Date of Award

2025

Degree Name

PhD Education for Social Justice

Dissertation Committee

Sarina Chugani Molina, EdD, Chair; Emily Reimer-Barry, PhD, Member

Keywords

Catholic social teaching, Catholic higher education, undergraduate learning, student engagement, social justice, Catholic identity, faith-based education, institutional mission, mission integration

Abstract

Since the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, Catholic higher education (CHE) has wrestled with its Catholic identity in a changing landscape and changing world (Gallin, 1996, 2000; Gleason, 1995; Morey & Piderit, 2006). A big component of this identity-recognition process is the continued evolution and inclusion of Catholic social teaching (CST) in the educational approach of CHE. Despite its importance, much evidence has suggested CST is underwhelmingly present in the education of contemporary CHE (Beyer, 2021; Galligan-Stierle, 2014; Hudson et al., 2018; Nickerson & Dammer, 2018; Reed-Bouley, 2016; Sullivan & Pagnucco, 2014; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB], 2011; Whitmore, 2002). This single-instrument qualitative case study sought to understand how and where undergraduate students with at least 4th-year status learn about CST at a medium-size Catholic university in Southern California called West Coast Catholic University (WCCU), both in the classroom and through extra/cocurricular involvements, as well as to look at the perspectives of these students regarding the integration of CST at the university. This was done by answering the following research questions: (a) How do undergraduate students with at least 4th-year status at a medium-size Catholic university articulate their understanding of Catholic social teaching? (b) How and where do undergraduate students with at least 4th-year status at a medium-size Catholic university learn about Catholic social teaching, if at all, during their time in college? (c) What are the perspectives of undergraduate students with at least 4th-year status at a medium-size Catholic university regarding the integration of Catholic social teaching at the university? Data for this study was collected by distributing an open-ended questionnaire and conducting semistructured interviews. Fifty-two undergraduate students with at least 4th-year status filled out the questionnaire, and 11 of those students were interviewed. The findings revealed that students at WCCU largely had minimal knowledge of CST, they learned about CST in sporadic ways and in optional spaces, there was a perceived limited institutional emphasis of CST at WCCU, and there was the hope to prioritize and integrate CST more at the university. The findings highlighted that as Catholic colleges and universities continue to strengthen their identity in an evolving CHE environment, a focus on the teaching and embodiment of CST will need to be prioritized and embedded more fully in its educational approach.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Learning and Teaching

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