Thesis advisor: Ted Youn / This study is about access for low-income students at an elite boarding school. As "feeder schools" to elite colleges and universities, elite boarding schools play a significant role in determining which students will be in the upper class in America; however, little is known about the history of low-income students at these schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the history of access at one elite boarding school through the frameworks of organizational saga and institutional theory to enhance understanding of how the concepts of access and opportunity at elite institutions have developed over time. Employing a historical, organizational case study approach, this study uses archival research, document review, and interviews with school leaders to construct a developmental history of Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts. Findings from data collection and analysis revealed a profound organizational saga oriented towards access that has guided Phillips Academy through its development. Phillips Academy's powerful organizational saga of access is embraced by senior leaders, faculty, and alumni, and has deepened their commitment to the historical traditions of the institution. This organizational saga allowed the school to survive and thrive, despite major changes in its organizational field over the last century. By fostering deep commitment among multiple actors throughout the institution's history, Phillips Academy's organizational saga has become a dominant influence in its organizational decision-making. This research extends Burton Clark's (1970) concept of organizational saga to the concept of organizational fields, and explores the interaction of a strong organizational saga with an institution's organizational field. It contributes to the literature on elite boarding schools, and enriches that of elite colleges and universities by better understanding their historic "feeder schools." It also contributes to our understanding of social production, reproduction, and mobility in the United States. Implications for theory and elite boarding schools, colleges, and universities are discussed, along with calls for further research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

An individual’s years in college are a time of trial and transformation. This dissertation examined college students’ self-created accounts of their time in college in order to identify students’ significant meaning-making activities during those years. Four primary areas of student life were investigated: the rules that students were expected to adhere to, the ways in which students and their class cohorts antagonized one another, hazing, and class competitions. A comparative historical approach was used to analyze student-created accounts of college life in the years 1871-1941. Archival research at a geographically diverse sample of fourteen colleges and universities provided primary source materials created by students, including correspondence, diaries, photographs, and scrapbooks. Collectively, these sources affirm that students derived their significant meaning-making experiences from their extracurricular activities. An additional dimension of the study proposed an extension of the work of sociologist Burton Clark on organizational sagas. An analysis of students’ self-reported experiences suggest that Clark’s notion of organizational sagas extends beyond the bounds of discrete institutions, reaching down to the level of individuals and upward to college students as a collective entity.

No description available.

<p>Utgangspunktet for denne avhandlingen er at folk deler kunnskap og erfaring gjennom å fortelle historier til hverandre. Kjernematerialet i avhandlingen består av samtaler / dybdeintervjuer med utvalgte ansatte og ledere på ulike nivåer i finanskonsernet Gjensidige NORs organisasjon. De fortellingene det fokuseres på handler om gjennomføring av planlagte endringer i organisasjonen.</p><p>Resultatene i avhandlingen handler om at de konkrete erfaringene spres og gir opphav til kollektive fortolknings-rammer for hvordan en forstår endringsprosesser. Slik viser avhandlingen hvordan endringsprosessene fra fortida gir grunnlag for folks forventninger og handlinger i forhold til nye endringer som skal gjennomføres. </p><p>En av konklusjonene i arbeidet er at det vil være en fordel å ta i bruk mer av den kunnskapen som organisasjons-medlemmene besitter om endringsarbeid. Dette handler bl.a. om å lære av erfaring. En bredere kunnskapsinnhenting og involvering vil dessuten forankre prosesser og beslutninger (gi eierskap) – på en måte som øker muligheten for at gjennomføringen av endringsprosjekter lykkes. </p>

Utgangspunktet for denne avhandlingen er at folk deler kunnskap og erfaring gjennom å fortelle historier til hverandre. Kjernematerialet i avhandlingen består av samtaler / dybdeintervjuer med utvalgte ansatte og ledere på ulike nivåer i finanskonsernet Gjensidige NORs organisasjon. De fortellingene det fokuseres på handler om gjennomføring av planlagte endringer i organisasjonen. Resultatene i avhandlingen handler om at de konkrete erfaringene spres og gir opphav til kollektive fortolknings-rammer for hvordan en forstår endringsprosesser. Slik viser avhandlingen hvordan endringsprosessene fra fortida gir grunnlag for folks forventninger og handlinger i forhold til nye endringer som skal gjennomføres. En av konklusjonene i arbeidet er at det vil være en fordel å ta i bruk mer av den kunnskapen som organisasjons-medlemmene besitter om endringsarbeid. Dette handler bl.a. om å lære av erfaring. En bredere kunnskapsinnhenting og involvering vil dessuten forankre prosesser og beslutninger (gi eierskap) – på en måte som øker muligheten for at gjennomføringen av endringsprosjekter lykkes.