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
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.
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.
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.
Aim/Purpose: The following questions guided this study: 1) What are the major types of four-year graduation policies and plans being implemented by public four-year colleges and universities? 2) What explicit and implicit messages do leaders convey in constructing four-year graduation policies and plans? 3) What messages might four-year graduation policies and plans send to minoritized student populations? Background: Four-year graduation is a common goal across public institutions; to this end, university leaders often construct a four-year graduation policy or pledge. Scholars have not systematically examined the discourse within these policies to uncover the underlying structural barriers that may hinder minoritized students from achieving this goal. A one-size-fits all approach in policy can inadvertently promote a discourse of individual success or failure. Methodology: In order to view policy as discourse and explore the tensions within the narrative of timely graduation, the authors utilized critical discourse analysis to explore the discourse within four-year graduation plans across 19 public, four-year universities. Contribution: Institutional leaders often attempted to create mutually responsible commitments with students, but our reading of four-year graduation plans suggests that the majority of leaders created a uniform narrative, failing to acknowledge and make provisions for disproportionate impacts on minoritized populations. Findings: Utilizing seven building tasks, we provided descriptive categories of four-year graduation initiatives, followed by interpretation and evaluation of the messaging conveyed by institutional leaders in constructing policies. Findings revealed that many universities often place expectations on students with varying levels of corresponding resources or without the needs of minoritized student populations in mind. Recommendations for Practitioners: The authors offer recommendations about ways that university leaders through policy creation can acknowledge the structural barriers that affect students’ pathways to completion. Recommendation for Researchers: Because of the underlying acceptance behind the problem that drives graduation policy (i.e., students should graduate in four years), a critical approach allows scholars to examine the text of policies in ways that might illuminate the viewpoints that leaders fail to consider. Impact on Society: Four-year graduation initiatives should move beyond inspiring rhetoric to tackle the true structural barriers (e.g. unavailable courses, weak advising, developmental courses as stumbling blocks) for which institutional leaders as the creators of policy should be held accountable. Future Research: Additional studies focusing on the rhetoric of student success initiatives can reveal language centered on dominant ways of knowing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Table of Contents for Volume 5, 2020 of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education
Aim/Purpose: This preface presents the papers included in this Special Series of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education. Background: This special series was put together in an effort to show the interconnectedness of our world through globalization and internationalization within higher education. Methodology: A qualitative conceptual analysis of the themes and insights of the selected submissions of the works for this special series is presented. Contribution: Though a move toward internationalization has occurred across the globe within higher education, there is still a gap in the amount of available relevant research within the field. This special series seeks to help fill this gap. Findings: The works found in this special series challenge us to view the practice and profession of higher education through a broader and more globalized lens in order to expand our vision of what higher education is today and can be for the future. Recommendations for Practitioners: Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to broaden and diversify their methodological approaches to cross-cultural research and practice in order to aid the higher education community in meeting the needs of an ever growing diverse student body. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers are encouraged to embrace international research, as well as the impacts of globalization and internationalization upon higher education and society. Impact on Society: By embracing the impact of globalization within higher education, we become a stronger society that is more accepting and prepared for diversity and diverse learning environments. Future Research: The conceptual analysis of these selected works may provide researchers with insight and direction for future work that examines programming, curriculum, international partnerships, and student and faculty experiences from a global perspective.
Table of Contents for Volume 4, 2019, of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education
Aim/Purpose: Book Review: Multicultural and Diversity Issues in Student Affairs Practice - A Professional Competency Based Approach Background: This text explores cases and concepts regarding multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion in student affairs practice as guided by ACPA/ NASPA competencies. Methodology: Review Contribution: Review Findings: Overall, this text is a useful resource for introductory student affairs coursework at the undergraduate level, master’s level, for workshops and other continuing education/ professional development. Recommendations for Practitioners: Overall, this text is a useful resource for introductory student affairs coursework at the undergraduate level, master’s level, for workshops and other continuing education/ professional development. Recommendation for Researchers: Overall, this text is a useful resource for introductory student affairs coursework at the undergraduate level, master’s level, for workshops and other continuing education/ professional development. Impact on Society: Overall, this text is a useful resource for introductory student affairs coursework at the undergraduate level, master’s level, for workshops and other continuing education/ professional development. Future Research: See Review
Aim/Purpose: This paper evaluates three community college internationalization plans using quantitative textual analysis to explore the different foci of institutions across three U.S. states. Background: One of the purposes of community college internationalization is to equip future generations with the skills and dispositions necessary to be successful in an increasingly globalized workforce. The extent to which international efforts have become institutionalized on a given campus may be assessed through the analysis of internationalization plans. Methodology: We use the textual analysis tool Voyant, which has rarely been employed in educational research, being more frequently applied in the humanities and under the broad heading of “digital scholarship”. Contribution: Extant literature examining internationalization plans focuses on the four-year sector, but studies centered on the two-year sector are scarce. This study addresses that gap and seeks to answer the research questions: How do community colleges operationalize internationalization in their strategic plans? What terms and/or concepts are used to indicate international efforts? Findings: Key findings of this study include an emphasis on optimization of existing resources (human, cultural, community, and financial); the need for a typology of open access institution internationalization plans; and the fragmentation of international efforts at the community college level. Impact on Society: It is clear that internationalization at community colleges may take shape based on optimization of resources, which begs the question, how can education sector actors best support open access institutions in developing plans tailored to the local context and resources at hand? Future Research: We recommend additional use of quantitative textual analysis to parse internationalization plans, and imagine that both a larger sample size and cross-national sample might yield interesting results. How do these institutional groupings operationalize internationalization in the corpus of their plans?
Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply Albert Bandura’s findings of the Bobo Doll experiments to organizational behavior and workplace bullying in higher education. The Bandura social psychological experiments confirm that people who see aggression also need to witness an intervention to aggression to learn that the organization does not welcome aggression in their work environment. Background: By applying the Bandura experiment, the researcher shows how leadership can intervene to stop organizational aggression and abuse. Without leadership intervention, workplace bullying continues in higher education. Methodology: The researcher used a data set of 730 higher education professionals. The central research question: RQ Which personnel, bullied or not bullied, are more likely to report that no intervention was demonstrated in the organization’s response to reports of workplace bullying on campus? A chi-square analysis was used to examine if organizational inaction was more likely to lead to workplace bullying. Contribution: The application of the Bobo Doll experiments confirms that workplace aggression is either curtailed or proliferates based on leadership’s intervention to stop aggression in higher education. This social psychology approach contributes to the literature on workplace bullying in higher education about the need for leadership to intervene and stop bullying behaviors. Findings: Those who reported organizational apathy, that is the “organization did nothing” were more likely to face workplace bullying in higher education at a statistically significant level, .05 level (χ2 (1, n = 522) = 5.293, P = 0.021). These findings align with Bandura’s theoretical approach that an intervention is needed to curtail aggression and workplace bullying. Recommendations for Practitioners: Organizational leadership should consider 360 evaluations, ombudsmen, and faculty oversight committees to collect data and intervene in workplace bullying problems on campus. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can further examine how leadership engagement and intervention can curtail costly and corrosive workplace bullying in higher education. Impact on Society: These findings confirm that workplace bullying will not just disappear if left unattended. Empirical data confirms that leadership apathy, or deliberate indifference, to interventions only enable aggression and bullying in the workplace. Future Research: Future research projects can include qualitative approaches to discover what values encourage leaders to intervene in workplace bullying.
Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how faculty members teaching undergraduate diversity courses at liberal arts colleges in the southern United States addressed the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in their classrooms. Background: Humanities and social science faculty teaching undergraduate diversity courses faced the decision of whether, and how, to address the 2016 U.S. presidential election in their courses. Diversity courses represent a compelling context for examining this event, as instructors must routinely tackle charged and controversial topics and such courses have become the subject of debates around purpose, course content, and instructional methods. Methodology: This study draws upon one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with 38 faculty members teaching required undergraduate diversity courses at three predominantly White liberal arts colleges in the southern United States. Contribution: Understanding faculty members’ approaches to handling a critical political event sheds light on how faculty in multiple contexts might prepare for difficult dialogues in their classrooms. This study can serve to prompt reflection about how campuses engage with contemporary controversies in an era of reduced public trust in higher education and skepticism that free speech is a fundamental value of higher education. This study also offers a contribution to understanding how faculty members’ and students’ social identities including race and gender influence the dynamics of classroom discussions about contemporary controversies. Findings: Drawing upon the curricular processes detailed in the multicontextual model for diverse learning environments, findings from this study address faculty members’ personal post-election reactions, concern for minoritized students, decisions whether to disclose their political leanings, and their attempts to promote multiple perspectives, civility, and disciplinary connections to the political climate. Recommendations for Practitioners: Faculty members, educational developers, and administrators can use this study to consider how to address challenging and controversial events in the classroom and how to protect academic freedom to teach about and learn from these events. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can advance understandings of how contemporary controversies and discussions of the political climate play out in college classrooms by investigating faculty and student experiences in multiple disciplinary, institutional, and regional contexts. Impact on Society: Higher education institutions in the United States face increasing public scrutiny and calls for greater accountability. Professors, in particular, are often caricatured as partisan ideologues intent upon indoctrinating students to particular political positions. A better understanding of how faculty members consider and approach discussions of a critical event may help shed light on the reality of many college classrooms and the self-reflective approaches to handling controversy faculty members may espouse.
Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this collaborative autoethnographic research study was to explore how a shared Ghanaian study abroad experience would (re)shape how two U.S. first-generation Black women doctoral students understood teaching, learning, and academic achievement. Through our experiences, we reflected on what a reimagining U.S. higher education could look like to facilitate a cultural shift in educational norms. Background: The centrality of whiteness in U.S. education contributes to the learning and unlearning of people of Black students. The promise of Ghana, then, represents a space for revisioning who we are and could be as student affairs and counselor educators through more African ways of knowing. Methodology: Collaborative Autoethnography (CAE) served as the methodology for this study. CAE can be described as a collaborative means of self-engagement (Chang, Ngunjiri, Hernandez, 2013; Chang, 2016) and is an interplay between collaboration, autobiography, and ethnography among researchers (Chang, Ngunjiri, Hernandez, 2013), where researchers’ experiences, memories, and autobiographical materials are gathered, analyzed, and interpreted to gain insight into a particular experience (Chang, Ngunjiri, Hernandez, 2013; Chang, 2016). Contribution: This study nuances ways of knowing and expectations around learning and accomplishment for Black students. This is done through following the journey of two Black women doctoral students in counselor education and student affairs who are deeply aware of the ways their classroom and educative practices contribute to the socialization and learning of Black children. This paper offers strategies for operationalizing more culturally responsive ways of engaging students and of enacting student affairs and counselor educator practices. Findings: The findings from this study have been synthesized into two major themes: (1) The reimagining of professional preparation; and (2) student and teacher socialization. Together, they reveal ways in which inherently Ghanaian practices and techniques of teaching and learning contribute to increased student engagement, educational attainment, and success. Recommendations for Practitioners: Higher education practitioners should consider how to apply Ghanaian principles of success and inclusion to ensure students can participate in campus programs and initiatives with minimal barriers (financial, social, and emotional) through collective commitment to inclusion, centering non-western constructs of time so that students have flexibility with institutional engagement, and design support systems for student leaders where collective rather than individual accomplishments are centered. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should consider shifting the centrality of positivist notions of scholarship in publication and research pipelines so that inherently African ways of knowing and being are included in the construction of knowledge. Impact on Society: This study has societal implications for the P-20 educational pipeline as it pertains to Black students and Black education. Specifically, there are implications for the many ways that we can affirm Black brilliance in U.S. public school settings, by acknowledging what and how they come to know things about the world around them (e.g., via singing, dancing, poetry, questioning). In terms of higher education in the U.S., this study calls into question how we, as educators and practitioners, position Black students’ ancestral knowledges as being both valid and valuable in the classroom. Future Research: Future researchers may wish to examine: (1) the direct suggestions for what inclusive education can look like from Ghanaians themselves as outsiders looking into U.S. education; (2) exploration of Black American and Ghanaian student perspectives and perceptions on teaching and learning in their respective countries, and (3) exploration of a broader range of Black people's voices including those of Black LGBT people, Black trans women, and non-millennial Black educators, for insight into making educational spaces more inclusive, transformative, and affirming.
Aim/Purpose: This paper establishes a research agenda for learning from global approaches to higher education as a field of study by encouraging research into new methods and practices in leadership development from emerging scholars and practitioners around the world. Background: Significant growth has occurred in the number of academic programs, research centers, and scholars serving in the field of higher education in the last two decades. This presents an opportunity to expand methods and practices in a new and global direction. Methodology: Conceptual essay Contribution: We identify the need to expand research on higher education as a field of study beyond national and Western constructs. Findings: Several specific initiatives, resources, and potential research areas for future scholars are discussed, including curricular, pedagogical, and programmatic best practices and internal and external leadership development programs in higher education. Recommendations for Practitioners: By adopting best practices in leadership development from other national or regional settings, faculty who prepare higher education leaders can inspire innovation in their leadership development programs and reach diverse audiences. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers in the field of study of higher education can use recently available resources to access global perspectives on the study of leadership development in higher education. Impact on Society: The development of professional leaders in higher education is critical to the future of social and economic development. Understanding the innovative approaches utilized by other countries for higher education leadership development can improve leader preparation efforts everywhere. Future Research: A concise research agenda is set forward for future scholars and practitioners.
Aim/Purpose: This paper encourages the reader to think about the role history, or foundations, plays in graduate programs in the field of higher education. In so doing it looks at the types of conversations scholars in other fields and disciplines have had concerning the value of teaching students to think historically in settings where history is not the primary mode of scholarship, before thinking critically about the conversation we have had as it concerns higher education graduate programs. Background: In many ways higher education programs have a complicated relationship with history. In some ways it can be seen as a central pursuit and in other ways it can be seen as a marginal scholarly activity. These two conflicting paradigms of central and marginal reflect a lack of scholarly discussion on what the field wants and expects from history. Methodology: This paper considers the scholarly discussion that has happened in three fields apart from higher education administration in an attempt to suggest ways that scholars in higher education programs might conceptualize the value and role that history should play in our graduate programs. Contribution: This paper invites scholars to think about what they want and expect students to gain from coursework on the history of higher education in comparison to what other fields have seen as the major reasons for including similar coursework. Findings: Despite a generalized commitment to teaching the foundations of higher education, the field has not been clear about what it expects students to gain from this type of coursework. Although it is easy to suggest that teaching foundations is important, there has been limited scholarly work that meaningfully grapples with questions about the value of foundations in higher education programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: As practitioners and researchers, we need to better articulate what we think foundations brings to graduate students in higher education programs and we need to do so in a manner that creates a single coherent paradigm for students. Recommendation for Researchers: (Included in Recommendations for Practitioners)
