Black children today fight to define their own futurity beyond the myth of low aspirations -- a dominant societal ideology which limits Black success to careers in professional sports and entertainment and blames Black families and communities for devaluing education. Informed by career aspiration research and qualitative methodologies, this study…

Background: Political scientists have repeatedly argued that politicians' behaviour can be influenced by their beliefs about their constituents' ability to hold them accountable. Yet, how such accountability beliefs affect politicians' information processing or behaviour remains understudied. Aims and objectives: I investigate how accountability…

Literacy practices play a catalytic role in equipping girls with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to make qualitative improvements on their lives. This paper reports on a qualitative study that identified existing literacy practices and the support available to enable the development of literacies among girls. Interviews and…

An incongruence exists between the growing job opportunities in rural areas and the educational opportunities provided to rural students, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Positive change is possible, however. As one means to tackle this complex issue, this study sought to understand the perceptions and…

Through yarning and storying led by Aboriginal researchers, this study explores the success factors for Indigenous PhD Graduates. Participants comprised 21 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who had completed their PhDs within the last 7 years. Our thematic analysis uncovered themes associated with participants' decision to enrol as a…

Drawing from Latinx studies and the literacy experiences of men employed as university custodial staff, we propose a home- and community-based approach to workplace literacy. The central goals of this approach are to allow participants to identify their professional and vocational literacies to highlight their literate assets and goals across…

The purpose for conducting the study was to describe the community, personal experiences, and life events of individuals from rural Arkansas communities in developing their decisions to attend college and how the community impacted their successful enrollment at the University of Arkansas. Specifically, the study set out to explore how rural…

American community colleges are typically public 2-year higher education institutions with a history and mission of providing educational access to the people in the communities in which they are located and serve. Nationally community colleges continue to become more diverse, providing increased access especially for the socioeconomically…

According to the U.S. Refugee Processing Center (RPC), over three million refugees have resettled in the United States since 1975 (U.S. Dept. of State, 2018). The purpose of this research was to obtain a deeper understanding of what refugees learn through their cultural experiences as they adjust to their new surroundings. Viewed through the…

Rural students' college attendance rates continue to lag behind their non-rural counterparts (Ardoin, 2018; Barr, 2018; Byun et al., 2012; Byun et al., 2015; Byun et al., 2017; Friesen & Purc-Stephenson, 2016; Hlinka et al., 2018; Longhurst, 2014; McDonough et al., 2010; Morton et al., 2018; Tieken, 2016). While the body of research…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of first-generation Black women who completed at least a bachelor's degree without student loans. While Black women are most burdened by student loan debt, little is known about the experiences of those who navigate college without accruing student loans. Combining endarkened…

In the United States, one unresearched or undiscussed immigrant population is immigrant parents of children with disabilities. Research shows that immigrant parents of deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) children migrate to the US to find better opportunities, resources, and services for their D/HH children and an environment in which their D/HH…

The African American population has faced adversity in the United States in many ways since the arrival of their first known ancestors in Jamestown in 1619. This narrative of systemic oppression creates obstacles and challenges for this people group even today. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the researcher, who has a long…

Movements have been the driving force of social change through most of human history. Yet despite the important impacts that movements had in the past that led to a more just present, most Americans generally hold low opinions of movements. The authors see this as a major failing of history education. The authors argue for a need to center the…

Many higher education institutions review the disciplinary and criminal history of applicants to assess potential threats and ensure a safe learning community in the college admissions process. This review is often criticized for exacerbating the opportunity gap and racial disparities for marginalized populations and creating barriers to college…