Accessibility, Self-Advocacy, and Self-Efficacy of Students With Disabilities in the 21st Century University

Few studies have addressed the challenging transition that occurs when students with disabilities graduate from the K-12 system and enter the world of higher education. Once in college, students with disabilities no longer have, among other federally-mandated supports, a child-study team to represent them, and thus must develop strong self-advocacy and self-efficacy skills in order to receive the accommodations and modifications they need to succeed academically. This chapter discusses the issues facing students with disabilities during this transition, details the services and support offered by colleges to guide students with disabilities, and shares recommended best practices for instructional strategies higher education can employ to ensure that these students flourish in the classroom and as self-assured, independent adults in society.

Teaching Up

In the current political climate, racial, gender, and sexual differences are controversial topics, particularly on college campuses. This illuminates the need for increased focus on these issues in college classes. Although the literature on teaching about privilege is small, it is dominated by the voices of White faculty and almost completely focuses on racial issues. Marginalized faculty are rarely heard in this literature for our intersectional understanding of teaching about oppression and inequality. This chapter explores how female faculty (who also identify as working-class, queer, or as racial minorities) experience teaching about privilege. It builds an understanding of issues surrounding teaching about inequity from an intersectional perspective and moves the focus beyond tenure-track faculty. It expands an understanding of the experiences of faculty within the classroom and provides ways to support marginalized faculty in their teaching. Although the faculty interviewed here are sociologists, there are broad implications for teaching across disciplines.

A Dream Realized

This chapter presents the characteristics and challenges that low-income students face culturally, socially, and academically, and identifies services that have a positive impact on their retention. Low-income students are defined as students whose total family income is below $50,000 a year. While higher education institutions boast about the increase in low-income students enrolling in college, the data show that the retention of these students is not as praiseworthy. Colleges and universities have not been nimble in meeting students where they are academically. Rather, they expect students to navigate the institutional structures and cultures that pre-date the changing demographics of higher education. Recognizing the characteristics of low-income students in relation to education, and understanding the challenges they face, will be helpful to higher education institutions as they create programs to meet the needs of this most vulnerable population.

Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the barriers that non-traditional students (defined as over 40) face in self-directing their own learning and the strategies they develop to succeed. First established are the main elements that define non-traditional students, and the critical role that self-directed learning plays in their complicated educational journey towards degree attainment. The author then analyzes firsthand accounts and triangulates the findings with seminal research, which confirm that institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers in higher education pose serious difficulties to non-traditional students. Among the strategies for self-directing their learning in order to mitigate barriers and achieve success are setting attainable goals, seeking support, staying informed, remaining positive and focused when challenged, and planning. The chapter concludes with recommendations for higher education administrators regarding policies and procedures relative to non-traditional students and diversity in 21st-century education.

Minority STEM Students' Perspectives on Their Persistence in College

The United States needs to increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates to remain competitive in the global market and maintain national security. Minority students, specifically African American and Hispanic, are underrepresented in STEM fields. As the minority population continues to grow, it is essential that higher education institutions improve minority students' persistence in STEM education. This chapter addresses existing research focused on student retention and obstacles and barriers related to minority students. However, there is little evidence that researches have actually addressed the issue by uncovering the minority students' perspectives. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to provide a window into the minority student's persistence in STEM programs through a theoretical framework of student retention and the students' experiences.

A Critical Review of Gender Parity and Voice Dispossession Among Executive Women in Higher Education Leadership

Postsecondary organizational statistics show women remain limited and underrepresented within presidential and provost appointments, and progress has slowed into the 21st century. This chapter presents a critical review of the current scholarship of gender parity among higher education executive leadership specifically for a construct of voice dispossession. In past work, the authors have discussed how voice dispossession occurs among a dominant past culture and imbalanced power domains amid hierarchical structures for evolving organizational cultures as women often adopt a filtered voice or make attributional accommodations amidst challenges within these power and gendered organizational structures. This chapter extends the conversation by examining this focus within the larger body of research into women in higher education executive leadership to reveal limits of access and career success. While these power domains have historically been predominant across North America, parallels exist among other continents.

College-Going and College-Staying Capital

When underrepresented minority (URM) students from high-poverty, high-minority K-12 schools enter college, they often encounter academic, financial, and cultural obstacles in addition to experiencing discriminatory events. This chapter, focusing on the narratives of five URM students, explores the relationships, experiences, and strategies that enabled college-going capital, in addition to the relationships, experiences, strategies, and policies that created college-staying capital for these students at predominantly white institutions (PWI). Utilizing research and the students' experiential knowledge, recommendations are made that supportive teachers, dual enrollment courses, and scholarship programs enable URM students to overcome obstacles upon entering college. Once in college, overcoming cultural differences and discriminatory occurrences was most aided by strong student communities (in the form of Black Student Unions, multicultural clubs, and supportive friendships) and confidence in their racial identity.

Underrepresentation of Latina Faculty in Academia

This chapter explores the contributing factors of the underrepresentation of Latina faculty in tenured positions in one higher education institution through a qualitative case study. The narratives from eight tenured Latina faculty in one state public four-year university in the southeast area of the United States were analyzed to identify barriers or supports these minority faculty experienced while working to achieve tenure. Five main themes emerged from the analysis: organizational exclusionary practices, white male-oriented culture where resources are used to benefit white males, demoralizing microaggressions from white faculty, the university leadership's lack of action and accountability to address diversity and inclusion challenges, and the lack of support networks and mentoring. This chapter addresses various reasons higher educational institutions need to remove barriers that negatively affect recruitment and retention of Latina faculty and provides recommendations to academic leaders to implement and hold everyone accountable to an inclusive academic environment.

DACA-Mexico Origin Students in the United States-Mexican Borderlands

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program enabled more than 700,000 undocumented youth and young adults since 2012 the chance to have a lawful presence in the United States for a 2-year renewable period. With DACA status, college students could have access to financial aid and possibly in-state tuition, as well as opportunities to work legally. A correlational study was conducted in 2016-2017 with 30 DACA college students of Mexican Origin who were residing in California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. They completed an anonymous online survey about their intent to persist to degree completion, their views on the college climate for diversity, and their sense of belonging on campus. The results of the study confirm the need for higher education faculty and staff to provide services and resources and to build trust with this vulnerable student population.

The Adult Learner in Higher Education

Researchers and practitioners have come to understand adult learners as unique and different from child learners, and have developed different theoretical approaches, methodologies, and strategies attuned to their educational needs and life circumstances. This chapter examines the factors that impact the effectiveness of adult learning programs and classroom environments by using perspectives of education theorists. The needs of the adult learner, advantages of teaching adults, and principles that can be followed are explored with the help of Knowles' andragogy model. The importance of the classroom's eco-behavioral features—their physical and emotional environments—along with other factors that effectively facilitate the process of adult education are discussed. In this context, an adaptation of Astin's I-E-O's model is proposed to deepen the understanding of adult learning programs.