Digest No. 10 - March 2022

Frozen and Failing: Administrative (Non)Response to DEI Incidents

How do university administrators think about and conceptually frame their institutions’ responses to hate speech on campus? How do they negotiate the tensions between legally protected free speech and their imperative to protect students from harmful speech? This embedded single-case study examines the responses of 16 administrators at the University of Texas at Austin in the context of the post-2016 election hate speech environment and several free speech lawsuits faced by the university. Leveraging a conceptual framework that spans organizational theory, cultural analysis, and several forms of legal theory, the scholars forward the argument that a form of “repressive legalism” overdetermined the university’s responses to controversial speech and resulted in preventing it from pursuing inclusive practices.

Digest No. 10 - March 2022

It’s Not Just Exposure: Adjusting Institutional Engagement and Behavior to Improve Transfer Student Enrollment and Success

Although many community college students desire to transfer to a four-year institution and earn a baccalaureate degree, less than one in five fulfill this aspiration—prompting questions regarding how receiving institutions can mobilize their resources to support transfer student retention. This longitudinal study was conducted at three Midwestern community colleges and focused on 860 transfer students who had received STEM training. The scholars reported that community college students who had early exposure to faculty members and/or advisors from a baccalaureate institution were almost twice as likely to transfer successfully over the next three years, even when accounting for other methods of interacting with baccalaureate institutions and personnel.

Digest No. 10 - March 2022

You Belong with Me: Helping First-Gen Students Find Their Place at Your Institution

How do educators create belonging on campuses for first-generation students? Defined as “those reporting that no parent attended college” (p. 368), first-generation college students (FGS) have been identified as an important social identity group for consideration, with a number of empirical efforts documenting their distinctive experiences before and during college. In addition, sense of belonging has been routinely identified as critical for retaining students from minoritized identities (see Strayhorn, 2018).

Controlling for a host of theoretically justified covariates (race, age, living situation, and employment status), the authors found that the more campuses were able to validate these students regarding their backgrounds and identities, the more likely the students were to feel that they belonged on campus.

Digest No. 10 - March 2022

Why Mental Health Matters: Factors Impacting Retention Across the Student Lifecycle

The purpose of this study was to examine the attrition of over 10,000 students who participated in a longitudinal study from 2011 to 2014 at a large urban institution. Cohorts of students were followed to determine the social, behavioral, and interpersonal factors related to retention over time. Findings suggested that attrition was related to behavioral health factors, including “increased depressive symptoms, antisocial behaviors, exposure to stressful events, and substance use” (p. 2). The authors also explored a variety of protective factors related to student involvement and concluded that their occurrence during the students’ early years was critical for deterring drop-out during college.

Digest No. 10 - March 2022

The Duopoly of Diversity Data: Using Nuanced Data to Understand Diversity

This article explores the intricacies of studying diversity climates at institutions and extends conversations of diversity climate beyond simple dichotomies of good or bad, positive or negative, productive or unproductive. The authors argue that diversity climate information is highly complex, pushing scholars and leaders beyond the comforts of arbitrary—however, efficient—labeling practices that may do more harm than good. In the context of this study of religious, spiritual, and secular diversity, the authors suggest that some climates may inspire the type of diversity experiences that optimize student learning.

Digest No. 09 - September 2021

Helping Students with Disabilities Persist in College

How does access to support services help students with disabilities persist through college? Analyzing the National Longitudinal Study 2 (NSLT-2), a nationally representative longitudinal dataset that included a sample of 2,330 college students identified as having a disability in secondary school, the authors used a quasi-experimental study to find out. The authors discovered that the students who had accessed universally available (e.g., writing and math centers) and/or disability-related supports (e.g., disability services) were significantly more likely to persist through their college experience at either two- or four-year colleges. In addition, retention rates were higher for students who accessed services that were universally available (those that do not require disability disclosure).

Digest No. 09 - September 2021

How Party Affiliation Influences Educational Policy Choices

How do policymakers at the highest levels of government conceive of the purposes of higher education? What logic do they employ to justify their political decisions? How do they understand and represent different groups of stakeholders in higher education? And how does this influence their willingness to distribute benefits and burdens to these groups? This study addresses these questions through a discourse analysis of over 14 hours of deliberation by the U.S. Congress Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding the 2017 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Digest No. 09 - September 2021

Study Abroad Leads to Volunteering beyond College

Does participation in undergraduate study abroad experiences lead to post-college volunteer service? Drawing on information provided through careful analysis of data from the Education Longitudinal Study 2002–2012, the author designed and executed a study that unequivocally established this connection. In short, participation in study abroad is strongly associated with volunteering beyond college. This relationship holds even after controlling for a host of demographic covariates, such as race and gender, as well as volunteer-related behaviors, such as high school and college volunteering. The author argues that more students should study abroad.

Digest No. 09 - September 2021

Improving College Persistence through Text Messaging Campaigns

How does access to information influence retention for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds? This study found that how information is communicated to college students is as important as what is being communicated to them. The purpose of this study was to explore access to information and its relationship to persistence and course credit completion among students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Supported by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) and the Kresge Foundation, the study examined a targeted texting campaign during the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 academic years. The study looked at students transitioning from high school to college; specifically, the study compared students from 14 high schools that were targeted for the campaign to their peers from 14 high schools that were not part of the campaign.

Digest No. 09 - September 2021

Achieving Representational Equity in Faculty Hiring

What factors stymie efforts to achieve representational equity in faculty hiring? How can faculty move from the interrogation of campus cultures of racism to sustainable, restorative action? And what does movement toward antiracist organizational culture and policy look like from a faculty perspective? This qualitative investigation leveraged cultural historical activity theory to analyze the racial learning and development of faculty members engaged in a series of facilitated inquiry workshops designed to advance racial equity in their institution’s hiring process. The study then identifies vital steps in converting examinations of racist cultural practices into lasting organizational change and transformation for racial equity.