While public colleges and universities have a long history of engaging in the political process, relatively little is known about their activities. This study attempts to examine, both theoretically and empirically, the relationship between state economic, demographic, political, and policy contexts and state public higher education interest group…

The following paper estimates the impact of initially declaring and then departing from a STEM major on college dropout and degree completion rates for students in the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study. The results show that students who initially declared a STEM major and switched to a "non-STEM" area of study were…

Universities have to cope with scarce resources and nevertheless are expected to achieve excellent results in research, teaching, and third mission. Therefore, efficient resource use is of great importance. This paper explains emerging concepts and requirements of efficiency analysis, connecting it to university rankings. In order to achieve…

A novel process--"dialogic cartographic narratives"--is introduced as a method for facilitating faculty members' understanding of their own privilege(s) and their complicity in maintaining systemic injustices in higher education institutions. The process involves critical interrogation of life stories and privileged identities over time…

More Latina and Latino faculty members are needed to mentor Latina and Latino students, as well as diversify academic research, and improve campus racial climates and retention of minority faculty members. This paper focuses on the sources of financial support that can facilitate access to faculty careers. I use multinomial logistic estimation and…

While historically adjunct faculty were concentrated at community colleges, their hiring is increasing at four-year institutions (Kezar & Sam, 2010b). Towards better understanding this growing segment of college faculty, this paper presents an analytic review of the extant research on adjuncts as teachers at bachelor-granting institutions. It…

Undergraduate students benefit from academic-centered peer interactions, especially in large lecture courses. However, little is known about how students come together and form relationships around a course. I conduct a mixed-methods study of students' peer networks to explore how students choose peers for academic-focused interactions. The…

Diversity professionals are often expected to respond to campus race-related student activism. However, little is known about how they perceive their roles and relationships, or enact strategies as they engage in this work. Informed primarily by Williams's (2013) Strategic Diversity Compass and secondarily by Critical Race Theory (CRT), we…

This study examines the effects of transfer associate degree policies: an articulation approach featuring two-year credentials as a mechanism to transfer credits from two-to four-year institutions. Using institution-level data, I exploit variation in the introduction of these policies across multiple states as a natural experiment. Results suggest…

This study examines predictors of perceived work-life balance among women and men faculty of color using data from the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE). Asian American men faculty report higher perceived work-life balance, while African American women faculty report lower perceived work-life balance as compared to…

Amidst public calls for greater internationalization, universities are marketing to international students. We explore how universities in regional hubs (Lee & Schoole, 2015) enact "dramaturgical performances" (Goffman, 1959), presenting images of themselves in geopolitical space. We find: (1) bifurcated marketing strategies to…

This paper examines longitudinal survey response as a product of an alternative incentive structure that mixes guaranteed and non-guaranteed incentives. Specifically, we considered the impact of winning an initial non-guaranteed survey incentive on students' response to future surveys (both with and without guaranteed incentives). We found that…

This review addresses a lacuna in the literature concerning interdisciplinary teaching by analyzing peer-reviewed articles that discuss empirical evidence of interdisciplinary teaching practices. The article reports on the wide array of purposes, approaches and designs of interdisciplinary teaching and learning found in the review, but an…

This study explored science, mathematics, and general academic factors that predicted outcomes for community college students (N = 3052) in a regional institution. A binary logistic regression was performed to determine significant independent variables contributing to successful outcomes (graduation or transfer) vs. non-completion. Transcript…

Class participation benefits students by enhancing engagement, critical thinking, interpersonal communication, and motivation, but the role of underrepresented minority identities on class participation has not been well-studied. We surveyed 94 undergraduate health education students about experiences/attitudes about class participation, finding…