While most college professors to do little to encourage spiritual engagement among their students, a recent study indicates the students are highly interested in gaining such opportunities.
The report, released Nov. 21 by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA, found that more than half of college students surveyed last spring said integrating spiritually into their lives is “very important” or “essential.”
Seventy-seven percent agreed that humans are spiritual beings, and 71 percent said they find religion to be personally helpful.
Meanwhile, just 8 percent of students reported that their professors frequently encourage discussions of religious or spiritual matters. Sixty-two percent said their professors never encourage such discussions.
“Higher education needs to explore how well it’s meeting the great traditions at the core of a liberal arts education, grounded in the maxim, ‘know thyself,’” UCLA professor Alexander W. Astin, director of the HERI and leader of the study, said. “They survey shows that students have deeply felt values and interests in spirituality and religion, but their academic work and campus programs seem to be divorced from it,” he said.
Ideas in class
Only 39 percent of students said their religious or spiritual beliefs have been strengthened by “new idea encountered in class,” and 53 percent reported that the classroom has had no impact.
Fifty-five percent were satisfied with “opportunities for religious and spiritual development” provided by their college experience.
Of the students who were questioned, 77 percent said they pray, 70 percent said they attended a religious service in the past year and 78 percent said they discuss religion or spirituality with their friends.
(BP)
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