In a world where decisions are increasingly scrutinized to ensure fairness across legally protected groups, it is critical to apply such scrutiny in a manner that is consistent with the law. This dissertation attempts to reconcile the legal definition and empirical measurement of disparate impact, one of two forms of discrimination recognized by…

Elite colleges are boasting unprecedented numbers with respect to diversity, with some schools admitting their first majority-minority classes. But when the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial unrest gripped the world, schools scrambled to figure out what to do with the diversity they so fervently recruited. And disadvantaged students suffered.…

Creative levers for change often emerge in times of institutional uncertainty. As higher education continues to confront institutional racism, honors programs can exercise their power to increase diversity and educational outcomes for excluded and marginalized students, as well as influence related university-level policy. This case study…

Scholarship on nonresident enrollment by public research universities has developed in isolation from scholarship on linkages between private high schools and selective private universities. We argue that these literatures are part of a broader story about the competition for students from affluent schools and communities. This manuscript analyzes…

Unified enrollment (UE) systems were designed to improve efficiency, equity, and transparency in school choice processes, but research has focused on efficiency gains. This study examines whether moving from decentralized enrollment processes to UE mitigates or exacerbates racial segregation that often occurs in choice systems. Specifically, we…

Unified enrollment (UE) systems were designed to improve efficiency, equity, and transparency in school choice processes, but research has focused on efficiency gains. This study examines whether moving from decentralized enrollment processes to UE mitigates or exacerbates racial segregation that often occurs in choice systems. Specifically, we…

According to the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), academic motivation can take different forms (Litalien et al., 2019; Vallerand et al., 1989). First, "intrinsic motivation" (IM) is defined as a spontaneous inclination to assimilate and master an activity. Second, "extrinsic motivation" (EM) refers to a desire…

While graduate admissions in physics directly affects only a small number of people on an annual basis, the number of people indirectly affected is orders of magnitude greater. Those who complete graduate degrees in physics will go on to become leaders in industry, government, and academia, with the latter educating the next generation of leaders…

Recent policy discussions have proposed government-guaranteed jobs, including for youth. One key potential benefit of youth employment is a reduction in criminal justice contact. Prior work on summer youth employment programs has documented little-to-no effect of the program on crime during the program but has found decreases in violent and other…

Magnet schools provide innovative curricula designed to attract students from other schools within a school district, typically with the joint goals of diversifying enrollment and boosting achievement. Measuring the impact of attending a magnet school is challenging because students choose to apply and schools have priorities over types of…

A growing body of research has shown the positive relationship between student engagement and cognitive skills development among Latinx undergraduates at more selective institutions. However, despite the large proportion of Latinx transfer students at four-year institutions, they are relatively ignored in higher education literature. Using data…

The Federal Work-Study (FWS) program provides over $1 billion dollars annually in taxpayer-funded financial assistance to a unique population of at-risk, economically-disadvantaged U.S. college students with limited options for employment-related development. Research on the effects of FWS participation, especially professional development, is…

The discrepancies in college enrollment based on a student's socioeconomic background challenges the upward mobility of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Jesuit colleges and universities, guided by Catholic Social Teaching and their own focus on social justice, are uniquely positioned to facilitate the social mobility of the…

Letters of recommendation from school counselors are required to apply to many selective colleges and universities. Still, relatively little is known about how this non-standardized component may affect equity in admissions. We use cutting-edge natural language processing techniques to algorithmically analyze a national dataset of over 600,000…

This study aimed to understand the transition experiences of first-generation Latinx undergraduate students and their families from high school to a highly selective private university after participating in a college access program. Additionally, this study sought to understand the different forms of cultural capital that may have supported the…