Re-Examining Academic Expectations: Using Self-Study to Promote Academic Justice and Student Retention (original) (raw)
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About half of U.S. university students who start their degrees never finishhigher education retention is a pressing problem that has remained stagnant since the 1960s. This article highlights strategies for conducting research on undergraduate retention done by and with undergraduates themselves. This article's context is a participatory action research project that encompassed the creation of informative videos, paper resource guides, an innovative app, and a comprehensive video-making training course, all designed to empower students in navigating the complexities of college life effectively. We highlight the importance of prior research methods training for undergraduates and offer methods for seamlessly integrating such training into existing educational structures. To address the sensitivity of student retention issues, we introduce a positive deviancy framework as a valuable perspective. Furthermore, we stress the significance of increased participation during the data analysis phase of participatory research, advocating for hybrid, in-person, and online approaches. The article also reflects on the political and ethical challenges associated with conducting participatory research in higher education, drawing insights from existing literature and our own experiences.
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Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 2016
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Since a post-secondary education tends to lead to improved life chances and opportunities, understanding the ways in which students at all levels of university are able to succeed is important not only for individuals, but also for the nation. In spite of the success of targeted firstyear retention programs, most universities in Ontario have much lower degree completion rates. Few existing studies of university persistence and success focus on what students themselves say about how and why they are successful at persisting to graduation. This pilot study compared the strategies for success at university used by self-identified visible minority students and those who did not self-identify as a visible minority. The findings demonstrate that further research is needed to better understand how students who face significant barriers are able to successfully persist to fourth year and graduation. Initial findings illustrate the importance of a strong foundation of having good time manage...
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Vijay Pendakur and his colleagues argue that higher education has largely failed underrepresented students by ignoring the particular challenges and needs associated with students' diverse identities in their academic success and persistence programs. They call for an intersectional approach that builds these programs with identity consciousness, and they share numerous examples for how institutions can establish them. Faculty, student affairs professionals, institutional leaders, and policy makers with interest in these issues will find both thoughtful, stimulating material and beneficial practical guidance within this work. Despite meaningful gains in overall degree-completion rates by students at American colleges and universities in recent years, a significant difference remains between the graduation rates of students from educated, relatively affluent families and those from underrepresented populations. Vijay Pendakur, editor of the new volume, Closing the Opportunity Gap: Identity-Conscious Strategies for Retention and Student Success, and his chapter authors focus a critical spotlight on this troubling and ongoing discrepancy, diagnosing why attempts to reduce it have failed and recommending a new approach using various targeted efforts for increasing the persistence and graduation of students who are first generation college attendees, are from low socioeconomic backgrounds, represent African American or Hispanic minorities, or who most often possess some combination of these attributes. While their critique and recommendations focus on academic success, the content of their work holds enlightening and reflective value for anyone connected to higher education who is concerned with the learning and personal development of the students whom our institutions serve. Pendakur and his colleagues align with the movement to reject labeling the difference in academic success among traditional and underrepresented groups as an "achievement gap" (p. 6), claiming an implicit a David Eberhardt
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