Since their inception, intercollegiate athletic programs have spurred debates between academics and practitioners in terms of their importance and placement within the academic mission of higher education. This dialogue has escalated over the past 30 years, as the college sports industry has grown in size, scope, and complexity. As a result of…

This study examines the role of implicit theories of change in inhibiting STEM reform and identifies a range of approaches to help change agents alter their implicit beliefs in order to develop more explicit theories of change. Through observations and interviews, we focus on the experience of reform teams on 11 campuses that were involved in a…

Using critical discourse analysis, the authors examine a broad range of texts to make sense of the rise of the MOOC movement and implications for faculty work. Drawing on Braverman's labor process theory and critiques of neoliberalism, the authors highlight the role of xMOOCs in particular, focusing on challenges to faculty labor. They organize…

There is scant research literature on the interconnection between spirituality and the practices of faculty of color teaching social justice in the higher education classroom. This paper is based on a qualitative study that examined 15 spiritually minded activist scholars (who are all racially minoritized) in Canadian universities. The analysis…

This study analyzes the policy process through which two states determined education beneficiary programs of newly adopted state lotteries. Tennessee, in 2003, followed the regional pattern of allocating all lottery proceeds to merit-based college scholarships. North Carolina, in 2005, bucked this trend by allotting no lottery revenue for merit…

Examples of qualitative investigations of traditionally hard-to-measure college and university characteristics using multiple investigators are rare, despite their potential for in-depth understanding and broad comparisons of institutional contexts. A team approach to qualitative multisite research was found useful and effective in a 9-researcher…

Reports a qualitative examination of five institutions of higher education whose African American, white, and Latina women graduates achieved a measurable degree of postbaccalaureate success. Identifies eight women-friendly characteristics, including having high academic expectations, having a clear sense of mission and history, providing positive…

A discussion of the increased use of qualitative methods in social science research looks at four emerging issues: the nature of research, the growth in status of the narrative in research, political influences on the research process, and the nature of the relationship between the philosophy of science and applied research practice. Some…

Using survey and qualitative data, this study identified emergent themes that remain consistent across or differentiate among reports of women earning their doctoral degree relatively quickly ("early-finishers") and those taking considerably longer ("late-finishers"). Emergent themes included commitment to timely degree completion, faculty…

A study of 24 Hispanic and American Indian college students attempted to refine the concept of academic integration in Tinto's model of education withdrawal. Findings suggest that measurement of academic integration could be strengthened by including indicators of the substance and process of academic advising, as students experience it.…