Through testimonios, I explore how undocu/ DACAmented Latina/o students seek to engage in career preparation and planning during college in the Midwest. I reveal how one's undocumented or DACA status influences their major or career changes, access to internship/placement experiences, access to employment, and more. I share students' reflections on how their undocu/ DACAmented status serves as a master status influencing decision-making during college and in anticipation of their careers after graduation. Without DACA protections, undocumented students experienced exacerbated challenges due to policy and tacit practice. Implications for institutional policy and practice are discussed alongside federal and state policy considerations.
Utilizing a push and pull framework, this study explored the motivations of Ghanaian international students attending HESA graduate programs in the United States. Students were motivated by career advancement opportunities and a desire to help students. Push factors included limited HESA opportunities in Ghana, while pull factors included perceived prestige, robust educational offerings, and financial support in the United States. Findings highlighted implications for U.S. HESA programs such as facilitating ethical recruitment processes including tailored recruitment strategies, transparent financial support procedures, as well as in-program considerations such as meeting student expectations regarding flexible curriculum with practical opportunities and student-centered, supportive learning environments. Overall, study findings offer insights for HESA program coordinators and faculty to better support Ghanaian students.
Guided by the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework, this study examined associations between lifestyle behavior patterns and mental health among U.S. undergraduate students. Data were drawn from 8,961 students across 13 universities participating in the 2021-2022 Healthy Minds Study. Cluster analysis identified two distinct lifestyle behavior profiles, differentiated by substance use. Students of color, first-generation, international, younger students, and students with minority gender identities were more likely to be in the lower substance use cluster, whereas students with disabilities and minority sexual identities were overrepresented in the higher substance use cluster. Regression analyses revealed that students in the higher substance use cluster reported significantly greater anxiety and depressive symptoms. Overall, moderate to severe symptoms were observed in 40% of students for anxiety and 47% for depression. Consistent with the SDOH framework, these findings emphasize the need to consider both individual behaviors and contextual factors when designing mental health interventions.
Food insecurity affects a substantial proportion of college students, yet limited research explores how students experience and navigate on-campus food assistance. This qualitative study examines food-insecure students' lived experiences with campus retail food pantries through the lenses of social identity, social exchange, and face-saving theories. Seventeen in-depth interviews reveal a central tension in which "two things are true": students simultaneously experience stigma and acceptance, as well as shame and pride, in relation to food insecurity and pantry use. These cognitive and emotional tensions produce two distinct student segments that include those who resist pantry use to protect identity and those who accept resources with reduced stigma. Findings further demonstrate how pantry marketing, naming, and access policies can unintentionally reinforce stigma and deter utilization. This research contributes a conceptual framework that highlights the social and emotional dimensions of food insecurity and offers practical implications for designing more inclusive, discreet, and effective campus food support systems.
This study explored the experiences of undergraduate Black men within predominantly White institutions with the goal of explaining their leader identity development process. Studies focusing on Black men's leadership development are limited compared to most leadership development studies. Prior to this study, there were no known studies that highlighted the leader identity development process of Black men. The researcher collected data from eleven individuals from ten institutions via interviews and reflection journals. All data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory data analysis methods. The data analysis resulted in a grounded theory of Black men's leader identity development.
Although the graduate application process can present a significant barrier to higher education, there is currently no evidence-based intervention available to aid students with the process. Hence, this pilot study sought to develop and provide initial evaluation ofa theoretically founded career intervention designed to increase postgraduate school application self-efficacy (PSASE) for underrepresented undergraduate students planning to apply to graduate school. The intervention, titled Bridging the Graduate Application Process (GAP), comprised evidence-based workshops on the graduate school search, letters of recommendation, resume/ curriculum vitae development, standardized tests, and self-promotion. Participants from two universities (n = 80) provided pre-and post-intervention data. A linear mixed-effects analysis revealed that self-efficacy scores were statistically significantly greater in the experimental condition compared to the control group for underrepresented and wellresourced students. This article concludes with a discussion of study limitations, future directions, and the implications of this research for students, career counselors, faculty, and administrators.
This article examines the experience of low-income college students interacting with financial aid processes and staff from a novel perspective: psychological dehumanization. Students in this study received a last-dollar grant to cover all of their tuition and fees at an institution of higher education, though not their housing, food, and book expenses. By drawing on students' reporting of technological and verbal communication with financial aid and utilizing narrative inquiry, we re-conceptualize financial aid practice as a fundamentally dehumanizing one that can alienate low-income students from higher education institutions. We conclude with recommendations for practice for institutions as we work to make education more accessible for students from all income levels.
As institutions of higher education continue to adjust their student services offerings, many have established financial wellness programs to educate undergraduate and graduate students about managing their money and personal finances. Peer financial mentoring models have emerged within financial wellness programs, where college students educate their peers on a wide range of topics including budgeting, understanding credit, navigating student loans, and more. However, no studies have examined how these peer financial mentors (PFMs) are trained and professionally developed. As a result, this study engaged in interviews with 54 PFMs across seven different institutions of higher education to explore their training experiences within the peer financial wellness mentoring program. Findings suggest that PFMs benefitted from three main strands of training: 1) supervisor-facilitated training, 2) informal and/ or self-directed training, and 3) professional socialization. However, PFMs overwhelmingly asserted that supervisor-facilitated training that included Gradual Release ofResponsibility tenets were most beneficial for their development. Implications for research policy and practice are addressed.
This study sought to empirically test and validate the interfaith learning and development (ILD) framework, a theoretical model composed ofinsti-tutional and individual components that shape college students' interfaith learning and development outcomes. Using data from a national longitudinal study, path analysis models were constructed to test the fit of the theoretical ILD framework with regard to development ofstudents' self-authored worldview commitment in college. Multiple-group path analysis was applied to examine differences in ILD pathways for students holding majority, minoritized, and nonreligious worldview identities. Implications for advancing theory and research, particularly with regard to student experiences and minoritized religious, spiritual, and secular identities are discussed.
Engineering is a quickly expandingfield; however, Native Americans are one of its most underrepresented groups. Ensuring opportunities for Native Americans to pursue engineering is vital for their communities and for fostering a diverse, innovative workforce. Using a phenomenological qualitative research design and Tribal Critical Race Theory, we investigated the lived experiences of 26 Native American engineering students as they reflected on how their interests in engineering developed, as well as how the barriers they encountered and the supports and resources they utilized influenced their engineering educational and career pursuits. We uncovered 5 themes in the data: The Development of Interests in Engineering, Barriers to Pursuing Engineering, Supports and Resources Utilized, Strategies for Overcoming Barriers, andA Desire to Give Back to the Native American Community.
Colleges and universities have many options when offeringprograms to bolster student success, but the plethora of choices leads to an important question about the characteristics ofprograms that are most likely to promote desired outcomes. While much research has examined the outcomes associated with student success programs that combine multiple components (e.g., summer bridge programs, learning communities), the results provide limited guidance forprogram designs. This issue was studied usinga multi-institutional, longitudinal data-set offirst-year undergraduates from lower-income backgrounds, which was merged with data from students' high schools, precollege zip codes, and detailed information offered at 36 different college success programs. Overall, the programs most consistently and favorably associated with psycho-social outcomes provided substantialfinancial aid, started before the first semester of college, lasted for two years, and did not involve a tutoring component. Many other types of programs are rarely or never associated with psychosocial outcomes. These findings offer direct insights for administrators and practitioners who seek to maximize the usefulness of their student success programming.
Undocumented college students at predominantly White institutions in various campus and off-campus spaces have indicated how students apply their cultural knowledge and skills to enrich their college experiences despite institutional challenges. The findings reveal that participants actively seek and create spaces that affirm their identities, often challenging dominant norms to advocate for their communities. By choosing classes and activities that resonate with their backgrounds, these students foster personal and academic growth while developing critical consciousness. The research also highlights the importance of off-campus involvement in offering valuable opportunities for cultural connection and application of knowledge, particularly during periods ofheightenedpolitical uncertainty. This study underscores the need for educational institutions to recognize diverse forms of agency and cultural capital. Findings suggest that empowering marginalized students can lead to a more inclusive learning environment while acknowledging the institutional changes needed to reduce navigation burdens. These insights can inform policies and practices aimed at fostering student resilience and success.
Post-secondary students with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely than their non-ADHD counterparts to engage in poorer study habits, complete assignments late, receive lower grades, and withdraw from classes, and not likely to graduate than those without ADHD. One factor contributing to student success is sense of belonging to the institution they attend, as well as social and emotional adjustment. We investigated the effects of a six-week group psychosocial intervention, adapted from an adult ADHD cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) manual, among undergraduate students with ADHD symptoms. Five areas within sense of belonging (faculty support, empathetic faculty understanding, classroom comfort, peer support, and feelings of isolation) were measured pre-and-post-intervention to determine if the academic intervention promoted sense of belonging in each domain. Post-intervention, participants reported some changes in their sense of belonging, with significantly heightened perceived peer support and significantly lessened feelings of isolation. No differences were indicated in the remaining sense of belonging areas.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) centers support minoritized groups, promote equitable policies, and foster inclusive campus climates in higher education. However, recent literature says little about the prevalence and predictors of DEI centers at U.S. colleges and universities, especially in light of recent anti-DEI activism. Drawing on a comprehensive database of],756four-year, not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities, our study first shows that most U.S. colleges and universities (55%) hosted DEI centers as of summer 2024. Binary logistic regression analysis then demonstrates that colleges and universities that are located in Democratic-leaning states and counties, have larger student bodies, and have higher percentages of women students exhibit significantly higher odds of maintaining DEI centers. Schools that are located in states and counties with higher percentages of persons of color, as well as schools that are designated by the government as "minority-serving institutions," exhibit lower odds of maintaining DEI centers. This study offers the most extensive analysis to date of the presence of DEI centers in U.S. higher education institutions and underscores enduring structural barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.
This qualitative study centers on the perspectives of undergraduate student survivors of dating violence regarding accountability and institutional reporting processes. Participants included 35 women and femme students of color who had experienced dating violence in college and attended one of three large public institutions. Each student participated in two virtual interviews and a photo-elicitation method grounded in healing. The conceptual framework employed was rooted in intersectionality and abolition feminism. Perceptions of existing reporting options were largely negative because students 1) felt existing reporting options required them to relive traumatic experiences; 2) perceived that Title IX processes did not serve survivors; 3) did not want to engage with police whom they viewed as harmful; and 4) thought that there were many structural challenges to reporting. Perspectives of participants on accountability were complex and varied: students shared about not equating punishment with accountability, not desiring punishment, feeling rehabilitation was more important than punishment, wishing for accountability from their former partners, and wanting those that harmed others removed from campus spaces. Findings demonstrate the need for innovative practices to address violence in higher education adequately.
This current study focused on the experiences of student caregivers in U.S. higher education institutions, which have increasing enrollment of undergraduate student bodies. Drawing from 7,990 student caregivers (n = 5,536 female; 69%) who participated in the 2018-2019 Healthy Minds Study, this study examined the link between campus climate and college student caregivers'psychological outcomes, specifically anxiety and depression. We further investigated the mediating role ofgroup belonging, or the feeling that a student belongs to an identity group on campus (such as LGBTQIA+, first-generation). Mediation analyses revealed that perceived campus climate is negatively linked to anxiety and depression through student caregiver' perceived group belonging. Student caregivers described feeling like they belonged within their academic communities, BIPOC/racial-ethnic communities, and housing communities. Findings lay the foundation for institutional change by emphasizing the need for socioemotional support and group belonging for student caregivers. More research is needed to examine which group identities have the strongest effect on mental health.
LGBTQ+ students in higher education contexts continue to experience a range of hostile conditions. Increasingly, scholars have attended to the experiences and needs of these students, often emphasizing factors, such as visibility, outness/ disclosure, and resilience. In this mixed-methods study ofLGBTQ+ students attending colleges and public universities in the Southeastern region of the United States, we sought to examine how participants described their experiences. We began with hierarchical cluster analysis to describe the intra-individual patterns of responses to quantitative survey measures. We then engaged in qualitative analysis of open-ended responses to better understand participant experiences. The results point to outness and disclosure as complex, with racialized and gendered patterns of association to other campus experiences and outcomes. Our study concludes with implications forLGBTQ+ research in higher education contexts.
Despite the proliferation of research on student success, deficit thinking is pervasive among scholar-practitioners in higher education. Whereas anti-deficit perspectives are used to train aspiring K-12 educators, fewer higher education and student affairs graduate preparation programs have adopted this practice. This narrative inquiry study examined graduate students' initial conceptualizations about student success. Themes within graduate students' initial conceptualizations included critiquing traditional metrics, exploring broader definitions, and addressing the role scholar-practitioners should play in student success. Implications center on advancing anti-deficit research and practice in higher education.
