Postsecondary Institutions Research Articles

Affinity and allyship groups to advance inclusion in postsecondary institutions: A systematic scoping review.

Affinity and allyship groups to advance inclusion in postsecondary institutions: A systematic scoping review.

Supplemental Material for Affinity and Allyship Groups to Advance Inclusion in Postsecondary Institutions: A Systematic Scoping Review

Supplemental Material for Affinity and Allyship Groups to Advance Inclusion in Postsecondary Institutions: A Systematic Scoping Review

Medical Worker Migration and Origin-Country Human Capital: Evidence from U.S. Visa Policy

Abstract We exploit changes in U.S. visa policies for nurses to measure the origin-country human capital response to international migration opportunities. Combining data on all migrant departures and postsecondary institutions in the Philippines, we show that nursing enrollment and graduation increased substantially in response to greater U.S. demand for nurses. The supply of nursing programs expanded. Nurse quality, measured by licensure exam pass rates, declined. Despite this, for each nurse migrant, nine additional nurses were licensed. New nurses switched from other degree types but graduated at higher rates than they would have otherwise, increasing the human capital stock in the Philippines.

Examining Anti-Poverty Programs to Address Student’s Unmet Basic Needs at Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Many post-secondary institutions have implemented anti-poverty programs to address students’ basic needs insecurities. This study examined the provision of 17 types of basic needs programs at Texas Hispanic-serving institutions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to identify changes in the number and types of programs offered as well as factors that may influence the presence of specific types of basic needs programs on campus. While the average number of basic needs programs per institution varied little over time, the specific types of programs that were offered changed. Institution type as a 2-year or 4-year institution was associated with providing on-campus mental health services, on-campus physical health services, and after-school care for students’ children at pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic time points and employing students and free food or meal vouchers at the pre-pandemic time point. The percentage of students receiving Pell Grants was associated with basic needs programs to assist students applying for public services and referrals to off-campus health services pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic. The presence of an on-campus free food pantry was associated with the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants at the anticipated post-pandemic time point only. Over the course of the pandemic, there were changes to the types of basic needs programs offered. Some types of basic needs programs were associated with institutional and/or student characteristics. Given the continued presence of basic needs programs through the course of the pandemic and into the post-pandemic period, the use of these kinds of programs and services to support students, while influenced by external factors such as the pandemic, appears institutionally established as a way to facilitate going to college for students in need.

Educational gag orders as white property of interest: reinscribing higher education's ethos in radical tradition

PurposeIt is critical for those who are engaged in the work of resisting the movement of academically restrictive policy to understand that it is a deliberate act on the part of conservatives to outlaw critical race theory (CRT) specifically, because it is a theoretical mechanism for discrediting the rhetorical foundations of their policy movement. The knee-jerk institutional courses of action to now defund initiatives and curriculum related equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) represent what has always been a deeply rooted investment in white supremacy on the part of the institutions (Baldwin, 2021; Patel, 2021; Squire, 2021).Design/methodology/approachThe author explores and defines the CRT tenets of interest convergence (Bell, 1980) and whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) in relation to EI (Fricker, 2007; Dotson, 2011) as frameworks for examining three EGOs in the region where these policies have become most dominant. All three are critical tools of analysis for understanding the stake the White conservative political elite have in EGOs, and the magnitude of EI these policies represent, and stand endorse in their rhetoric. Definitions of EI often rely on the work of Amanda Fricker’s (2013) text on the subject, but this paper is invested in the expansions of this theorization for speaking to the nature of the injustice that EGOs represent as a matter of historical trend, with grave implications for futures marked by continued oppression. Whiteness as property and interest convergence are points for explicating the dialectic and material aspects of issues of race and equity in this country; namely, how knowledge processes inherent to higher education sound even more alarms as EGOs become commonplace for college campuses.FindingsTo support the arguments laid out, the author provides a historical review of the settler-colonial foundations of higher education as an american institution. This is meant to provide contour to the image of postsecondary education that exists today. In accordance with this paper’s allegiance to CRT, many of the texts would be considered revisionist history (Delgado and Stefancic, 2023), which stray from dominant narratives of american comfort and speak more accurately to the experiences of minoritized populations. The author then applies the same analysis to the sociopolitical contexts of EGOs, and to policy language itself. Each section is closed with an explanation of its connection to tenets of CRT and EI so as to provide a thread to follow into the subsequent discussion section.Research limitations/implicationsIn the first presentation of the early writings of this work, the author was lucky enough to be in community with Barbara Applebaum at the annual meeting for the American Educational Studies Association and engage in discourse surrounding EI and CRT applications to EGOs. In conversations surrounding the will in the willful ignorance that is exemplified in the movement of EGOs, the author had shared with Dr Applebaum the early thinking on how that will was the same force that brought together converging interests, which have continually forecasted interest divergence. This is commonly referred to as “political backlash.” The author had said something along the lines of: “if we follow the interest convergence, we can get in front of the subsequent political moves to turn the clocks on what was once celebrates progress.” This conversation planted the seed for what is the thesis of this paper. Interest convergence and divergence happen at the will of white populations because of the american truth of whiteness as property. In the context of higher education, this means that because educational pursuit has largely been white property, it has served as an arena for white populations to converge and diverge their interests with those of the minoritized. For example, the policies that drained federal funding for higher education in the 1970s were passed on the tails of a Civil Rights Movement that shook the very foundation of this country and expanded access to postsecondary education for racially minoritized groups (Berret, 2015).Originality/valueEnsuring that this social construction is a matter of status quo has largely been the work of postsecondary institutions, and EGOs represent the most recent attempt at epistemically imposed inferiority. Explicit attention to the fact of higher education’s complicity and overall investment in the socialization of oppression is necessary to engage in transformative practice that resists anachronism. If higher education researchers and practitioners do not recognize the stake in both the presence and resistance to EGOs, there would likely be acts of resistance that will belie an act of interest convergence – and later divergence – on the part of the state.

A pilot survey of students' menstrual attitudes, experiences, and needs on an urban university campus.

In the United States, many menstruators face barriers to period management, such as period poverty, or the lack of access to relevant knowledge and affordable menstrual products. Our current understanding of the social, emotional, and physical impacts of period poverty on students in post-secondary institutions is largely limited. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess period poverty, period-related class disruption, and avoidance of menstrual hygiene management on campus among students and to identify recommendations for action at the University of Illinois Chicago and other urban universities. An online cross-sectional study from February to May 2023. Enrolled students who were at least 18 years old completed an anonymous, self-administered online survey. Through descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SAS version 9.4, we analyzed the sociodemographic, academic, and menstrual characteristics of those who had a period in the past 12 months. We also performed a thematic analysis of students' open-ended responses regarding their menstrual experiences on campus. Of our sample (N = 106), 17.1% of students have faced period poverty, 55.8% experienced period-related class disruption, and 47.5% avoided changing their menstrual products on campus. The relationships between the three menstrual experiences were statistically significant. In the open responses, students reported that their personal experiences with menstruation were largely painful and disruptive. We identified the following themes: (1) inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; (2) understocked, empty, or non-existent menstrual product dispensers; (3) a desire for additional resources for menstruation; and (4) the unpredictability of menstruation. Our findings indicate that students continue to face obstacles to menstruation management due to inadequate support related to menstrual infrastructure, products, and pain. We outline several recommendations for university/college institutions to prioritize a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all students.

Motivation for Physical Activity as a Key Determinant of Sedentary Behavior Among Postsecondary Students.

It is known that the transition to adulthood represents a critical period of life when acquiring healthy behaviors can influence lifestyle and health throughout adulthood. Given the importance of the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, identifying influence factors is key to improving healthy behaviors. The objective of this study is to explore the role of postsecondary students' motivation toward physical activity in the association with their screen time and out-of-school physical activity practice. A total of 1522 postsecondary students (90% were aged 17-20 years) recruited from 17 postsecondary institutions completed the self-reported questionnaire during course time. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the association between motivation to move including additional predictors of behavior such as intention and tendency to self-activate and self-reported screen time and physical activity controlling for age and sex. Motivation including all 3 motivational variables (interest, utility, competence) was negatively associated with screen time, b = -0.498 (95% CI between -0.635 and -0.361) and positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, b = 133.986, (95% CI between 102.129 and 165.843). Of the 3 motivational variables, interest had the strongest negative association with screen time, b = -0.434 (95% CI between -0.551 and -0.317), and the strongest positive association with physical activity, b = 113.671, (95% CI between 86.396 and 140.946). These findings indicate that the motivation of postsecondary students toward physical activity significantly influences their behaviors, including screen time and physical activity engagement.

Evaluating the level of inquiry in postsecondary instructional laboratory experiments: results of a national survey

A national survey on chemistry instructional laboratories was administered to faculty members at four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States for the purpose of exploring levels of inquiry-based instruction implemented in laboratory courses. Respondents were asked to rate the level of choice their students had in deciding six key characteristics of the experiments used in their course (e.g., what research questions to explore); the more choices students get to make, the more inquiry-based instructional experience. MANOVA and post hoc analyses suggest that there are differences in the level of inquiry across chemistry course levels; lower-level courses (i.e., general chemistry and organic chemistry) implement lower levels of inquiry-based laboratory instruction compared to upper-level courses (i.e. more chemistry major-focused courses). We found no evidence of association between the level of inquiry courses and institutions’ highest chemistry degree awarded, American Chemical Society approval to award certified bachelors degrees, or external funding to transform postsecondary chemistry courses. Our study contributes to the chemical education community's growing understanding of the state of postsecondary chemistry laboratory instruction. Results further suggest that there is an opportunity for faculty members and department leaders to reflect on their instructional laboratory courses and implement more inquiry-based instructional laboratory experiences across the entirety of the postsecondary chemistry curriculum.

Shifting Tides: The Evolution of Racial Inequality in Higher Education from the 1980s through the 2010s.

Amid the proliferation of state-level bans on race-based affirmative action in higher education, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 29, 2023, dismantled race-conscious college admission policies, intensifying concerns about the persistence and potential increase of racial inequality in higher education. The authors analyze four restricted-use national survey datasets to investigate racial disparities in college attendance outcomes from the 1980s through the 2010s. Although college entrance rates increased for all racial groups, Black and Hispanic youth became increasingly less likely than their White peers to attend four-year selective colleges. In the 2010s cohort, Black and Hispanic youth were 8 and 7 percentage points, respectively, less likely than their White counterparts to secure admission to four-year selective colleges, even after controlling for parents' income, education, and other family background variables. The findings underscore the urgent need for proactive policy interventions to address the widening racial inequality in attending selective postsecondary institutions.

Increasing Access to a Four–Year College: Impacts of a California State University Guaranteed Admission Program on College Enrollment Rates

Guaranteed admission programs are a type of college access program that provide students who meet certain criteria (e.g., a minimum GPA) with guaranteed admission to one or more colleges. This paper studies guaranteed admission agreements between California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) and its local school district to evaluate if smaller scale, local guaranteed admission programs have comparable impacts on college enrollment rates to previously studied state-wide programs. Employing a regression discontinuity (RD) design around the program’s GPA cutoff conditional on students satisfying other program requirements, this paper finds that the program significantly increased enrollment at CSUSM and at any California State University (CSU) and increased (not significantly) the likelihood of students enrolling at four-year institutions compared to two-year alternatives. In addition, the program disproportionally affected students from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., first-generation, nonwhite, and low-income backgrounds), suggesting that local guaranteed admission programs also have the potential to increase representation at four-year public institutions and encourage underrepresented students to enroll at higher-quality postsecondary institutions. KEYWORDS: Guaranteed Admission; College Enrollment; College Admissions; College Access; Higher Education; California State University; Education Policy; Local Policy

Understand service animal requirements on campus

The Office for Civil Rights has published several resolution agreements/letters of findings in 2023 involving discrimination against individuals with disabilities who use service animals. These letters can help postsecondary institutions identify common patterns of discrimination in service animal policies and help them avoid compliance issues in their own policies. This article will summarize the major 2023 OCR letters that address service animals, Section 504, and Title II.

Academic Language Development and Linguistic Discrimination

Language use within Canadian postsecondary institutions reflects ongoing neocolonialism and the privileging of European and North American English varieties. This article shares student perspectives of interactions with faculty on themes of language development and linguistic discrimination, discovered in qualitative interviews using Appreciative Inquiry methodology. Participants’ stories reveal both appreciation for supportive practices that facilitate the development of academic language skills and frustration with linguistic discrimination. Practices valued by participants include using simple and clear language, creating a comfortable environment for non-native English speakers, honouring multilingualism, and providing supportive instruction in discipline-specific language. Students also identified experiences of linguistic discrimination that resulted in academic and personal harm. In students’ stories, a tension between encouraging academic language development while avoiding discriminatory practices emerges. Paths forward in navigating this tension while challenging colonial language hierarchies may include integrating pedagogies using an academic literacies framework while also creating space for translingual practices in classrooms and institutions.

Leadership Practices in Scaling Efforts in Community Colleges

ABSTRACT Leadership in community colleges, and postsecondary institutions more broadly, plays a central role in the sustainability and scaling of promising innovations within institutions. Understanding what leaders do to support the sustainability and scaling of these innovations is crucial for helping leaders develop practices that enable them to support these efforts. Using practice theory as a guiding frame, this study sought to unveil central practices that shape efforts to scale a promising, evidence-based mathematics course within two two-year colleges. We found that executive and mid-level leaders engaged in the intertwined practices of tracking and leveraging, where they attended to institutional culture, practices, and policies, and drew on these institutional features to both constrain and enable efforts to scale. Our study highlights the power of examining practices in the day-to-day work of leaders to illuminate what leaders do to scale or inhibit innovations in their institutions.

Title IX ruling offers valuable guidance for addressing off‐campus violence

There has been another installment in the long line of court cases examining whether colleges and universities are liable for off‐campus misconduct by students. Traditionally, these cases have involved tort/negligence claims and explored whether there is a special (legal) relationship between postsecondary institutions and their students. Such cases are finding new life in Title IX law, specifically deliberate indifference claims.

Relationship Between Psychopathological Symptoms, Psychoactive Substances, And Antisocial Behaviour Among Undergraduate Students Of The University Of Lagos, Nigeria

Background Antisocial behaviour and its attendant effect are undesirable as it often negatively impacts individuals, communities, and overall social cohesion. Given that its threat to students' mental health and the smooth operation of post-secondary institutions is global, this unsettling trend has raised serious research concerns among interested stakeholders worldwide. Objective:The study assessed the relationship between psychopathological symptoms, substance abuse, alcohol use, and antisocial behaviour among undergraduate students. Method:The research utilised a cross-sectional survey method with one hundred (100) undergraduates purposively selected as participants. The Psychopathic Deviate scale, Symptom Distress Checklist (SCL-90), Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST), and Alcohol Screening Questionnaire (AUDIT) were adopted to gather data for the study. Result:The findings showed that there is a significant positive correlation (r = 0.582, p<.01) between substance abuse and antisocial behaviour; additionally, there is a significant positive correlation (r = 0.501, p<.01) between alcohol abuse and antisocial behaviour. Psychopathology factors (somatization, obsessive, interpersonal, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, neuroticism, overall SDC) and antisocial behaviour also show a significant positive correlation at (r = 0.248, p<.05; r = 0.238, p<.05; r = 0.449, p<.01; r = 0.404, p<.01; r = 0.400, p<.01; r = 0.461, p<.01; r = 0.503, p<.01; r = 0.314, p<.01; r = 0.408, p<.01; r = 0.314, p<.01 & r = 0.471, p<.01) respectively. Conclusion:The study concluded that psychopathological symptoms and substance and alcohol abuse are positively associated with antisocial behaviour, thus likely to induce antisocial behaviour among undergraduates in Nigeria.

Sowing the Seed

The history and mission of Burman University, a small faith-based post-secondary institution located in Lacombe, Alberta, is a story of faith and optimism. Its story can be best understood within the history and ethos of Seventh-day Adventist higher education. As the school was established in 1907, it has transformed itself through several stages into a university with programs fully approved by Campus Alberta Quality Council. For more than a century the institution has resided on the “hilltop” and has seen many alumni make positive impact in the world. The institution has experienced challenges, has worked through them with resilience, while maintaining its strong Christian ethos. As the campus statue of The Sower illustrates, seeds that have been sown on campus have resulted in reapings of generations of young people whose lives have been transformed and who, in turn, have helped transform the world.

The forensic educational outreach initiative – Bridging the gap between education and workplace

Skills and knowledge gaps frequently exist between forensic educational programs and practical forensic laboratory needs. An educational outreach project involving three post-secondary academic institutions and a large multidisciplinary forensic laboratory was created to provide lectures to students, enable mentorship with forensic scientists, and provide an interactive experience within the forensic laboratory. Mentorship mixer exercises encouraged meaningful interactions between students and scientists, creating opportunities for practical discussion on employment requirements, optimal class selections based on students’ interests and forensic science requirements, and better understanding of the daily tasks and duties of operational forensic scientists. Feedback from students, professors, and forensic mentors have resulted in program improvements which will inform the educational outreach initiative going forward, including broader community outreach.

Potential Benefits of Information Technology Trends in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

In recent years, research on the possible applications of IT trends in tertiary institutions has grown significantly. This review focuses on the impact of numerous IT trends on tertiary education. The main objective of this review is to give a general overview of 45 related published articles sourced from five research databases between 2015 and 2023. The review discusses a variety of IT trends, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing (CC), the internet of things (IoT), data analytics and big data, cybersecurity, and virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), and how it improve communication and collaboration. It also discusses how big data analytics is used to make better decisions, integrate AI into tertiary institutions, the potential of mobile learning apps, and how virtual reality is used in science education, cloud computing implications, and gamification applications. The review also shows how IT trends are becoming increasingly significant in changing how students learn at postsecondary institutions. The results demonstrate how learning management systems increase student engagement, while social media platforms have the ability to promote communication and collaboration. Additionally, the combination of artificial intelligence and big data analytics has exciting prospects for data-driven decision-making and individualised learning. Innovative methods to improve student learning and engagement are made possible by the use of virtual reality technology and mobile learning applications. The use of blockchain technology at tertiary institutions demonstrates its potential in fields like secure record-keeping and credentialing. The use of gamification also opens up new opportunities for boosting student engagement and motivation. at the final section, the effects of cloud computing at tertiary institutions are critically analysed, with an emphasis on the advantages and difficulties of cloud-based solutions.

إجراءات تطبيق عمليات ضمان وضبط الجودة في الجامعات اليمنية من وجهة نظر القيادات الاكاديمية وأعضاء هيئة التدريس

This study displays the Yemen experience in the field of quality assurance and academic accreditation for post secondary institutions to build on when constructing quality assurance and academic accreditation for general education. It aims at identifying the implementation level of postsecondary institutions of evaluation activities required for quality assurance and academic accreditation through the opinions of those who are in charge of this process and others involved in it. It also aims at identifying needs that help in applying quality assurance in post-secondary institutions in Yemen Arabia، hurdles faced، and proposing suitable solutions at the individual، institutional، and system levels. The two researchers have applied a questionnaire at purposeful sample consisting of those who are in charge of evaluation and quality assurance activates and those interested in it at their universities. Interviews were also conducted to specify the practicing level of evaluation for individuals، programs، and institutions، and its barriers. Results showed that there are differences amongst the universities in regard to implementing evaluation and tools for quality assurance and accreditation purposes. The main implementation barriers were the lack of sufficient knowledge and training. The researchers stressed the necessity of adopting capacity building model to assess training needs for individuals، programs، and institutions. This model can be used to design graded and detailed training programs that fit each university، and the implementation and monitoring of it should happen at each university site.

Research on university‐based Spanish heritage language programs in the United States: The state of affairs in 2022

AbstractResearch on Spanish heritage language (SHL) education has grown exponentially in the last two decades. The most recent nationwide study on SHL programs in US postsecondary institutions was conducted a decade ago. To continue this line of research, the primary aim of this study is to provide an update about the current state of SHL course offerings at 4‐year universities in the United States. SHL programs can promote academic success for Latinx students who see their language and culture asserted. In turn, valuing their heritage language skills and supporting their language development can help Latinx students expand their multilingual abilities for use with their families and communities, as well as in professional contexts. Results reveal that the last decade (2012–2022) witnessed tremendous increase in the availability of SHL programs, although some of the challenges reported in prior research still remain nationwide.