Perseverance Despite the Perception of Threat and Marginalization: Students’ High Grit in Grad School and Implications for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Aim/Purpose: This paper illustrates the relationship between graduate students’ social identities and their ability to persevere in an academically rigorous graduate setting. Through our analysis we show that while many students experience marginalization and threats to their identity, they display no less grit than those who do not experience marginalization and threats to their identity. Background: There are contentious debates in higher education about the role that universities should play in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion principles. Existing arguments rarely consider students’ social identity in conjunction with their academic mindsets and ability to succeed in the graduate school environment, but instead make assumptions of who students are and of what they are capable. Methodology: Survey methods and quantitative analyses, including regression and ANOVA testing. Contribution: While demonstrating that students who experience marginalization and social identity threat display no less grit than their counterparts, we claim that all students would still desire to live and work in a society in which their social identities are respected and honored. Findings: Many students, even those successfully navigating graduate school, still identify as oppressed or marginalized, which is strongly related to certain social identities and to social identity threat. No demographic or oppression-based variable alone correlates negatively or positively with perseverance as tested by the grit scale we used. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that universities uphold a commitment to diversity and inclusion in order to create welcoming environments for all students to thrive. Recommendation for Researchers: We recommend that researchers focus on the intersections of identity, perseverance, and policy to fully address the issues of marginalization and social identity threat at graduate school campuses. Impact on Society: Our paper works to counter the often-negative perception of students who identify as marginalized and who demand more inclusive university environments. Future Research: In future studies, it would be beneficial for the field to address other social identities and examine their perceptions of marginalization and inclusion and assess impacts on academic mindset.

Linked Lives: The Experiences of Higher Education and Student Affairs Doctoral Students and Their Partners

Aim/Purpose: This study examines how higher education and student affairs doctoral students and their partners navigate the graduate school experience through the lens of linked lives. Background: Enhancing doctoral students’ ability to integrate their academic and personal lives can contribute to positive student outcomes such as retention and satisfaction. Yet, many features of graduate education may undermine students’ ability to maintain their romantic relationships. Methodology: This study draws from joint and individual interviewers with six couples (12 individuals), wherein one partner was a doctoral student in higher education or student affairs. Contribution: Many studies examine work-life integration for faculty members, but much less research seeks to understand how academia affects the experiences of graduate students and their partners. This study contributes to the literature on graduate student work-life integration by putting couples at the center of analysis, using theories of linked lives, and considers implications for doctoral students and graduate training programs in higher education and student affairs. Findings: Our findings revealed three main ways that doctoral students and their partners navigated graduate education: shared decision-making; negotiating, turn-taking, and trading off; and strategically integrating or dividing academic and personal lives. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graduate programs and institutions can enhance work-life integration and the experiences of doctoral students and their partners by incorporating discussion of dual-career concerns into the recruitment/admissions process and considering work-life concerns throughout the doctoral experience. Recommendation for Researchers: Applying the theoretical framework of linked lives brings visibility to a layer of the graduate student experience previously made invisible: the role of student’s partners. Impact on Society: By recognizing the work-life experiences of higher education and student affairs doctoral students and their partners, this study challenges graduate training programs to consider how to change or enhance the resources and structures offered to graduate students in ways that contribute to satisfaction and retention. Future Research: Longitudinal examination of doctoral students and their partners over time and comparison of experiences of couples in different fields/disciplines.

Striving to Align with the CAS Standards: Graduate Preparatory Programs in Higher Education & Student Affairs

Aim/Purpose: This study examined Higher Education/Student Affairs (HE/SA) programs’ curriculum alignment with the CAS Standards. Background: HE/SA programs have a limited number of credit hours (27-65) and must structure their curriculum within the confines. The CAS Standards guides HE/SA programs and recommends this curriculum include a focus on six content areas. Methodology: A quantitative study that examined the curriculum of the HE/SA programs in the United States (n = 230) and their offering of exclusive courses aligning with the six content areas recommended by the CAS Standards. Contribution: This study is the first to broadly examine the curriculum of the collective HE/SA programs in the United States. It can serve as a catalyst to encourage further research and scholarly discussion around the curriculum of HE/SA programs and the professional preparation of higher education administrators. Findings: Key findings included that of the six content areas, History and Counseling were the areas least likely to be offered in HE/SA programs (48% and 41%, respectively) compared to 82% and above for the other four areas. Evidence suggests that program offerings of 36-39 credit hours may be the “sweet spot” in balancing credit hours with their ability to meet CAS Standards. Recommendations for Practitioners: There is a need for HE/SA faculty and practitioners to communicate where HE/SA programs fell short meeting the CAS Standards so that practitioners can continue in the professional development of these young practitioners. This “handoff” between faculty and practitioners will further strengthen the field of student affairs. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings of this study illuminate the important future research question as to whether there is a difference in the academic preparedness (perceived and/or actual) of graduates who attend programs that are more closely aligned with the CAS Standards? Impact on Society: Recognizing the importance that student affairs professionals have on student development (in-and-out of the classroom), this study challenges educators and practitioners to ensure they are adequately developing the next generation of college administrative leaders. Future Research: Examination of the curriculum alignment in the future once the CAS Standards for Graduate Preparatory Programs are revised

Higher Education in Crisis? An Institutional Ethnography of an International University in Hungary

Aim/Purpose: Our goal is to provide understanding of if and how the institutional factors found to contribute to a chilly climate are experienced in an international setting and provide a broader understanding of the discourses that create challenges for marginalized and underrepresented groups in STEM. Background: In August 2018 the Hungarian government stopped funding gender studies program and took direct control of funding at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in order to focus “taxpayer money on areas that can generate a payoff for society” (Witte, 2018). Methodology: Data collection and analysis focused on how the interface between students and mathematics education was organized as a matter of the everyday encounters between students and faculty and administration by exploring their experiences inside and outside of the classroom. Contribution: There is little in the scholarly literature on how the recent threats and policy changes by the Hungarian government will impact Hungarian higher education; as such, this research has the potential to be a significant and leading contribution to the field by critically examining how ongoing changes to higher education policy, practices, and procedures in Hungary impacts the educational environment for students seeking a graduate degree in Hungary. Findings: Although students and faculty at IU were aware of the political discourses surrounding higher education in Hungary, they largely felt that their work as mathematicians was not largely impacted by threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Instead, these findings suggest that many of the same discourses that coordinate the work of STEM students in higher education persisted to create similar challenges for IU mathematics students. Recommendations for Practitioners: The first step toward improving the chilly climate in STEM fields requires revising the STEM institution from one that is masculine to one that is inclusive for all students with the goal of creating a STEM education environment that supports, validates, and gives students an equal voice. Recommendation for Researchers: Subsequent inquiries guided by this work can extend to additional institutional environments in Hungary and in other authoritarian countries where academic freedom and institutional autonomy are challenged in order to understand how political reform and institutional factors play a role in creating challenges for students from underrepresented groups. Impact on Society: By providing an international perspective, we can explore trends in institutional factors in order to make recommendations that mitigate or reverse the traditional competitive and intimidating STEM classroom environment. Future Research: Future inquiries can explore discourses that contribute to the chilly climate in STEM with an international perspective, to explore if these discourses are consistent across different types of universities around the world.

Disrupting the Dominant Discourse: Exploring the Mentoring Experiences of Latinx Community College Students

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to better understand the sources of mentoring and ways in which mentors, as forms of social and familial capital, facilitate the development of capital among Latinx community college students Background: A more focused and nuanced understanding of the role of mentors in further developing Latinx students’ capital is needed to guide mentoring programs in designing asset-based programs that recognize and build upon students’ community cultural wealth Methodology: Drawing from Solórzano and Yosso’s (2001) work, we use asset-based, counter-storytelling as a qualitative, methodological approach to reframe the deficit perspective that is embedded in prior literature on Latinx college students. The sample included 11 Latinx community college students who participated in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. Contribution: Results suggest that mentoring programs designed to serve Latinx community college students may be more efficient and may provide more meaningful support by recognizing and building upon the assets and capital provided by students’ networks and communities. Findings: Interviews revealed that participants leveraged community cultural wealth in the form of mentoring networks established prior to and during college, to develop other forms of capital that enabled them to reach their educational goals. Recommendations for Practitioners: The paper provides practical implications for mentoring programs, initiatives that include a mentoring component, as well as more generally for institutional agents who support Latinx students. Recommendation for Researchers: Findings provide a foundation for future research opportunities that could further examine how supportive relationships with institutional agents promote the educational and professional success of Latinx community college students. Future Research: Several suggestions for future research are provided, including qualitative work that explores how students identify and interact with mentors and other institutional agents during college and how they utilize these relationships to navigate the college environment.

Leveraging Higher Education Departments to Promote Institutional Change for Equity and the Public Good

Aim/Purpose: Neoliberal ideology in U.S. society and globally is transforming post-secondary institutions into economic drivers of their public purposes, that of promoting societal betterment and educational opportunity. Attendant with the neoliberal transformation of higher education’s purposes has been an erosion of the equity pursuits of postsecondary institutions as they privilege enrolling less diverse students more likely to persist and graduate. Background: Neoliberalism has also distorted the college access imperative and divorced it from addressing historic inequities and marginalizations present in higher education. Instead, the college access imperative is largely situated in the need to meet workforce development needs. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness about how Higher Education preparation programs resist the neoliberalism transformation to higher education by describing how one specific such program, the Higher Education Department at the University of Denver, is actively resisting the influence of neoliberal ideology in campus life. Methodology: We offer examples drawn from our curricula and co-curricula in which departmental faculty, staff and students embody and enact grassroots leadership focused on advancing equity and the university’s public purposes. Recommendations for Practitioners: We conclude by describing recommendations for other Higher Education departments interested in promoting their institution’s public purposes and equity pursuits while resisting neoliberalism. We also offer reflections intended to encourage other Higher Education departments to take up this vital work Impact on Society: Our hope is that this paper serves as a call to harness the power and expertise within Higher Education department to actively resist neoliberal practices and center equity and social justice. Our intent is to spark ideas, offering organizing practices, and research focused on examining the role of Higher Education departments and degree programs in leading postsecondary institutions in society.

Assessing a Culture of Mattering in a Higher Education Context

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of a newly developed Culture of Mattering survey (CoM) that evaluates mattering in the context of relationships with supervisors, colleagues, and the organization as a whole. Background: Mattering can be defined as the experience of feeling valued and adding value. Despite the importance of mattering in personal and occupational domains, there is very little research on organizational cultures that promote mattering. As far as we know, there is no research on the measurement and promotion of a culture of mattering in higher education settings. Methodology: Data were collected from 4,264 university employees across 469 work units using web-based surveys. CoM scores were aggregated into unit-level average scores, which were the focus of all analyses. Contribution: This study is the first to examine the measurement of a CoM in a higher education context. The specific context consists of a set of principles and behaviors enacted in relationship with supervisors, colleagues, and the organization as a whole. Findings: Factor analysis of the CoM resulted in one general factor (α = .90), and three sub-factors dealing with supervisors (α = .95), colleagues (α = .92), and the organization as a whole (α = .86). Recommendations for Practitioners: When trying to improve organizational culture, attention must be paid to how employees feel at all these levels. Recommendation for Researchers: This study shows that it is important to pay attention to three contextual levels when assessing mattering among faculty and staff: interactions with supervisors, colleagues, and the entire organization. Impact on Society: Mattering is a crucial aspect of organizational health and well-being. Future Research: It is important to study how mattering in higher education impacts the well-being of faculty, staff, and students.

Intertwined Higher Education Places and Spaces

Aim/Purpose: This essay highlights how the way educational places and spaces are imagined impacts higher education research, policy, and practice. Background: Drawing on the rapid transition to online education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, dichotomous thinking about education space is problematized by examining how the physical (e.g., the lecture hall) is intertwined with the digital (e.g., an online course shell). Methodology: Conceptual essay Contribution: I illustrate how shifting towards conceptualizing higher education as an intertwined environment, that which is a blended mix of the physical and the digital is a more robust construct that can better assist researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Findings: Dichotomous— online or on campus—thinking masks issues of equity and justice deserving of higher education leadership research, policy, and practice in need of attention, which COVID-19 has brought to light. Recommendations for Practitioners: By embracing an intertwined educational environment construct, practitioners may be better positioned to see opportunities for increasing equity of higher education access. Recommendation for Researchers: By embracing an intertwined educational environment frame, future research can better examine higher educational equity issues and opportunities. Impact on Society: The larger societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will inevitably change individuals and institutions. By revisiting higher education through an intertwined environmental frame, higher education institutions will be better positioned to assist ALL in society. Future Research: As higher educational institutions grapple with changes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, future research which problematizes educational space is needed to better understand the shifting, complex, and nuanced environments where learning, marginalization, and opportunities for change exist.

Table of Contents for Volume 5, 2020 of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education

Table of Contents for Volume 5, 2020 of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education

A Review of Yuhao Cen’s Student Learning and Development in Chinese Higher Education: College Students’ Experience in China

Aim/Purpose: Book Review: Student Learning and Development in Chinese Higher Education: College Students’ Experience in China Background: This book describes and interprets student learning and development as perceived by students in Chinese higher education institutions. Impact on Society: Overall, this book appeals to higher education scholars from all countries and regions. It is a good resource for faculty in Chinese higher education institutions to deepen their understanding of undergraduate students to promote their learning and development. Chinese student affairs professionals struggling with how to support the students they work with would benefits greatly from this book. Likewise, Chinese graduate students contemplating a career in higher education/student affairs would also benefit from reading this book. It also provides global higher education professionals a good perspective to understand Chinese higher education under the background of higher education globalization.