ABSTRACT
This chapter reports findings from a series of analyses of the self-evolution assessments that mapped students’ trajectories toward (or away from) becoming self-authoring each year. These analyses focused on the direction of change (whether it reflected Development, Stasis, or Regression) for the three time intervals in the study (first to second year, second to third year, and third to fourth year). This resulted in the identification of four trajectories (Development, Stasis, Regression, and Fluctuating), each with its own set of variability patterns. The prevalence of the trajectories and their variability patterns are reported, both overall and by the race/ethnicity and gender subgroups. The development trajectory was by far the largest of the trajectories and included half to two-thirds of women and students from almost all race/ethnicity groups. However, Consistent Development was rare, and men were more likely than women to experience Regression in one or more intervals. Descriptions of students’ self-evolution journeys using narrative examples are also provided and illustrate the ebb and flow of development observed in the data. Authors conclude with their reflections and insights from these data about the stability and variability in self-evolution during college.
