A study examined, through extensive interviews, the academic, social, and racial experiences of high-achieving black students in a merit-based scholarship program for minority students in math, science, and engineering. Interviews focused on academic experiences in and outside the classroom, social interactions and relationships with…

Looks at how contracts impact on college faculty incentives to produce at high levels of quality and quantity. Focus is on the organizational and structural conditions that accompany tenure systems in academic organizations, on the associated motivational climate that is produced by either tenure or contract systems, and on the effect of…

Argues that despite good intentions, Ernest Boyer's "Scholarship Reconsidered" fails as an analysis of and recipe for change in the university because it ignores the broader socioeconomic context within which it functions. Another conceptual model for promoting real change in the university, using a systems approach, is offered, and implications…

Disputes the common stereotype that adult students are less effective and less successful as students because they are adults. Finds no evidence in the literature that they lack the skills for effective study, experience learning difficulties because of age-related impairment in intellectual capabilities, or perform less well academically than…

A study examined correlations between Scholastic Assessment Test scores and measures of cognitive skills, college adjustment, and motivation among 48 minority students in engineering education, all participating in a support program for students having academic difficulty. Results suggest that lack of positive interactions with teachers plays a…

A study used longitudinal data and data from a survey of faculty at the same institution to explore the relative influence of student peer groups and faculty reference groups on students' sociopolitical attitudes. Results are consistent with earlier work indicating that peer norms are more instrumental than faculty norms in influencing student…

A study investigated which undergraduate institutions and institution types graduate the largest proportion of successful women (defined by achievement of a doctoral degree or mention in who's who publications) from different ethnic/racial groups, and the institutional factors associated with this success. School characteristics and the top 10…

A study investigated the influence of academic discipline (biology, mathematics, psychology, history), gender, age, highest degree earned, and administrative experience on the espousal of community college teaching norms held by 265 community college faculty. Results indicate gender, discipline, and professional experience exert statistically…

Analysis of National Postsecondary Student Aid Study data for 11,000 students in loan programs at 1,400 institutions found borrowers with similar earned degrees, marital status, number of dependent children, showed similar levels of income/loan default, regardless of racial/ethnic group. Findings dispute national policy and suggest that campuses…

Analysis of data from a longitudinal study of high-ability, college-bound minority students, based on Scholastic Assessment Test scores, determined the effects of background and school variables on status five years later. Commitment to science during the sophomore year and availability of minority support systems were among several important…

Examines college student activism of the 1990s organized around multicultural issues using case studies of protests at five institutions--Mills College (California), University of California at Los Angeles, Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University (New Jersey), Michigan State University. Identity politics is highlighted as a key student…

Using direct observation and detailed activity accounts, a study documented how English and physics faculty at two universities accomplished teaching and research simultaneously. Individual faculty integrated teaching and research between 8% and 34% of their work time. English faculty integrated research more with classroom teaching; physics…

A study examined how three Oklahoma institutions (Langston University, Tulsa Community College, University of Central Oklahoma) implemented a specific remedial education policy enacted by the state coordinating board for certain students. The analysis demonstrates how institutional actors ascribed sense to the goals, assumptions, and expectations…

Proposes that higher education scholars distinguish among professional subjects taught to undergraduates as they do among traditional disciplines. Other distinctions may be more meaningful than the research-based dimensions used in the popular Biglan classification. A framework for differentiating collegiate career fields is proposed, evidence…

A study investigated students' classroom interaction in 16 courses at a small extension campus of Indiana University Purdue University Columbus. Results indicate attendance patterns, student age, week in the semester, course level, and time of day were significant predictors of student interaction level. Impact of gender and instructor gender was…