The spread of examination throughout educational institutions is often viewed as an overly constraining influence, one that distorts pedagogic relationships and prevents more genuine educational activities from taking place. This critique of examination ignores the extent to which the structure of the school and the soul of the child are already…

International doctoral students in the United States face challenges of acculturation in academia yet complete graduate school at higher rates and more quickly than their domestic counterparts. This study examined advisor support, sense of belonging, and academic self-concept among international and domestic doctoral students at a research…

This article presents a grounded theory of "integration of learning" among traditional aged college students, which is characterized by the demonstrated ability to link various skills and knowledge learned in a variety of contexts. The author analyzed 194 interviews with students at liberal arts colleges to investigate empirically the ways…

The competitive dynamics that sustain stratification among postsecondary institutions have reinforced racial inequality in selective college enrollment between 1972 and 2004. Using a data set constructed from four nationally representative surveys (National Longitudinal Survey 1972, High School & Beyond 1980, National Educational Longitudinal…

Age patterns of secondary certification and college entry differ in complex and surprising ways for traditional graduates and GED recipients. Although GED recipients are less likely to enter college in their late teens, they catch up to traditional graduates in their 20s. Results show that adjusting for differences in the age trajectories of…

Many higher education studies use self-reported gains as indicators of college student learning and development. However, the evidence regarding the validity of these indicators is quite mixed. It is proposed that the temporal nature of the assessment--whether students are asked to report their current attributes or how their attributes have…

Recent developments in cognitive science and linguistics provide strong evidence that understanding decision-making processes in higher education requires close attention to not only rational and consciously controlled dynamics but also those aspects that are less consciously controlled than previously assumed. When deciding to favor or reject…

The purpose of this case study is to investigate the decision-making processes of 12 high-achieving rural Mexican immigrant high school students. Ethnographic data are collected over 18 months, and the investigation is guided by structuration theory. The strength of using structuration theory is that it opens up the possibility for exploring how…

Using Mississippi and North Carolina as cases, the author examines progress made toward the desegregation of enrollments in public colleges and universities. Enrollment trends are analyzed in the context of contemporary social, legal, and educational policy initiatives intended to desegregate dual systems of public higher education. Despite more…

Chinese Americans' high levels of educational achievement have earned them attention as a "model minority" to be emulated by underachieving and underrepresented minority groups. However, the model minority analogy does not adequately explain how this achievement is realized, nor how such information can be used to help other groups close the…

Interviews with 40 recently tenured university professors indicated that scholarly work is emotional in content; it draws on scholars' emotional resources. Yet, discourse about scholarship's personal and emotional meanings is uncommon, given historic separations (reified in university policy) between emotional and cognitive work and between…

Despite the many studies of student departure, colleges and universities continue to face difficulties in retaining underrepresented student populations. The authors argue that contemporary social integration and multicultural theories of student retention theory do not adequately address the academic needs of underrepresented students of color.…

Attacks on the legitimacy of affirmative action pose new challenges for public universities committed to creating a diverse student population without considering race or ethnicity as factors in admissions. On the basis of a case study of the controversy surrounding the building of a charter school at the University of California, San Diego, in…

Evaluated the glass ceiling hypothesis in relation to Asian American faculty using data from the 1993 National Study of Post-Secondary Faculty for 1,019 Asian American faculty members. Data limitations prevent concluding that such faculty do or do not face a glass ceiling; however, baseline findings for future research are established. (SLD)

Presents an analysis of affirmative action policy that takes into account students vastly different social contexts of choice. Defends affirmative action as necessary because of its role in combating oppressive educational structures, fostering more favorable social contexts of choice for students, and thus supporting self-determination.…