Introduction to the Series: A Look Back at Influential Books in Student Development

Over the past 60 years, the field of student affairs and specifically the subdiscipline of college student development has experienced significant growth and advancement. As societal norms, personal values, attitudes and beliefs toward others, and our understanding of who can and should attend college have shifted, the practice of student affairs has similarly advanced with a deeper emphasis on student development. These paradigmatic changes reflect the influence of John Dewey (1916) and the vision of Esther Lloyd-Jones (1934) that postsecondary education extends beyond the classroom—influence that can be cultivated and enhanced by student affairs educators.

Reflecting on the influential scholarship that has shaped the field, I contemplated the prominent books on which current work is built and that continue to influence our work. As associate editor for book reviews, I was drawn to book-length considerations of college student development that have become exemplars—scholarship that is recognizable in citation counts, evident in graduate curriculum, and visible at conferences as well as campus programs, initiatives, and practices. As John Braxton described in his rereview of Tinto’s work in this issue, these are works that have attained a “paradigmatic status” by attaining consensus among scholars. Editor Debora Liddell described these works as having “stood the test of time” by becoming scholarship “upon whose shoulders much of our work rests.” Would we have scholarship of intersectionality (Torres, Jones, & Renn, 2009) without first having scholarship of identity development (Erikson, 1968)?

The past six decades have yielded some tremendously influential books that have advanced the scholarship and practice of student affairs work. As I reflected on which to revisit, an initial question framed my thinking: What are the most influential and enduring books related to student development? As a graduate faculty advisor and mentor, I also had this related question in mind: What books should all professionals know? Another important consideration was continued relevancy. For example, many students recognize the names Astin, Chickering, Gilligan, and Tinto, but what makes their work enduring? Perhaps more importantly, is their work applicable today? How might they be framed or understood better in a contemporary context?

Months of careful consideration resulted in a list of six books matched to six scholars charged with the challenging task of rereading and reconsidering legacy, rigor, and relevancy. The result is a revisit of fundamental texts by contemporary scholars representing a diversity of views and perspectives, one in each 2019 issue (along with reviews of recent books). Each reviewer was asked to provide a description of the work, to consider its initial and enduring value, to critique the work, to consider its continued influence, and to describe its place today as a fundamental text for the field. We hope that readers find these revisits valuable and look forward to the discussion we hope they engender.