Survey data are widely used in higher education for purposes such as assessment and strategic planning. One of the most common ways of using surveys has been to assess student learning outcomes by means of proxy questions on a survey, assuming that students who engage in specific behaviors (called engagement) have learned more during college than…

Correlations between self-reported learning gains and direct, longitudinal measures that ostensibly correspond in content area are generally inadequate. This chapter clarifies that self-reported measures of learning are more properly used and interpreted as evidence of students' perceived learning and affective outcomes. In this context, the…

Decades of research in survey methodology and psychology have yielded important insights about how to create effective and valid survey instruments. As Porter (in press) has argued convincingly, college student surveys often fall well short of these standards by placing unrealistic demands on students' memory and by assuming that students readily…

The U.S. federal government identifies many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors as "areas of national need" that are "crucial to national innovation, competitiveness, and well-being and in which not enough students complete degrees." Underrepresentation of women in STEM in the United States has economic consequences, both…

Although more women than men are enrolled in college within the United States, women remain underrepresented in critical areas of study such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This is particularly concerning given that STEM fields of study are vital to the economic growth and workforce development within the United…

This article focuses specifically on one type of undergraduate intervention and its contribution to facilitating success for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): the living-learning program (LLP). LLPs are a type of learning community best described as curricular linkages designed to provide students with a deeper and…

The low representation of females in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields remains a concern for the U.S. economy. Although America is still positioned with a disproportionate share of the world's finest universities--particularly research universities--the reputation of the United States as having the most-prepared…

For more than three decades, women have outnumbered men in college enrollments, yet they are less likely to graduate and enter a career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). Even though women have made notable gains in social sciences, psychology, and biological and agricultural sciences, significant disparities still persist…

The rate of doctoral degree completion, compared to all other degrees, is the lowest in the academy, with only 57 percent of doctoral students completing their degree within a ten-year period. In the science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) fields, 62 percent of the male students complete their doctoral degree in ten years, which is better than…

Scholars have theorized and examined women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields for well over thirty years. However, much of this research has paid little attention to issues of racial and ethnic diversity among women, suggesting that all women have the same experiences in STEM. Women of color…

Although both domestic U.S. and international statistics on population demographics within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields indicate overall gains and more even representation among various groups, caution must be taken to interpret these gains as suggesting blanket improvement in underrepresentation issues. When…

One way to understand the college student experience is the generational approach, which examines the characteristics and attitudes of cohorts across different periods in history. Terms such as "baby boomers," "generation X," and "millennials" convey powerful images that characterize different generations according to who they are and what they…

Given the high rate at which students report participation in cocurricular group experiences during college, it becomes critical to have a clear understanding of how these experiences related to both one another and educational outcomes. Existing research examined specific types of group experiences or simple involvement in general, failing to…

Students use the community college in a wide variety of ways to achieve an equally wide variety of ends. Some of these ends align closely with institutional goals, priorities, and performance indicators, and others do not. Consequently a typology of community college students based on their use of the institution has the potential to be of great…

Decades of studies on the educational value of faculty-student interaction have led to two straightforward conclusions: (1) interactions between faculty members and students have positive effects on student outcomes; and (2) such interactions do not occur as regularly as educators might hope. This article presents a typology of faculty-student…