In this paper, originally delivered as the 2004 ASHE presidential address, the author relates four streams of his research to the increasingly stratified system of U.S. higher education. He traces the effects of academic capitalism and the new economy, identifies the rise of managerial professionals as a Mode III form of production, discusses the…

This case study/philosophical analysis responds to the primary research question: "Should undocumented immigrants receive financial aid by responding to the sub-question: What does it mean to be a member of society?" The case study organizes and collects empirical evidence from stakeholders involved in Texas House Bill 1403 (2001),…

Space counts in college. "Brown" and the many higher education cases leading to that important legal decision were about place: where Negro schoolchildren would be allowed to attend school or whether Black students could attend white law schools. The issue of place has also been contested in other college settings, such as whether institutions can…

This paper explores affirmative action as a social movement with two goals in mind: (a) to challenge dominant notions of higher education reform, while advancing a social movement perspective; and (b) to advance understanding of the role of collective action in supporting affirmative action in college admissions. The authors highlight ways in…

This article asserts that a scholarship of practice should emerge to improve day-to-day administrative practice in higher education. Six characteristics of professional practice in higher education strongly indicate such a need. The primary goals of scholarship of practice are to improve administrative practice in higher education and to develop a…

Using a nationally representative sample of baccalaureate graduates from 1993, this study examines the effect of college quality and undergraduate majors on a variety of graduate education outcomes including graduate school enrollment, graduate degree attainment, and the quality of graduate programs. Other factors being equal, college quality has…

This article documents the changes in financial status among the top 49 liberal arts colleges between 1996 and 2001 by using Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) financial and enrollment data. These data show large disparities in net assets per student, expenses per student, and the subsidies per full-paying student and the…

Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, this paper examines the inflation-adjusted cost per student between 1989 and 1998 for a sample of four-year public colleges and universities. On average, per-student expenditures grew faster than inflation over the period; but expenditures on public service, academic support,…

Post-tenure review has been studied primarily as an administrative issue in higher education; less attention has been given to empirically examining the underlying assumptions of faculty regarding this phenomenon. By surveying a representative sample of over 400 instructional faculty at two research universities, this study contributes to what is…

This study examined the extent to which women and men majoring in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET) fields engaged in a broad array of effective educational practices. Women in SMET fields were generally as, or more, engaged in educationally fruitful activities as their male counterparts. The results of this study, when combined…

This critical discourse analysis focuses on neoliberal discursive representations of the community college mission. The community college's role in reproducing social inequality is explained as a neoliberal discursive project in which meanings of education are reconstituted to secure the interests of the powerful. As such, the community college…

This paper presents a case study of departmental reorganization. Using journals kept by five faculty members, the study traces the difficulties of establishing an organizational identity for and faculty identification with the new unit. The analysis suggests that reorganizations may not produce anticipated advantages. Many of the new department's…

This study provides a methodological critique of major quality assessments in U.S. higher education over the last 70 years, through an examination of their taxonomy, unit of analysis, frame of reference, and definition of quality. Many quantitative indicators currently used in assessments have a weak theoretical link to quality and have serious…

This study analyzes data from the NELS:92/00 to explore sex, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic group differences in the benefits that high school graduates realize from college. Sex differences in higher education benefits may be a source of observed differences between women and men in college enrollment and degree attainment rates. The findings…

This paper examines the structure and determinants of presidential pay at nationally ranked baccalaureate institutions. This study departs from previous work on president pay in two ways. First, it includes more nationally ranked liberal arts institutions in its sample than previous studies did. Second, it incorporates two additional determinants…