Investigating Ivy

This qualitative study examined how race and class shaped the college choice process and collegiate experiences of Black undergraduates attending Ivy League Institutions. Findings revealed that although social class did not play a significant role in participants’ college choice process, robust financial aid packaging significantly impacted their decision to attend a highly selective university. Racial identity was largely viewed by participants as a vehicle to admit more Black Immigrant students than Black Native students in order to achieve institutional diversity/affirmative action goals. Prevalent racialized incidents and institutional racism shaped participants’ collegiate experiences. The findings of this study are expected to have implications for minority recruitment, college choice, access and equity, as well as higher education diversity initiatives.

Accountability and (In)Congruence in a No-Excuses School College-Going Culture

This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students’ worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the transmission of dominant cultural resources. Alignment between a student’s worldview and the school’s approach mediated their ability to draw on their full range of resources to participate in the college choice process and forge postsecondary trajectories they believed in. These findings foreshadow the potential impacts of “College for All” accountability structures and underscore the importance of cultural congruence in college-going cultures.

Exploring Rural Engineering Students’ College-Choice Process at Two Land-Grant Universities

This qualitative case study examines the college choice decisions of rural students enrolled in engineering majors to understand what conditions and experiences led rural students to pursue engineering at their institution. We found four themes that help illuminate rural engineering students’ college choice journeys (1) The Inextricable Nature of College, Major, and Career Choice (2) “The Smart Person Thing to Do:” The Power of Prestige, (3) “Are You Sure You Don’t Want to Change your Major?” Dissonance Between Aspirations and Expectations, and (4) School and Community as Crucial Resources in College and Major Exploration. These findings have implications for those working with rural high school students seeking engineering degrees and admissions processes at four-year colleges and universities.

The College Choice Process of African American and Hispanic Women

Studies examining access and college participation have generally focused on racial and ethnic minorities as a group. This study qualitatively examined the college choice process for African American and Hispanic females. Through the voices of these women, three major themes that support their decision to attend college were identified. All study participants were from a single, case study large Southwestern university.