ABSTRACT
The institutional culture may either reinforce preexisting beliefs and attitudes, strengthening the status quo, or it may address the issues more directly in constructive ways that may help reduce student resistance. To date, most research on student resistance has focused on the behaviors of students and faculty in the classroom. The institutional context, including values, policies, practices, and the beliefs and behaviors of faculty and administrators, shapes the environment in which students learn and in which student resistance emerges. This chapter is not an exhaustive assessment of the ways that institutional culture influences student resistance for good or ill; our goal is to illuminate the influence of institutional culture with some specific examples that can serve as entry points for students, faculty, and administrators to begin considering these issues. The most significant result of a greater focus on research may be a growing faculty disengagement from teaching, with a subsequent increase in student disengagement.
