Chelsea A Blackburn Cohen | Carnegie Mellon University (original) (raw)
Articles by Chelsea A Blackburn Cohen
International Higher Education, 2019
Book Chapters by Chelsea A Blackburn Cohen
Critical Theory and Qualitative Data Analysis in Education, 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form ... more All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Thesis Chapters by Chelsea A Blackburn Cohen
The last three decades have seen significant changes for higher education institutions throughout... more The last three decades have seen significant changes for higher education institutions throughout the world. The era of globalization has left little untouched and both our society and colleges and universities look, think, and operate differently as a result. Notwithstanding the movement toward global interdependence and intercultural rhetoric in mission statements, there is little in the academic literature on the topic of higher education engagement with displaced academics. This research draws on interviews with a variety of multidisciplinary scholars from around the world who have had to flee their home countries due to the political and/or ideological nature of their intellectual work, and who now hold appointments at U.S. higher education institutions through the Scholars at Risk network. This research, in turn, is framed by the following questions: How do displaced academics view academic freedom in their home countries and in the United States? What factors safeguard and/or threaten the tenets of academic freedom? What observations have displaced academics drawn from their experiences
in U.S. colleges and universities? How have displaced academics interacted with their academic communities through their teaching and research? Thematic analysis is informed by tenets of critical geography that aim to better understand the changing dynamics of a globalization era across space, place, and time, as well as a juxtaposing view of the movement of knowledge on
one hand and people on the other (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017; Massey, 2005). Findings reveal that restrictions to academic freedom range from explicit to implicit, and that implicit restrictions are a common feature of U.S. academic life. Further, to adequately understand the experiences of exile is to conceptualize a geography of mobility and immobility, where displaced academics
must contend with being removed but still connected. Knowledge production and exchange also is susceptible to mobility and immobility, and the experiences of displaced academics reveal the ways in which these barriers can be circumnavigated. Finally, displaced academics in U.S. institutions offer extraordinarily relevant perspectives on the state of U.S. higher education, and are far more valuable to their hosting communities than their academic output alone.
Papers by Chelsea A Blackburn Cohen
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students' rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC's provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC's integration of students' backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students' narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Jun 1, 2018
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students' rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC's provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC's integration of students' backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students' narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
Global South Scholars in the Western Academy, 2021
International Higher Education, 2019
With the release of Scholars at Risk’s (SAR’s) Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom and Chin... more With the release of Scholars at Risk’s (SAR’s) Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom and China’s Quest for World-Class Universities, institutional autonomy ascends to the fore. In China’s pursuit to transform its institutions into world-class universities, global rankings have offered metrics to purported advancement but too often lack consideration of academic freedom and institutional autonomy, permitting only a shrinking space for vital questions as China applies enormous effort to impose control while seeking the status of a world-class knowledge producer.
Community College Review, 2018
Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States ... more Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States and China. Policy makers focus on developing students' human capital in the form of credentials and cognitive skills. However, the focus on completion overlooks the role that noncognitive skills and contextual factors may play in student employability. Method: In this exploratory study, conducted among educators and employers in the manufacturing and biotechnology fields in a large eastern Chinese city, we use a cultural capital framework to address the following questions: (a) What forms of cultural capital are valued by educators and employers? (b) How are these forms of capital being cultivated in the classroom? (c) How do considerations of cultural capital influence hiring and workplace training? and (d) What contextual factors influence these phenomena? Inductive thematic analyses of interviews, classroom observation, and notes from factory tours with eight educators and two employers were completed. Results: This study revealed a shared view that both cognitive and noncognitive skills are essential. Results also reveal a cultural predisposition within Chinese classrooms to lecturing but also a growing use of active learning techniques, a commitment to general education, the importance of "cultural fit" during the hiring process, and job quality and the cultural devaluation of the skilled trades as salient contextual factors. Conclusion: Implications for research, policy, and practice are considered, particularly the need for all students to acquire both
Critical Theory and Qualitative Data Analysis in Education, 2018
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students’ rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC’s provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC’s integration of students’ backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students’ narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part ...
Global South Scholars in the Western Academy
Purpose: Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the Unite... more Purpose: Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States and China. Policy makers focus on developing students' human capital in the form of credentials and cognitive skills. However, the focus on completion overlooks the role that noncognitive skills and contextual factors may play in student employability. Method: In this exploratory study, conducted among educators and employers in the manufacturing and biotechnology fields in a large eastern Chinese city, we use a cultural capital framework to address the following questions: (a) What forms of cultural capital are valued by educators and employers? (b) How are these forms of capital being cultivated in the classroom? (c) How do considerations of cultural capital influence hiring and workplace training? and (d) What contextual factors influence these phenomena? Inductive thematic analyses of interviews, classroom observation, and notes from factory tours with eight educators an...
Journal of Education and Training, 2019
Campus career services are increasingly scrutinized as the primary career development resource fo... more Campus career services are increasingly scrutinized as the primary career development resource for undergraduates. The purpose of this paper is to use Career Construction Theory to examine all sources of career information used by undergraduate business students and their contributions toward career exploration and development.,Using a mixed-methods design, a survey was first administered to 372 university students enrolled in an undergraduate business school in the USA. Focus group interviews were conducted with 35 students from the survey sample. Descriptive statistics are reported, and inductive themes and causal networks were derived from qualitative data.,In order of prominence, students endorsed using sociocultural (e.g. family) and institutional (e.g. career services center) resources, and exploratory activities (e.g. work experience) as career information sources. These sources contributed toward students’ vocational development by enhancing their psychological readiness for...
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), 2019
AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education ... more AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals representing approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Its commitment to the professional development of its members includes best practice guidance on admissions strategies to meet institutional diversity objectives, delivery of academic programs in innovative ways to meet the needs of a changing student body, and exemplary approaches to student retention and completion.
Critical Theory and Qualitative Data Analysis in Education, 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form ... more All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
The last three decades have seen significant changes for higher education institutions throughout... more The last three decades have seen significant changes for higher education institutions throughout the world. The era of globalization has left little untouched and both our society and colleges and universities look, think, and operate differently as a result. Notwithstanding the movement toward global interdependence and intercultural rhetoric in mission statements, there is little in the academic literature on the topic of higher education engagement with displaced academics. This research draws on interviews with a variety of multidisciplinary scholars from around the world who have had to flee their home countries due to the political and/or ideological nature of their intellectual work, and who now hold appointments at U.S. higher education institutions through the Scholars at Risk network. This research, in turn, is framed by the following questions: How do displaced academics view academic freedom in their home countries and in the United States? What factors safeguard and/or threaten the tenets of academic freedom? What observations have displaced academics drawn from their experiences
in U.S. colleges and universities? How have displaced academics interacted with their academic communities through their teaching and research? Thematic analysis is informed by tenets of critical geography that aim to better understand the changing dynamics of a globalization era across space, place, and time, as well as a juxtaposing view of the movement of knowledge on
one hand and people on the other (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017; Massey, 2005). Findings reveal that restrictions to academic freedom range from explicit to implicit, and that implicit restrictions are a common feature of U.S. academic life. Further, to adequately understand the experiences of exile is to conceptualize a geography of mobility and immobility, where displaced academics
must contend with being removed but still connected. Knowledge production and exchange also is susceptible to mobility and immobility, and the experiences of displaced academics reveal the ways in which these barriers can be circumnavigated. Finally, displaced academics in U.S. institutions offer extraordinarily relevant perspectives on the state of U.S. higher education, and are far more valuable to their hosting communities than their academic output alone.
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students' rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC's provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC's integration of students' backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students' narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Jun 1, 2018
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students' rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC's provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC's integration of students' backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students' narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
Global South Scholars in the Western Academy, 2021
International Higher Education, 2019
With the release of Scholars at Risk’s (SAR’s) Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom and Chin... more With the release of Scholars at Risk’s (SAR’s) Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom and China’s Quest for World-Class Universities, institutional autonomy ascends to the fore. In China’s pursuit to transform its institutions into world-class universities, global rankings have offered metrics to purported advancement but too often lack consideration of academic freedom and institutional autonomy, permitting only a shrinking space for vital questions as China applies enormous effort to impose control while seeking the status of a world-class knowledge producer.
Community College Review, 2018
Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States ... more Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States and China. Policy makers focus on developing students' human capital in the form of credentials and cognitive skills. However, the focus on completion overlooks the role that noncognitive skills and contextual factors may play in student employability. Method: In this exploratory study, conducted among educators and employers in the manufacturing and biotechnology fields in a large eastern Chinese city, we use a cultural capital framework to address the following questions: (a) What forms of cultural capital are valued by educators and employers? (b) How are these forms of capital being cultivated in the classroom? (c) How do considerations of cultural capital influence hiring and workplace training? and (d) What contextual factors influence these phenomena? Inductive thematic analyses of interviews, classroom observation, and notes from factory tours with eight educators and two employers were completed. Results: This study revealed a shared view that both cognitive and noncognitive skills are essential. Results also reveal a cultural predisposition within Chinese classrooms to lecturing but also a growing use of active learning techniques, a commitment to general education, the importance of "cultural fit" during the hiring process, and job quality and the cultural devaluation of the skilled trades as salient contextual factors. Conclusion: Implications for research, policy, and practice are considered, particularly the need for all students to acquire both
Critical Theory and Qualitative Data Analysis in Education, 2018
Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily fo... more Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students’ rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC’s provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC’s integration of students’ backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students’ narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part ...
Global South Scholars in the Western Academy
Purpose: Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the Unite... more Purpose: Community and technical college student employability is a pressing concern in the United States and China. Policy makers focus on developing students' human capital in the form of credentials and cognitive skills. However, the focus on completion overlooks the role that noncognitive skills and contextual factors may play in student employability. Method: In this exploratory study, conducted among educators and employers in the manufacturing and biotechnology fields in a large eastern Chinese city, we use a cultural capital framework to address the following questions: (a) What forms of cultural capital are valued by educators and employers? (b) How are these forms of capital being cultivated in the classroom? (c) How do considerations of cultural capital influence hiring and workplace training? and (d) What contextual factors influence these phenomena? Inductive thematic analyses of interviews, classroom observation, and notes from factory tours with eight educators an...
Journal of Education and Training, 2019
Campus career services are increasingly scrutinized as the primary career development resource fo... more Campus career services are increasingly scrutinized as the primary career development resource for undergraduates. The purpose of this paper is to use Career Construction Theory to examine all sources of career information used by undergraduate business students and their contributions toward career exploration and development.,Using a mixed-methods design, a survey was first administered to 372 university students enrolled in an undergraduate business school in the USA. Focus group interviews were conducted with 35 students from the survey sample. Descriptive statistics are reported, and inductive themes and causal networks were derived from qualitative data.,In order of prominence, students endorsed using sociocultural (e.g. family) and institutional (e.g. career services center) resources, and exploratory activities (e.g. work experience) as career information sources. These sources contributed toward students’ vocational development by enhancing their psychological readiness for...
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), 2019
AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education ... more AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals representing approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Its commitment to the professional development of its members includes best practice guidance on admissions strategies to meet institutional diversity objectives, delivery of academic programs in innovative ways to meet the needs of a changing student body, and exemplary approaches to student retention and completion.