This article uses the life history method to chronicle the challenges of a low-income, first-generation student en route to college. The paper addresses three questions: how Manuel navigates college and related topics such as roommates, family, and money; how he creates social networks; and how he works with adults such as teachers and…

Ethnography, which records and describes culturally significant behavior of a particular group, is suggested as a method for college self-evaluation. The potential and limitations of the method are outlined, and current uses in education are discussed. (MSE)

The implications for researchers and administrators are considered if the organizational environment is interpreted as "enacted." Objective and enacted environments are differentiated and the ways are suggested for how administrators might identify what they need to do and how they do it, given the socially constructed organization in which they…

Depicts what academe might look like in 2027, traces roots of the problem, and suggests how to overcome it. Focuses on access and shared governance. Considers how theories of social capital and trust might inform the challenges facing higher education, delineates the parameters of organizational trust and trustworthiness, and concludes with an…

By analyzing ethnographic case studies, the ways that two colleges and one university conceive of and construct knowledge are examined. In contrast to assertions that disciplinary activity is the agent of knowledge production, it is argued that institutional contexts powerfully influence knowledge production and that knowledge is a cultural…

Leadership is discussed from the perspective of post-secondary organizations as socially constructed and subjective entities. Six symbolic categories used by presidents are examined: metaphorical, physical, communicative, structural, personification, and ideational. Implications for administrators of understanding the symbolism of their leadership…

The content of graduate courses on qualitative research methods in higher education research is discussed. Major topics suggested include entree and building rapport, field notes and data management, adequacy criteria, ethics in qualitative inquiry, site selection, and writing the case study. (Author/MSE)