Reimagining Student Success: Using Anti-Deficit Approaches to Educate Scholar-Practitioners in Higher Education

Abstract

Few student affairs graduate preparation programs address deficit thinking. This study explored how an anti-deficit achievement framework was used to socialize scholar-practitioners in a graduate course on student success. Using narrative inquiry, this study addresses how exposing participants to anti-deficit research enhanced their understanding of the roles peers and faculty play in fostering student success. Implications for research and practice focus on using anti-deficit research to increase the success of minoritized college students.