The spike of hate speech incidents on college campuses since the 2016 U.S. presidential election has compounded the racial hostility students of color face on historically White campuses. These ongoing incidents require institutions to respond purposively to address the harm students of color experience in their aftermath. Using an "inclusive…

This qualitative, participatory action research study used interviews and visual data to explore the aspirations of Black undergraduate students in their final year of science degree programs at a predominantly white institution, and the assets and resources that supported persistence in pursuing their aspirations. While students experienced…

Shifting the existing lens of mentorship in graduate education to one that frames graduate students as mentors, rather than mentees, I explore how 10 STEMM doctoral student mentors considered social identities and organizational power structures in mentoring undergraduates. Using sociospatial and in-depth interview data, findings illuminate how…

Faculty play crucial yet understudied roles in diversifying the professoriate. Rates of diversification across the pipeline to the professoriate have moved slowly. Guided by directed content analysis, this qualitative study uses data from interviews with 74 faculty at five different California State University institutions and explores the…

Research on college completion for students who work during their undergraduate education often approaches the topic from a financial perspective focused on aid and income status. This study takes a different approach by exploring the intersectionality of student employment and race, in relation to six-year bachelor's degree attainment. Based on 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…

Many higher education scholars, policy makers, and practitioners continue to ignore the intersections of race and gender when focusing on campus sexual assault (CSA) for the undergraduate student population. This race-evasive approach contributes to incomplete and inaccurate understandings about the ways Women of Color students experience CSA.…

Although the concept of allyship has been used in relation to multiple marginalized groups within higher education, it is rarely applied to social class. In this study, I used narrative inquiry to understand how working-class students define and perceive social class allyship. Findings revealed that working-class students identified social class…

STEM majors offer pathways to lucrative careers but are often inaccessible to first-generation students. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study, we conducted descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and group comparisons to examine differences between first-generation students and continuing-generation students across STEM degree,…

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 23 food insecure undergraduate students. We interviewed participants about their experiences with hunger and food access, including how food insecurity affected their daily lives. Using holistic student development as a theoretical framework, our thematic analysis of individual student interviews…

In this qualitative, multiple-case study, we explored 30 students' experiences across three social justice living-learning communities (LLC) to understand their conception of social justice and LLC involvement. Moreover, we examined the community elements that advanced these outcomes. Despite similar goals across communities, students demonstrated…

This study investigated how an embedded peer support model that integrates non-cognitive principles, academic support, and peer mentoring affected students' success in completing gateway first-year courses as well as key measures such as retention at a Hispanic- and Minority-Serving Institution. The results show that the program had a…

In this study, we utilized discourse analysis to examine past ASHE Presidential Addresses. Study findings highlight recurrent themes related to: the way that agency is assigned to various higher education actors (e.g., undergraduate students, faculty members); appropriate research topics and approaches; and higher education as a distinctive field…

Through analysis of student interviews and program staff interviews, this project explores how one program was crafted to help Students of Color develop competencies for educational success, gain exposure to undergraduate research, and maintain their cultural identities as part of their scholarly pursuits. Findings revealed that intentional…

In this study, we explore characteristics of interpersonal interactions and contextual features that cultivate or neglect Latinx undergraduates' sense of "familismo" in Science and Engineering (S&E). Using a mixed methods approach, we found barriers such as a culture of hyper-competition through pedagogical and assessment practices,…