"Find the Fit" advising increased the number and selectivity of colleges applied to by disadvantaged students in a federal college access program. "Find the Fit" includes customized information about college going and costs, text messaging of key application and financial aid deadlines, and related advisor training. These…

Globalization has resulted in a significant increase in the number of international students on American college campuses in the past decade (Institute of International Education, 2015). The growing population of international students on campuses in higher education has resulted in a new dynamic in the classroom. Diversity of languages and…

This essay discusses the contentious events leading to the decision by the University of California's Board of Regents to end affirmative action in admissions, hiring and contracting at the university in July 1995. This controversial decision provided momentum for California's passage of Proposition 209 the following year ending "racial…

The term "gender gap" refers to the significant underrepresentation of females in many subjects. In Computer Science, the gender gap exists at all career levels. In this article, we study whether there is a performance gap in addition to the gender gap. To answer this question, we analyzed statistical data on student performance in…

In 2010, Illinois became one of the first states to legislatively require a complete redesign of all its principal preparation programs, with the goal of advancing statewide school improvement through strengthening school leadership. This effort was ambitious and sweeping, calling for radical shifts in previous practice, including: (1) A targeted…

The most selective institutions of higher education are recognized by their competitive admissions, low admittance rates, high cost to attend, and the prestige garnered from achievements of their alumni. Hispanics' graduation rates at the most selective institutions of higher education are higher than at less selective institutions. Yet, only 12…

The match between a student's academic ability and the academic ability of the student's peers has been found to exert influence on student educational aspirations. Research on this has garnered mixed results with some finding that students whose peers have higher ability are more likely to develop a poor self-concept and lower their academic…

In this article, we apply Max Weber's ideal types of fief and benefice feudalism to elite and non-elite chemistry departments in the USA. We develop a theoretical analogy of academic feudalism in regard to three dimensions: power relations, engagement with companies, and the impact of structural changes on the autonomy of scholars. We use a mixed…

The article examines the nature of contemporary legal training in two French elite higher education institutions--one dedicated to prepare for legal careers in the economic field, the other one to train top civil servants--in order to assess the role of legal knowledge in the shaping of French contemporary elites. Based on observations of law…

Critics of charter schools in New York City, America's largest school district, often allege that charters score better on standardized tests, on average, than traditional public schools because charters "cream-skim" (i.e., attract) the brightest, most motivated, students. Yet this accusation neglects the fact that not all traditional…

This literature review provides an overview of the research on Grow Your Own (GYO) educator programs as a strategy for states and district to employ to help recruit and retain teachers of color. It emphasizes equitable approaches and critical perspectives that combine the powerful roles of "homegrown" teachers, culturally-relevant…

For decades, social theorists have posited--and descriptive accounts have shown--that students isolated by both social class and ethnicity suffer extreme deprivations that limit the effectiveness of equal-opportunity interventions. Even educational programs that yield positive results for moderately disadvantaged students may not prove beneficial…

This dissertation analyzes the ways that college applicants and college students navigate through higher education with a focus on ways to improve their experience. In the first chapter, I examine the ways that college applicants change their application and enrollment decisions when using the Common Application. In the second chapter, I highlight…

We measure college enrollment selectivity gaps by race-ethnicity using a novel method that is sensitive to both the level (2- vs. 4-year) and selectivity of the college in which students enroll. We find that overall Hispanic-White and Black-White enrollment selectivity gaps closed in the United States between 1986 and 2014. This overall closing of…

This article examines how 4 former students attending graduate school at an elite private university in the urban South were socialized toward social justice-oriented scholarship activism. Using Black Cultural Ethos as a conceptual framework, the authors interrogate how the students' shared experiences, relevant and related coursework, and a…