Overview

Draws attention to the importance of support networks for students as they make, keep, and lose friends throughout college and beyond. We're all familiar with the sentiment that ""college is the best time of your life."" Along with a newfound sense of freedom, students have a unique opportunity to forge lifelong friendships at a point in life when friendship is particularly important. Why is it, then, that so many college students are falling victim to what the US Surgeon General termed an ""epidemic of loneliness and isolation""? How do different aspects of college life help or hinder students' ability to form deep connections? In Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends: How Campuses Shape College Students' Networks, sociologist Janice M. McCabe shows that the way a college is structured—whether students live in dorms or commute, study abroad or stay close to campus, have plentiful common areas for clubs to meet or not—can either encourage or hinder the making of meaningful friendships. Based on interviews with 95 students on three distinct campuses—a small private college (Dartmouth College), a large public university (University of New Hampshire), and a non-residential community college (Manchester Community College)—McCabe captures a wide range of experiences and discovers how features of the campuses make it easier or harder for students to make and keep friends. She shows how and why, across all three institutions, some students thrive in deep and lasting friendships with their peers. As McCabe's research reveals, we need to look at the structures of students' networks, the institutions they attend, and the importance of their identities in these places if we are to truly uncover and address the loneliness epidemic facing today's young adults.

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9780226844176

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Reviews

""In an era of growing concern about an epidemic of loneliness among younger Americans, as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned, McCabe’s clearly written new book should find a ready audience. Comparing friendship networks among students at an elite private institution, a state university, and a community college, she shows how personal identity, network patterns, and institutional differences all contribute to (or inhibit) 'meaningful friendships' that enhance college students’ academic success and personal happiness. Especially insightful is Professor McCabe’s practical advice for students, their supporters (such as parents), and colleges, as well as other researchers."" -- Robert D. Putnam, author of 'The Upswing: How Americans Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again'

""In an era of growing concern about an epidemic of loneliness among younger Americans, as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned, McCabe’s clearly written new book should find a ready audience. Comparing friendship networks among students at an elite private institution, a state university, and a community college, she shows how personal identity, network patterns, and institutional differences all contribute to (or inhibit) 'meaningful friendships' that enhance college students’ academic success and personal happiness. Especially insightful is Professor McCabe’s practical advice for students, their supporters (such as parents), and colleges, as well as other researchers."" -- Robert D. Putnam, author of 'The Upswing: How Americans Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again' ""In the best tradition of sociological analysis, McCabe shows how the organization of college life in three distinct colleges helps, or impedes, students from making and keeping friends. It is surprising to learn how students are “lonely” at times, and the ways in which they regroup to make friends. The book will be of interest to a broad audience, including college administrators, college students, and social scientists. Recommended!""   -- Annette Lareau, author of 'Listening to People: A Practical Guide to Interviewing, Participant Observation, Data Analysis, and Writing It All Up' ""McCabe’s Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends is an essential resource for anyone looking to understand how college friendship networks operate. McCabe’s book is meticulously researched, breathtakingly thorough, and deeply compassionate. If you're attending college, have a loved one enrolled in higher education, or work with young adults in the education space, Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends is a must-read.”  -- Anna Goldfarb, author of 'Modern Friendship: How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections'

Author Information

Janice M. McCabe is associate professor of sociology at Dartmouth College and the Allen House Professor. She is the current president of the Sociology of Education Association and the author of Connecting in College: How Networks Matter for Academic and Social Success, also published by the University of Chicago Press.   

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