Optimism has positive expectations for future events. An individual's level of optimism is related to his past experiences. On the other hand, academic optimism reflects the level of positive expectations in the individual's future life, depending on the successes, happiness, and joys experienced in his past academic life. In this study, the…

STEM education has created successful educational outcomes and job opportunities in the United States. Despite the benefits to STEM education, Latinx students have a low STEM degree completion and are considered underrepresented. As a result, institutions are focusing on providing equal opportunities and increasing retention rates to minorities.…

In order to remain competitive in the global economy, there has been a call to increase recruitment and retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers in the United States (National Science Board, 2014, 2016; President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). In addition to increasing the number of…

The Kansas Graduate and Dropout Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of how the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) calculates and reports the Adjusted Cohort Graduation and Annual Dropout Rates. Sections include: (1) Introduction; (2) Terminology; (3) Data Sources; (4) Graduation Calculations; (5) Dropout Calculation; and (6)…

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act) provides students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence with the right to the same free, appropriate, public education that other students receive. Each year, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) collects demographic and academic data on students eligible for…

Distance education gives a diverse group of social work students access to further education. Research addressing the overall experiences of Canadian distance education social work students is limited, and even more so for distance education social work students with mental health (dis)Abilities. By means of a qualitative research project using…

There will inevitably be development, change, differentiation, progress, innovations and modernizations in the rapidly passing human life. To be able to keep up with these rapid life changes depends on some basic skills that the individual should have. The World Health Organization has determined these 21st-century basic life skills that everyone…

The adoption of mobile apps in teaching and learning stimulates learner motivation and engagement, and as a result, can enrich the overall learning experience. This study explores how Viber messenger, an instant mobile messaging application, can be used to foster learner engagement and online social presence among blended learning students. A case…

This paper uses lived experiences to critically examine the orientation of international graduate students at research-intensive Canadian universities. We, five co-authors, embody diverse ethnic, racial, sexual, religious, national, and gender identities, yet are all (or have been) international graduate students in Canada. Through collaborative…

Underemployment, which occurs when baccalaureate degree holders are employed in occupations that do not require or fully use a college-level degree (Lederman, 2018), challenges the notion that a college degree alone adequately prepares a student for a satisfactory level of employment based on education level. During 2018 and 2019, the higher-ed…

This study highlights an undergraduate-mentored research experience called the Holistic Foundry Undergraduate Engaged Learners (FUEL) program that is guided by the Renaissance Foundry Model. The authors review literature related to co-mentoring and co-learning models, make connections between the Foundry-guided, Holistic FUEL applications and…

Completing a doctoral degree is a challenging process which requires patience, persistence, and hard work. Some advice books have been written for faculty and there is an abundance of self-help books for students. However, little empirical research regarding the relationship between doctoral students and their supervisors has been done across…

This article considers higher education's role in climate crisis, reflecting on the potential of action-oriented pedagogy. As a reflection on practice, the authors consider a new postgraduate course, Climate Crisis and Action (CCA), launched in 2022 as one of a suite of new courses using inside-out pedagogy in one of the oldest (and most recently…

In "The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure," Lukianoff and Haidt contend that an atmosphere of "safetyism" threatens the university's ability to serve as an arena for free speech and academic freedom. In this paper, we examine their thinking through one…

The study focuses on students in professional bachelor programs, how men and women navigate career opportunities after graduation. The research is based on longitudinal data from 969 Norwegian students. A crucial finding is that when men and women have equal expectations of entering a management position, they also attain such positions equally…