White students receive a disproportionate amount of private scholarships compared to their Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) peers (Kantrowitz, 2011). Scholarships provide important financial support for higher education and BIPOC students are more likely to graduate with loan debt compared to their White peers (Mishory et al., 2019).…

It seems uncontentious that policy development should be informed by evidence, and that researchers should be engaged to assess available evidence. In this paper, we tell the story of a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) about school exclusion, a task intended to inform a 'root and branch' policy review. Drawing on Carol Bacchi's 'What's the…

Non-financial barriers to college are an important possible explanation for socioeconomic, racial, gender, and other gaps in college access and success. A sizeable economic literature documents policy efforts to understand and address these barriers. We review this literature on non-financial interventions for improving college access and success…

The first step to addressing equity gaps is to identify them. How can community colleges determine, with some degree of certainty, whether one or more student groups on a campus is in need of assistance in order to succeed? This paper tackles this question by delving into the three methods typically used to identify equity gaps, comparing and…

The way that people of different identities are portrayed in children's books can send subconscious messages about how positively or negatively children should think about people with those identities. These messages can then shape the next generation's perceptions and attitudes about people, which can have important implications for belief…

There is an increasing number of students from traditionally underrepresented racial groups enrolled in United States public schools (Frey, 2014). However, racially and ethnically diverse students "struggle with a range of academic and personal issues…in a culture that disproportionately disciplines them and questions their intelligence"…

The ethnic and racial representation disparity gap among college presidents in the United States is 83% White and 17% ethnically/racially diverse (Gagliardi et al., 2017). In this qualitative study, I explored the career pipeline experiences of a cohort of 10 ethnically and racially diverse college presidents in the United States. Critical race…

The purpose of this study was to identify the ways that seniors in undergraduate programs in speech, language, and hearing sciences engaged with the department as they entered into their undergraduate programs, the factors that they considered when deciding whether to apply to graduate school in speech-language pathology, and perceptions of…

Gifted Education (GE) stands as an area with clear underrepresentation and disproportionality of Black and/or African American students (Erwin & Worrell, 2012; Ford et al., 2016, 2020; Grissom & Redding, 2016; Hodges et al., 2018). Underrepresentation and disproportionality of Black students indicate that the racial demographics of GE…

This dissertation explores, in three papers, the experiences of college readiness practitioners (CRPs), or practitioners that support college readiness in out of school time spaces. In the first paper, I argue for a relational approach to college readiness grounded in the key tenets of relational sociology. I explain why a relational perspective…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact of informal STEM education on underrepresented middle school girls. The study took place within the context of the EUREKA! summer program, a collaboration between Drexel University's Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and Girls Inc. of Philadelphia and…

This article discusses how the authors' 'Science Hunters' suite of projects uses the computer game Minecraft to engage children, particularly those from underrepresented groups, with STEM. Delivered by environmental scientists, Science Hunters projects link to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through offering inclusive…

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian American students reported increasingly hostile racial climates, with misinformation and anti-Asian sentiments being spread on social media, other students physically shunning Asian students, and Asian internationals experiencing restrictions and fears of surveillance. Asian and Asian Americans remain…

Based on the author's experience leading equity-focused technical assistance centers, this book details approaches to partnering with educators and other stakeholders to eliminate racial disproportionality in special education. Because of its historical and current relevance as an indicator of systemic oppression, Thorius centers…

Rural students' college attendance rates continue to lag behind their non-rural counterparts (Ardoin, 2018; Barr, 2018; Byun et al., 2012; Byun et al., 2015; Byun et al., 2017; Friesen & Purc-Stephenson, 2016; Hlinka et al., 2018; Longhurst, 2014; McDonough et al., 2010; Morton et al., 2018; Tieken, 2016). While the body of research…