In this article, I offer a critical reading of the higher education field-imaginary and its orienting assumptions, inspired by decolonial and abolitionist critiques. These critiques identify the constitutive and ongoing violence that underwrites modern institutions of higher education and, thus, the higher education field itself. In so doing, they…

This multiple-site case study of 24 intermediary organizations (IOs) engaged in postsecondary public policy examined how they identify policy issues and move issues, problems, and solutions onto the higher education policy agenda. Specifically, this study used agenda-setting theory to examine how IOs construct higher education policy issues,…

Students feel race across the emotional spectrum--from hate to joy to despair to sadness. This article is an invitation to take seriously, highlight, and analyze Black joy, in particular, through Black students' recreation and celebration at a historically White campus. The author explores Black joy in two main ways. First, the author provides a…

Building on literature addressing doctoral student socialization and scientific research groups, we qualitatively explore the gendered nature of laboratory rotations for 54 women pursuing STEM doctorates. Using in-depth interviews and a feminist phenomenological approach, findings highlight how women (re)constructed strategies to select lab…

Student affairs professionals are often called upon to act as first-responders to students experiencing trauma, leaving them exposed to secondary traumatic stress. In this study, I used phenomenological methods supported by an arts-based research exercise to explore the experiences and meaning making processes of student affairs professionals who…

In this study I explored the experiences of institutional actors (e.g. administrators, faculty and staff members) responsible for student success efforts at research universities. Through Critical Discourse Analysis of interview transcripts and institutional documents, I traced how neoliberalism and other economic logics propagated through the…

Although socioeconomic disparities in college enrollment have declined, gaps in college completion persist by income and geography. We investigate a text messaging campaign in West Virginia, which addressed informational barriers and behavioral obstacles to college persistence by providing college students with simplified information,…

A large and growing population of students with autism is increasingly pursuing higher education. Yet, the field has a remarkably small literature base from which to glean actionable insights that might enhance postsecondary success for this population. The examination of 13,000 items published in sixteen journals over a sixteen-year period…

Amid diminishing funding for higher education, public universities' practices increasingly reflect neoliberal mandates and discourses. This study examines the effects of this trend on a Hispanic-Serving Institution, whose original mission was one of access and inclusion, but which shifted to pursue "tier-one" status. Interviews with 41…

Dual credit coursework has become a popular strategy to bolster the college completion agenda, yet research on program implementation is scarce. This qualitative interview study uses complexity theory to investigate how 103 teachers enacted dual credit at eight high schools partnered with a community college system in Texas. Findings demonstrate…

We examined 10 years of scholarship about campus sexual violence from 12 social sciences databases to illuminate the trends, gaps, and possibilities in research. Using a content analysis methodology, we examined 540 articles. In this paper, we highlight the methodologies, subjects, and demographics of participants in the studies. We use a…

This critical qualitative study examines the ways first-generation Students of Color (Latina/o/x, African American, Native American, and biracial) at two predominantly White institutions in the Midwest activate their college knowledge, or cultural capital, to assist youth from their communities in viewing higher education as a viable option. In…

Using a feminist geography framework, this qualitative study explores the first-year postsecondary experiences of Appalachian women through an interrogation of the ways in which they construct place and gender through their transition between two distinct geographic places: the home community and the university. A diversity of gender and place…

In this article, taken from the 2019 ASHE Presidential address, Kristen A. Renn argues that to stay relevant and also to influence the direction of postsecondary education, there must be engagement in the will to reimagine the study of higher education. She discusses the challenges and opportunities for the future bound up in the fact that higher…

The authors explored the relationship between subjective social class (SSC) and subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive/negative affect) to examine whether self-esteem would mediate this relationship for 275 college students and whether such mediation would be affected by participants' critical consciousness (CC). Two elements of…