the profession at the dawn of the 21st century. American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences. https://silo.tips/download/the-essence-of-family-consumer-sciences Russell, J. E. A., & Adams, D. M. (1997). The changing nature of mentoring in organizations: An introduction to the special issue on mentoring in organizations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51, 1-14.

40 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. Saperstein, A. K., Viera, A. J., & Firnhaber, G. C. (2012). Mentorship and job satisfaction among Navy family physicians. Military Medicine, 177(8), 883–888. https://doi.org/10.7205/milmed-d-11-00362 Steele, M. M., Fisman, S., & Davidson, B. (2013). Mentoring and role models in recruitment and retention: a study of junior medical faculty perceptions. Medical Teacher, 35(5), e1130- e1138. Talbert, P. Y., Perry, G., Ricks-Santi, L., Soto de Laurido, L. E., Shaheen, M., Seto, T., ... & Rubio, D. M. (2021). Challenges and Strategies of Successful Mentoring: The Perspective of LEADS Scholars and Mentors from Minority Serving Institutions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 6155. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. Article Citation Jones, A. M., Alexander, K. L., Lawson, C. R., Miller, C. L., Roberson, K. L. (2023). HighImpact practices and mentoring opportunities. TAFCS Research Journal, 10(1), 28-40.

41 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood: and What That Means for the Rest of Us. By Jean M. Twenge: A Book Review. Melanie D. Schmitt, Ph.D. Texas Tech University Abstract This book review of Jean M. Twenge’s 2017 book titled iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood: and What That Means for the Rest of Us. The book emphasizes ten trends shaping the iGen generation, found by looking at four American databases that have been collecting data for decades, as well as personal interviews and surveys of current youth. Introduction to iGen In 2017, Jean Twenge authored a book to understand generational differences, focusing on the iGen comprehensively. Twenge's work is based on extensive research spanning several years, offering valuable insights into the distinctive trends that set this generation apart from its predecessors. The iGen encompasses today's middle and high school students, college attendees, and young professionals in the workforce. We must comprehend their unique characteristics and requirements to provide meaningful support in their life journey. Twenge's book effectively illuminates the attributes and needs of this generation. Twenge is no novice to generational studies—having involvement in these studies for more than twenty-five years. Twenge (2017) mentions growing accustomed to line graphs of trends that looked like hills slowly growing into peaks—until around 2012 when she noticed significant, abrupt shifts in the graphs—specifically in those displaying teens’ behaviors and

42 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 emotional states. Twenge (2017) also recognized that 2011-2012 was when most Americans started owning smartphones. Such a change in generational shifts has many implications, and all need to understand why they have occurred. This review of Twenge’s (2017) book will include defining the generation written about, summarizing the key elements of Twenge’s research and study, and finally, highlighting the trends Twenge (2017) found for the iGen based upon her research methodology. iGen Defined Today’s adolescents and young adults are labeled by many names—Homelanders, postMillennials, Gen Z, and iGen. Gen Z and iGen seem to be the most common labels. For this book review, generational differences will be referenced according to Jean Twenge’s book iGen, as seen in Figure 1. (Age ranges on the figure are reflected as of 2023.) Figure 1 Generational Divides Most previous generations are similar in time spans, and many have meaningful cutoffs based on critical political, economic, and social factors that define their years. Twenge’s (2017)

43 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 study focuses on and refers to the term “iGen,” which includes those born between 1995-2012. The starting year of this generation is significant in that 1995 was when the internet was commercialized (Twenge, 2017). As stated in her book, Twenge (2017) writes, “Born in 1995 and later, they grew up with cell phones, had an Instagram page before they started high school, and do not remember a time before the Internet” (p. 2). All of the technological advances—the television era of the Baby Boomers, the computer revolution of Generation X, and the internet explosion, social media, constant connectivity, on-demand entertainment, and communications for the Millennials—have been accessible to iGen. In addition, the oldest among them experienced the introduction of the iPhone at the age of ten. Mobile devices, Wi-Fi, and highbandwidth cell service have saturated their teen years. Unlike other generations that have had to adapt to advances and changes, iGen automatically assumes social media, constant connectivity, and on-demand entertainment with no need for adaptation (Twenge, 2017). iGen Characteristics (Twenge Study) Jean Twenge (2017), a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has completed generational studies for many years. For her book, iGen, Twenge (2017) used four nationally representative databases that have been collecting data in America for decades. The first database, Monitoring the Future (MtF), is funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted by the University of Michigan. The survey has asked high school seniors more than a thousand questions yearly since 1976 and eighth and tenth graders since 1991. The second database, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), has been administered to high school students by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 1991. Third, the American Freshman (A.F.) Survey, administered by the Higher

44 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 Education Research Institute, has questioned those entering four-year post-secondary institutions since 1966. Lastly, the General Social Survey (GSS) has examined adults 18 and older since 1972. The National Science Foundation funds the GSS and was created and currently run by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. By looking at the survey information from these four databases, Twenge (2017) could see evidence of each generation’s views about themselves at the same point in time, rather than relying on older generations reflecting on a time gone by. To further study iGen beyond the database information, Twenge (2017) interviewed twenty-three iGen’ers in person or by phone for up to two hours. Participants were questioned on their thoughts about pop culture, teen social life, current events, campus controversies, and smartphones. In addition, Twenge (2017) posted online interview questions on sites such as Amazon’s MTurk Requestor, surveyed 250 students at San Diego State University, where she works, and discussed various issues as they came while teaching her undergraduate psychology classes. Her reasoning for additional methods was to humanize the young people behind the data, not replace the survey data (Twenge, 2017). Using this qualitative data and the national surveys’ data, Twenge generated ten significant trends shaping the iGen generation, which will be highlighted next in this review. Trend 1: In No Hurry—Extension of Childhood into Adolescence. The first trend is In No Hurry: Extension of Childhood into Adolescence. Through her research, Twenge (2017) found a trend that the adolescent period in America has extended to later periods than in previous generations across all demographics. In fact, childhood has actually lengthened, causing the teenage period to happen later—as if adolescence is now an extension of

45 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 childhood rather than the beginning of adulthood. Today’s youth have remained more dependent on parents or guardians for a more extended time. Twenge (2017) discovered many characteristics that reiterate this extension of dependence. For example, she found that iGen’ers are less likely to go out without parents, less likely to date, less likely to drive, and less likely to manage their own money. According to Twenge (2017), life history theory provides some insights as to why this generation seems more likely to do adult things more slowly. Life history theory argues that “how fast teens grow up depends on where and when they are raised” (Twenge, 2017, p. 24). The slow life strategy observed in today's youth, characterized by a delayed transition to adult activities, is associated with environments where families have fewer children and invest more time and effort in each child, a pattern consistent with the current situation in the United States (Twenge, 2017). Contrary to previous generations, iGen’ers do not eagerly anticipate adulthood. When Twenge (2017) interviewed twenty iGen’ers on why being a child was better than being an adult, almost all stated that being an adult involved too much responsibility—in essence, this generation is not enthusiastic about “adulting.” Trend 2: Internet—How Much Time They Are Really Spending on Their Phones—And What That Has Replaced. The second trend is the Internet: How Much Time They Are Really Spending on Their Phones and What That Has Replaced. The next trend Twenge (2017) discussed was technology usage among youth and how it is changing them. If today’s youth spend less time working, doing homework, and going out, what are they doing? Look no further than to the devices in their

46 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 hands. They have spent their formative years glued to screens, which both prolonged their childhood and isolated them from real-life social interactions. For most in this generation, a cell phone is the last thing an iGen’er looks at before going to bed and the first thing they look at when they wake up—always within an arm’s reach. They spend nearly all their leisure activities on media, multitasking with multiple technological sources at a time. Social media preference is higher among females, while males lean toward online gaming (Twenge, 2017). Social media has existed for a while, with the first sites premiering as early as 1997. Twenge (2017) highlighted the growing trend on a larger scale among all genders and demographics after Facebook opened for all individuals over the age of 13 in 2006. Between 2008 and 2015, the Monitoring the Future survey reported social media sites going from being a daily activity for half of the teens surveyed to almost all (Twenge, 2017). Online gaming has become a popular form of socialization for many males. Instead of going out or interacting face-to-face, many prefer to interact with others through gaming. Gaming has become what statisticians call a bimodal distribution—some teens do not do it at all, and others do it a lot (Twenge, 2017). Twenge mentioned the 2015 statistics for online gaming participation. Back then, 27% of teens said they played less than an hour a week, but 9% said they played more than 40 hours a week—the time commitment of a full-time job (Twenge, 2017). Some even play so much that they eventually have to cut themselves off because of the addiction. Overall, with as much time as youth spend online, they spend less time doing things other generations do to communicate and entertain themselves. This generation has seen a decline in

47 TAFCS Research Journal 10(1), 2023 the use of print media (Twenge, 2017). Twenge (2017) attributed this to the fact that books are not fast enough for a generation raised to click on the next link or scroll to the next page within seconds. Twenge (2017) mentioned a study that installed a program on college students’ laptops and took a screenshot every five seconds. Researchers in this study found that students switched between tasks every 19 seconds on average, and more than 75% of the students’ computer windows were open for less than one minute (Twenge, 2017). With shorter attention spans and less reading for pleasure, youth are now showing a decline in their SAT scores, especially in reading and writing sections (Twenge, 2017). This factor has led to further changes in society. As a response to these iGen characteristics, in their marketing techniques, companies are shortening the length of texts and making the language more conversational while also lowering the reading level (Twenge, 2017). Trend 3: In-Person No More—Decline of In-Person Social Interaction. The third trend is In-Person No More: Decline of In-Person Social Interaction. Twenge (2017) found a decline in in-person social interaction. As mentioned, iGen’ers have spent their formative years glued to screens, isolating them from real-life social interactions. iGen tends to spend less time with others in person. The number of teens who spend time with friends daily has been cut in half in the past 15 years, resulting in an average of seven hours less per week (Twenge, 2017). This decline coincided with the popularity of smartphones and the rise of social media, providing more online avenues for socializing, often preferred over face-toface interactions. Social skills take work and practice, just like any other skill development. Twenge (2017) highlighted that iGen'ers are less actively practicing in-person social skills than previous