Conducting Transformative Mixed Methods Research in Higher Education: A Primer

Mixed methods research is increasingly used to study educational inequities, yet its potential to serve as a transformative approach remains underarticulated, particularly in higher education. Drawing on the transformative paradigm and foundational mixed methods scholarship, this essay conceptualizes transformative mixed methods research (TMMR) as an orienting framework that guides how researchers approach study design, knowledge production, and the integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches in pursuit of justice and social change. Using higher education, including community colleges, as a generative context, the essay articulates core considerations and practices of TMMR that move mixed methods inquiry beyond methodological pluralism toward transformative engagement. In doing so, it positions TMMR as a way of aligning how we study inequity with how we seek to transform it.