Underrepresented Student Groups Research Articles

Dual enrollment equity pathways: A research‐based framework for expanding college and career opportunity for underserved students

AbstractThis article introduces “dual enrollment equity pathways” (DEEP)—a research‐based framework for rethinking à la carte dual enrollment as a more equitable on‐ramp to college programs of study that lead to high‐opportunity careers for students historically underserved in dual enrollment. Using interview data collected from six sites (six community colleges and 12 of their high school partners) that have expanded access and early college success of underrepresented student groups through à la carte dual enrollment, the manuscript describes key themes and emerging evidence of DEEP related to each of the four practice areas of the DEEP framework: (1) outreach to underserved students and schools; (2) aligning dual enrollment to college degrees and careers in fields of interest; (3) early career and academic exploration, advising, and planning; and (4) high‐quality college instruction and academic support. The chapter concludes with considerations for how the DEEP framework influences dual enrollment practice.

Getting across the finish line: how to boost completion rates for underrepresented student groups

ABSTRACT There remains a gap in college completion rates for Black and Hispanic students. Universities have focused on creating a diverse student body (peer effects), a diverse faculty (role model effects) and on providing resources to boost completion rates. This paper tests these effects in a panel data set of 9800 observations from 1493 universities over 2011–2018. Regression results show peer effects disappear when role model effects are included suggesting that previous literature testing only peer effects could be suffering from omitted variable bias. Faculty salaries and the percentage of full-time faculty are also highly significant in helping close the gap.

What Happens After Nomination? Evaluating the Probability of Gifted Identification With the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is the most widely used norm-referenced creativity test used in gifted identification. Although commonly used for identifying talent, little is known about how creativity tests, like the TTCT-Figural, contribute to the probability of being identified as gifted especially with underrepresented populations. Using nominated students ( n = 1,191) from a diverse midsized urban school district, this study examined the differential predictive validity among student demographics (i.e., race/ethnicity, free/reduced price lunch status, English learning status, sex) and the TTCT-Figural to the probability of being identified as gifted. Results of a multilevel hierarchical generalized linear regression indicated underrepresented groups showed no difference in the probability of being identified after controlling for cognitive ability and academic achievement; the same was true when the TTCT-Figural was included within the model. The inclusion of the TTCT-Figural does contribute to the probability of identification; however, the disproportionality of underrepresented student groups remains in this school district. Gifted administrators looking to enhance equity may not find the solution with the mere inclusion of a creativity assessment. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.

Math Attitudes and Identity of High Schoolers Impacted through Participating in Informal, Near-peer Mentoring

Research in mentoring has shown that students may at times be more willing and able to absorb information that is delivered to them by their near-peers, rather than by traditional figures of authority, like teachers and professors. In this study, underrepresented minority high school students participated in an informal learning experience that was led by college students who were "near-peers" to the high schoolers. Students were engaged by participating in interactive MathShows, following a Math Social Media Campaign, and attending a summer Math Internship. Participants in the quantitative component of the study included N = 559 U.S. high schoolers who were from predominantly (99%) Hispanic ethnic backgrounds. The qualitative component of the study involved another 19 students from the same school. The mixed methods study addresses associations between high schoolers’ attitudes toward mathematics and their identity alignment, as well as classes of reasons that students gave for their identity alignment. Interactions with the college near-peers that occurred during the experiential learning intervention are also discussed. Results of this study address the goal of broadening participation of underrepresented student groups in STEM careers.

STEPS, LEAPS and bounds: Is there a recipe for success?

The development of a student identity as it relates to the transition of commencing students to higher education has long been identified in the literature as essential to success. As importantly, the existence of a sense of belonging has been considered key to transition and success and the formation of a student identity. Less prominent in the literature, the newly articulated notion of mattering has evolved from and is currently challenging the concept of student belonging. Mattering offers a broader understanding of what it means to have students in transition believe they are important, that they matter to the institution of study. The notion of mattering resonates strongly with the authors as transition educators. This paper draws on the work of Lizzio (2006) and MacFarlane (2018) to consider the essential ingredients any preparatory course should include to successfully transition underrepresented groups of students to study at the award level. A comparison of the STEPS course in the Australian context to LEAPS in the Scottish context provided avenue to propose a five-tenet framework as a possible recipe for success to best support the transition of an increasingly diverse group of students aspiring to university study. The paper explores the ways in which the courses effectively assist preparatory students develop a foundational student identity which is crucial to successful study in higher education, particularly in the initial stages of engagement. In doing so, it positions the philosophical underpinnings and the pedagogical practices currently adopted by both the STEPS and LEAPS courses as successfully embracing the tenets proposed within the framework.

Understanding History, Building Trust, and Sharing Appraisal Authority: Engaging Underrepresented Student Groups through Culture Centers

Appraisal of student records is an essential part of building a complete narrative of a university’s history. Within this process, it is important to capture the experiences of underrepresented student groups. A rich source of documentation of both student life and campus diversity comes from the records produced by university cultural student clubs, cultural houses, and sororities and fraternities with historically BIPOC membership. The formation, activities, and dissolution of cultural student organizations can help to shape an understanding of a university’s demographic, social, and political history. Working with and building relationships with organization advisors and student members is important for forming good appraisal decisions about the records they produce. This article examines two case studies of appraisal projects involving the Ethnic Student Center at Western Washington University and the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It also includes an analysis of the appraisal of records of cultural student organizations and discusses the importance of working with stakeholders and understanding ownership of records.

Virtual internships in open and distance learning contexts: Improving access, participation, and success for underrepresented students

This study at The Open University in the United Kingdom examined the effectiveness of specifying internship opportunities for underrepresented student groups in two faculties. Our data, gathered through intern focus groups and supervisor interviews, demonstrate that the virtual internship scheme has been successful from both intern and supervisor perspectives, providing flexible and supportive opportunities which help interns to develop transferable skills and confidence. The virtual internship approach therefore provides opportunities for large-scale distance learning institutions to routinely offer work experience to their students, supported by the further development of effective remote working practices. Unexpected benefits of this program emerged through the staff-student partnerships developed in university-based internships. Future research will focus on mechanisms to further improve and scale up the virtual internship program to enhance access for underrepresented students and to explore how virtuality contributes to new perspectives of employability.

Self-selection from higher education: a meta-review of resources for academic decision-making of mainstream and underrepresented students

ABSTRACT Self-selection refers to the decision of qualified students to not pursue their highest possible educational degree, including higher education. In this systematic meta-review, we used the conceptual framework of college choice to identify resources or mechanisms for students’ self-selection from higher education in international reviews and meta-analyses. In addition, we investigate whether underrepresented student groups (i.e., first-generation and cultural minority) experience unique resources and mechanisms for self-selection. Our narrative synthesis of international reviews and meta-analyses indicated that self-selection is related to financial, informational, social, aspirational resources in all contextual layers (i.e. individual habitus, school and community, higher education, socio-political context) of the conceptual framework of college choice. Whereas the family can help prevent self-selection by providing all four types of resources, school and higher education institutions can provide important information and social support through counselling and mentoring activities. For underrepresented groups, vertical and horizontal transmissions of social capital and experienced personal fit with the higher education environment may be of special importance for preventing self-selection. We conclude by discussing the potential of self-selection as concept for future interventions and research on widening access to higher education.

Engaging Underrepresented Groups Through Appraisal and Accessioning

 Appraisal of student records is an essential part of building a complete narrative of a university's history. Within this process, it is important to capture the experiences of underrepresented student groups. A rich source of documentation of both student life and campus diversity comes from the records produced by university ethnic student clubs, cultural houses, and sororities and fraternities with historically minority membership. The formation activities, and dissolution of ethnic student organizations can help to shape an understanding of a university's demographic, social, and political history. Working with and building relationships with organization advisors and student members is important to forming good appraisal decisions of the records they produce. This paper will examine examples from appraisal projects with the Ethnic Student Center at Western Washington University and the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It will also include an analysis of the appraisal of records from ethnic student organizations, discuss the importance of working with stakeholders, and understanding ownership of records. 

Skills for Success? Supporting transition into higher education for students from diverse backgrounds.

Effective support during transition into higher education (HE) can be crucial, especially for traditionally under-represented student groups. Student feedback that the traditional 'welcome week' can be overwhelming due to the quantity and speed of information imparted, coupled with the request for increased support for non-academic skills, led to the development of the 'Skills for Success' (SfS) extended transition support unit. Co-devised with the student body and delivered by a range of academic, clinical and professional support staff, SfS was highly regarded by students, with particular impact reported on mental health and motivation to achieve. Following the introduction of SfS, attainment differences were closed or reversed, in the academic module within which the unit was embedded, for students who were mature, reported a mental health condition, or were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Independent evaluation revealed the initiative had raised awareness of how to access support services and almost half the participants had shared aspects of the learning with peers outside of the cohort. Overall, the success of SfS suggests that an extended package of integrated, holistic support can ease transition into HE and may improve the attainment of students from under-represented groups.

Evaluating validity and bias for hand-calculated and automated written expression curriculum-based measurement scores

ABSTRACT Written expression curriculum-based measurement (WE-CBM) is a formative assessment approach for screening and progress monitoring. To extend evaluation of WE-CBM, we compared hand-calculated and automated scoring approaches in relation to the number of screening samples needed per student for valid scores, the long-term predictive validity and diagnostic accuracy of scores, and predictive and diagnostic bias for underrepresented student groups. Second- to fifth-grade students (n = 609) completed five WE-CBM tasks during one academic year and a standardised writing test in fourth and seventh grade. Averaging WE-CBM scores across multiple samples improved validity. Complex hand-calculated metrics and automated tools outperformed simpler metrics for the long-term prediction of writing performance. No evidence of bias was observed between African American and Hispanic students. The study will illustrate the absence of test bias as necessary condition for fair and equitable screening procedures and the importance of future research to include comparisons with majority groups.

Summer Science Academy in Chemistry as a Gateway to STEM for Matriculating First-Generation and Other Underrepresented Students

We report a program for a summer science academy in chemistry, a section of the Chicago Academic Achievement Program (CAAP) at the University of Chicago, as a gateway to STEM for incoming first-generation students and other underrepresented student groups. Our program emphasized diversity in classrooms, students’ psychological safety and a sense of belonging to STEM, increased knowledge base, and overall college readiness. On the basis of feedback from participating students, the reported summer science academy in chemistry successfully prepared and motivated the CAAP scholars toward a STEM career direction.

Inclusive Higher Education Access for Underrepresented Groups: It Matters, But How Can Universities Measure It?

Measuring access to higher education for underrepresented groups is a relevant yet challenging task. The article shows that while social inclusion is recognised as a priority, policymakers, academics, and institutional leaders struggle to define, operationalise, and measure it. This makes answering the question of what constitutes a socially inclusive higher education institution quite difficult. While the answer to this question may be context‐specific, there is a clear need for a set of commonly defined indicators that allow higher education institutions to measure their progress throughout time and in relation to others. The article synthesises insights from policy, practise, and scientific research to identify which indicators are the most promising for assessing the access of under‐representative students to higher education. By discussing indicator relevance, validity and feasibility, the article contributes to the quest for internationally comparable social inclusion indicators of underrepresented student groups.

Expanding Student Success: The Impact of a Comprehensive College Transition Program on Psychosocial Outcomes

This study examines the impact of a comprehensive college transition program, the Thompson Scholars Learning Communities (TSLC), on psychosocial outcomes using an experimental design. We estimate overall and heterogenous effects of program participation on students’ sense of belonging to campus, feelings of mattering to campus, sense of academic self-efficacy, and sense of social self-efficacy. Participation in TSLC, as compared to receiving a substantial college scholarship without comprehensive support, leads to large increases in both mattering and sense of belonging to campus during students’ two years in the program. We find no impact of TSLC participation on students’ academic or social self-efficacy. We demonstrate the program effects on students’ feelings of mattering to campus were largest for traditionally underrepresented student groups; however, we find no evidence of heterogeneous effects on students’ sense of belonging to campus, academic self-efficacy, or social self-efficacy. Our findings suggest that comprehensive college transition programs can promote students’ psychosocial outcomes.

Trilateral partnership: An institution and students’ union collaborative partnership project to support underrepresented student groups

This case study describes a staff-student partnership project from the perspective of three staff members based across independent departments within a UK higher education institution (HEI) and its students’ union. The authors, drawing upon an intersecting passion for advancing student equality, diversity, inclusion, widening participation and student engagement, developed a cross-collaborative and student-centred partnership project to create a series of guides specifically for underrepresented student groups. The guides, which sought to provide appropriate information and guidance in order to actively enhance students’ overall experience whilst navigating university life, were developed and co-created through lived student experience. This case study critically reflects upon this form of partnership, along with its benefits and challenges, and considers its contribution to literature on staff-student partnership beyond the formal realm of learning and teaching.

Facing the pandemic: Considering partnerships for widening participation in higher education in Australia

This thought piece provides reflection on how universities can better engage with diverse learners and support underrepresented student groups, in the face of a pandemic. COVID‐19 has, and will continue to have, a profound impact on access to higher education. Students from underrepresented backgrounds are the most adversely affected by school closures, shifts to remote learning and shifting higher education policy environments. Whilst the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be fully realised, early international research is indicating that for students from underrepresented backgrounds there are risks to long‐term educational disengagement (Drane et al., 2020), barriers to accessing learning through technology (Montacute, 2020) and uncertainty over post‐school futures (The Smith Family, 2020). Whilst these challenges are not new, they are exacerbated and have the potential to widen inequalities within the education system and between students. This piece explores the role of universities in empowering underrepresented groups of students to access higher education in the face of a pandemic, with a specific focus on how partnerships have been understood and constructed in this environment.

Immunology that supports STEM participation for High School students

Abstract The global burden of cancer is growing. The impact on Pacific communities living in New Zealand (NZ) and in the Pacific Region is significant and remains of concern. Pacific Peoples in NZ and in the Region remain overrepresented in adverse health statistics and outcomes. To improve health outcomes for Pacific communities, various strategies that include increasing the Pacific Health workforce have been proposed. These career pathways require participation in STEM and health related courses at high school and higher education learning levels. Pacific students remain underrepresented amongst these groups. This work sought to use Immunology based examples for improving the interest, engagement and participation of underrepresented student groups in High School the science laboratory. A teaching session was organized to include cancer related Immunology teaching content that was associated with subsequent laboratory workshop activities and was presented by a Pacific Biomedical Scientist. A question and answer was also set-up for the students to support their STEM learning in this context. Feedback indicated students who attended the teaching session found the Immunology related content helpful for their understanding of the overall STEM related laboratory and workshop content. Enthusiastic in-class interactions and engagement was observed. This work demonstrated the value of designing an in-class/laboratory environment that supports positive interactions and participation by students, by incorporating Immunology within the laboratory focus that is appropriately delivered and contextualized.

Online Learning Readiness

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between student characteristics of online learning readiness and student outcomes in online courses at two higher educational institution. Data were collected from student surveys (student characteristics of readiness and outcomes) and merged with institutional student information systems data (e.g., demographics and course grades). Multiple regression analyses revealed that several student characteristics of online learning readiness significantly influenced student outcomes. MANOVA analyses were conducted to examine between group differences of each student characteristics among underrepresented student groups. Significant findings are reported for minorities and for students with disabilities.

Service-Learning and First-Generation University Students: A Conceptual Exploration of the Literature

Background: Despite increased access to higher education in recent decades, first-generation (first-gen) university students continue to face challenges with persistence and completion. Recommended responses by universities include exposing these students to “high-impact” educational practices. Purpose: This article examines the potential of one of these practices—service-learning—to address the disadvantages faced by first-gen students. Methodology/Approach: We review the literature on first-gen students and service-learning and offer a conceptual critique of dominant approaches. Findings/Conclusions: Dominant conceptions of service-learning treat first-gen students as a homogeneous, deficient group and reduce learning to an input-environment-output model. We argue for a more conceptually nuanced understanding of the reasons for the cultural mismatch often experienced by underrepresented groups of students. Implications: The conceptual resources offered in this article are intended to help researchers and policy makers undertake research that captures the diversity and richness of students’ lives and leads to more equitable practices.

Key Factors Influencing Retention Rates Among Historically Underrepresented Students Groups in STEM Fields

In this study, we identified factors influencing completion rates (graduation) of undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We used hierarchical, logistic, and linear regression models to analyze the data and found significant predictor variable interactions across various underrepresented versus well-represented student groups. We asked six research questions, three involving two- and three-way interactions between STEM completion, underrepresented groups, and predictor variables and three involving two- and three-way interactions among time spent for graduation, predictor variables, and underrepresented groups. We found that female STEM students completed their degree in significantly less time than their male counterparts ( p < .001) and that for every 1 point increase in second-year grade point average, length of time to complete the bachelor’s degree decreased by 1.68 years. These and other findings can be used by institutions to help focus retention intervention efforts on those critical and significant predictors of STEM degree completion of underrepresented groups.