A Mediation Analysis of Spirituality: Wellbeing and Academic Performance in first-Generation and Low-income College Students

Mental health and attainment gaps comprise crises on university campuses, especially for first-generation and low-income students. Despite the heritage of spirituality and religious foundations of America’s colleges, current norms have rendered candid discussions of spirituality to be mostly nonexistent. Despite literature linking spirituality with psychological wellbeing, known is little as to what relationship spirituality has with psychological wellbeing and academic performance, particularly among first-generation and low-income students. This study uses a cross-sectional survey design and occurred a public, regional, Midwestern institution. Quantitative analysis found a relationship between psychological wellbeing and academic performance in specific circumstances, and an indirect effect between spirituality and academic performance in the presence of psychological wellbeing. These data presents implications for practitioners.

More Than Just Hard Work: Educational Policies to Facilitate Economic Mobility

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing class-based inequities in education and as a result highlighted the role of structural supports (e.g., food, stable housing, income) promoting economic opportunity. Although social class mobility is often attributed to perceptions of hard work, science does not support these dominant narratives. Instead, access to quality education and structural supports correlate with economic uplift. By eliminating structural barriers to low-income college students’ degree completion and coordinating efforts to assist low-income students, policymakers can restore the promise of economic mobility through education. This article focuses on the psychological and behavioral science that should inform higher education policy. As the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, a structure-based, scientific approach to facilitate equal opportunity in higher education is vital to spurring greater economic mobility and avoiding further entrenchment of economic inequalities.

Affordable education with a little help from the library

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, creation and outcome of a pilot project to provide additional course reserve materials to students. The goals of the project include off-setting the rising costs of higher education and providing equitable access to materials. Design/methodology/approach This case study describes the process of library staff co-creating a workflow to efficiently identify, order and process print and electronic books for 100 and 200 level courses at a small, private university. The project was influenced by an exploration of library services in the context of library ethics. The authors evaluate the impact of the project and determine continued need after a two-year pilot. Findings This paper demonstrates the usefulness of the course reserves service in providing accessible and cost-effective resources. Increased usage of course reserve materials by students, along with a reduction in money spent over time by the library to support the service, has resulted in a program that is deemed viable to continue and potentially expand. Social implications This paper seeks to address the added challenges often placed on low-income college students in accessing, paying for and using assigned course materials. Libraries can use course reserves to enhance student success by providing them with an alternate to purchasing course materials. Originality/value The project addresses constraints of cost, staff time and cross-departmental workflows in managing a course reserves program at a small university and provides a template for other libraries to use.

The Socialization and Retention of Low-Income College Students: The Impact of a Wrap-Around Intervention

The Strategic Undergraduate STEM Talent Acceleration INitiative (SUSTAIN) provided a coherent ecosystem of academic, social, and career support services designed for a diverse cohort of high-achieving, low-income STEM students during their first year of undergraduate study. Findings are discussed in terms of the efficacy of the program interventions to enhance students’ socialization and retention within the STEM community. Results indicate that participants perceived the interventions to have helped them adjust to college life and develop skills in understanding science and the scientific process. Which in turn, participants reported, helped them to succeed in their STEM courses and visualize themselves as part of the larger STEM community. The participants rated STEM faculty mentoring, research experience and community building as more helpful than other interventions. Our findings will aid researchers to better understand how SUSTAIN interventions influence students’ socialization into the STEM community and provide valuable insight to guide policymakers in shaping future programs that are successful in retaining diverse students in STEM fields.

Recognizing the Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility

This chapter describes the ethical costs of upward mobility and presents an argument for why they are different from other costs that strivers face on their path. It argues that understanding the nature of the ethical goods move people well beyond the cost-benefit analysis that might be appropriate when thinking about money, time, or effort. The ethical costs of upward mobility are particular and not easily offset. Consequently, loss is felt keenly by those who succeed even if they ultimately have much to gain from the sacrifices they have made. The chapter emphasizes how people who are concerned with the challenges faced by first-generation and low-income college students often fail to appreciate the significance of the potential ethical costs that strivers encounter in pursuing a better life for themselves.

Return on What Investment? The Behavioral Economics of Student Financial Aid

Each year, the federal government offers billions of dollars in need-based grant aid and loan subsidies to low-income college students. Concern is growing, however, around several system-wide problems that persist despite these federal investments: that many low-income students either 1) fail to take advantage of available aid; 2) are accepted to college but do not enroll; or 3) enroll but end up dropping out before graduating. While each of these decisions is informed by many factors, economists have identified program complexity and student behavioral bias as key variables—in other words, real humans do not always make the rational financial calculations policymakers expect of them when designing aid programs. This article reviews existing research on behavioral economics and student financial aid, examines access and completion barriers through a behavioral lens, and evaluates policy vehicles aimed to reverse students’ behavioral biases.

Using Photovoice to Bring Career into a New Focus for First-Generation College Students

This study examines how first-generation, low-income college students make meaning of their career development process during their first year of college. Photovoice was employed to collect visual data and accompanying narrative texts providing a rich data set created by students during their transition to college. Four findings emerged from this participatory action method where students captured important aspects of their career development process: (a) extrinsic and intrinsic motivators, (b) struggles, (c) agent of change, and (d) envisioning the future. This study deepens our understanding of how the intersection of students’ individual identities, contexts, and motivations can inform praxis and allow them translate their particular assets toward career meaning-making. Systems theory and photovoice together served as useful lenses from which to unpack these identities in this study.