AbstractStudents come to community colleges with different levels of personal development, academic preparedness, and learning needs. Success programs that focus on the holistic development of nontraditional students provide an important pathway into college for students who might not otherwise attend or succeed. These programs face increased accountability to demonstrate student outcomes. In assessing outcomes, are the successes experienced by these students fully captured with traditional student success measures?Constituent groups may differ with regard to expected outcomes and conceptualizations of success. To examine this possibility, a community college program designed to promote goal attainment for at-risk, nontraditional re-entry students was chosen for a case study to determine what success means to the students who participate in the program, the instructional counselors who teach the course for the program, and the administrators who make resource allocation decisions that impact the viability of the program.The case study was organized around four propositions that hypothesize how different participants construct their perceptions of success:1) Students who complete the program course will come to search for and define success in terms of finding their voice and developing cultural capital;2) Instructors who teach the course will conceive of success outcomes in differing ways depending on the extent of their professionalization - locals will support a more traditional, academic oriented preparation whereas cosmopolitans and intermediates, to varying degrees, will embrace a more holistically developmental approach to the course;3) Administrators will evaluate and allocate resources to the program primarily in terms of traditional institutional measures of student success - student credit production and student completion; and3a) Perspectives of success based on students finding their voice, cultural capital, and holistic developmental outcomes are not considered nor valued independently by administrators in their decision-making.Knowing the differing perspectives of what is valued by those involved allows for strategically informed decisions about what to assess and how to present data that best supports the benefits of this program to the students, the college, and the community. The importance of aligning various participant perspectives of success for ultimate program efficiency and effectiveness is demonstrated.

For decades, researchers have sought greater understanding of the educational achievement gap between Blacks and Whites in the U.S. Past studies have concentrated heavily on K-12 attainment, and more recently on that of minority paths to higher education as well as obstacles to academic achievement. Often unnoticed are the interactions between social forces and the individual level psycho-social and cultural factors that may place a significant role; the stigmatization and resultant marginalization of Black students by negative stereotypes that classify them as intellectually inferior. This study explores African American and Black African highs school students' perceptions of negative stereotypes placed upon them through the conceptual frameworks of critical race theory (CRT) and the multidimensional model of racial identity (MMRI). Examining differences by immigrant status, this study seeks to uncover the intersection between the socially constructed images assigned to stigmatized groups differently influenced by negative stereotypes of Blacks and the subsequent influence on the students' perceptions and expectations of higher education. The narratives of this study illustrate the complexity of and interplay between external forces, minority youth social identities and pathways to academic attainment. This study finds that African American and Black African youth have multiple social identities that are not always reflective of the most accessible one of race. This study finds that salient social identities, personal or vicarious experiences of discrimination and being negatively stereotyped shape Black youths' individual aspirations and strategies for achievement. The present study calls into question the claim that Black youth process and respond to negative stereotypes of Blacks in a predictable manner and that these students respond to them independently of other social forces such as their families and communities in which they reside.

This study examined the institutional and governmental forces that contributed to the passage of community college baccalaureate (CCB) legislation, and the plans for future implementation of a CCB within differing state contexts. The analysis of governmental and institutional actors was conducted through the lens of institutional theory, state relative autonomy theory, resource dependency theory, and coalition framework theory, in order to determine how those interactions affected policy change at community colleges. The three most significant findings were the universities’ perception of community colleges as competitors, policy entrepreneurship, and the importance of coalition building. First, the scarcity of state funding, students, and other resources prompted the universities to act more as competitors or opponents than partners. In turn, community colleges, responding to the lack of access by the universities, turned to themselves to provide the baccalaureate, which incensed universities because they saw the CCB not only as an infringement on their turf but as a competitive threat. Second, successful states that were able to pass CCB legislation, had policy entrepreneurs who were instrumental in changing the status quo and promoting innovation. Policy entrepreneurs in this study built networks and coalitions of powerful people who could execute their plan and influence policy change. Finally, although the policy entrepreneur was a critical factor in policy change, the true power lay in the base, or the coalitions and networks of people who shared the same beliefs. Without a true collective movement, even with powerful and invested policy entrepreneurs and stakeholders, the legislation could not pass.

This study explored how international offices engage in entrepreneurial internationalization. Thirty Senior International Officers (SIOs) at public U.S. universities were interviewed to understand why and how their offices seek to generate revenue through their international strategies and activities. This study found that SIOs are engaging in entrepreneurialism for the following reasons: funding cuts, expectations of their institutions, and growing student demand for international services. These drivers have resulted in targeted international activities, such as the delivery of U.S. credit to foreign students in their home country (without a branch campus) and the growth of dual degree programs. International offices are also developing strategic partnerships with enrollment management in trying to attract more international students to campus. This study found entrepreneurialism to largely align with the educational priorities of international offices, though a misalignment of incentives and priorities seems to exist within many international offices.

This study focused on the testimonios [life narratives] of 33 Mexican American Ph.D.s who successfully navigated educational systems and obtained their doctorates in a variety of disciplines at 15 universities across the United States. The theoretical and methodological frameworks employed were critical race theory (CRT), Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit), and narrative analysis in order to examine power relations, multiple forms of oppression, and the intersections of race, social class, and gender within educational contexts. CRT and LatCrit frameworks were expanded by attending to the experiences of middle class participants and participants who identified as second- or third-generation college students, which challenge traditional paradigms that essentialize Mexican American communities. This study uncovered and contextualized the ways that Mexican American Ph.D.s resisted and reproduced power relations, racism, sexism, and classism through master narratives constructed by the dominant culture to justify low rates of Mexican American educational attainment. The findings suggested that as the dominant culture develops master narratives, Mexican American communities reproduce these stories as well. Mexican American communities also crafted counter-narratives that resisted the master narratives. The dominant culture master narratives were: Mexican American families do not value education; Mexican American women are not allowed to get an education; The dominant culture and Mexican American communities reproduce masculinist ideology; If Mexican Americans would work hard enough and persevere, they can succeed in education; The U.S. is a colorblind, gender-blind, and class-blind society; and Mexican Americans are only in college/graduate school because they are minorities. In addition, Mexican American communities constructed two master narratives in an effort to advocate for educational equity and increase research in Mexican American communities: Mexican Americans must struggle through educational systems and Mexican American Ph.D.s should research Mexican American issues. This study provided a venue for narratives on Mexican American educational attainment that reflected struggle and survival, privilege and merit, as well as overcoming obstacles and not finding any barriers along the way. These narratives have the power to reshape, reframe, and transform discourses of deficiency to those of empowerment and resistance in K-12 education, postsecondary education, and graduate school.

This study utilizes descriptive statistics and regression analysis to evaluate trends in and relationships between tuition price, institutional aid, enrollment, and tuition revenue and their determination of the net revenue generated by colleges and universities. In doing so, it defines how much institutions generate in net revenue utilizing a new metric, net revenue generation rate (NRGR). This allows a new way of thinking about the relationship between the listed tuition price, the investment in aid, and the resultant gain or loss incurred by institutions due to pricing and aiding strategies. Additionally, it explores NRGR in the context of various tuition prices and institutional types over an extended period of time, as no other previous study has done. Publics institutions with higher tuition prices generate higher NRGR's. The opposite is found for private institutions. However as price increases, NRGR decreases. Larger enrollments relate to higher NRGR's, however increases in enrollment negatively influence NRGR for public institutions and positively influence private instituion's NRGR. Baccalaureate, Doctoral, and institutions of higher selectivity produce the largest net revenue per student, yet do so at the lowest NRGR's.This study also introduces the first assessment of marginal NRGR as a means of directly measuring the impact of increasing tuition price on aid and how much institutions make from an increase in tuition. As institutions increase tuition price, institutional aid increases, decreasing the amount of incremental revenue generated from the change in tuition price. This behavior is most clear for private institutions and varies by institutional type.This study also introduces a number of theoretical explanations for pricing and aiding behaviors and their potential effects on the net revenue they generate. This includes a commitment to meeting student financial need as well as attempts to maximize quality and net revenue.Finally, this study provides the first comprehensive use of IPEDS data to address these questions. In doing so, it provides significant gains in the methodology and application of this data set for use in answering questions about tuition price, institutional aid, and net revenue generation across a broad array of institutional types over extended periods of time.

New student affairs professionals encounter a myriad of socialization challenges as they undergo both graduate and professional socialization and organizational socialization. More often than not, these environments are socializing new student affairs professionals in ways that are incongruent and perhaps even oppositional. Layered on top of these general socialization tensions is the emergence and encroachment of academic capitalism into student affairs professional environments. For the purpose of this dissertation, the term Market Effect with be utilized in place of academic capitalism to depict how academic capitalism has manifested itself in the student affairs profession. This case study of four college student personnel programs seeks to understand how new student affairs professionals make sense of and resolve socialization tensions in professional environments and the extent to which these socialization tensions are created by the marketization of the student affairs profession. The literatures drawn upon in this study include, the sociology of professions and professionalization, professional socialization and education, student affairs history and professional ideology, and academic capitalism and the marketization of student affairs. Implications and recommendations are made in the final chapter.

The process of “becoming” a physician is influenced by a variety of factors, including personal histories, experiences with access and opportunities, roles in service, and values formed. How medical professionals are socialized has serious implications for how medicine is practiced. In understanding the professional identity formation process of newly accepted medical students, my research intends to contribute to exploring the gap of and fully understanding the process and role of professional identity formation of this particular group. While literature exists around physician identity, there is very little focus around the identity of those who have been admitted to medical school, and who aspire to practice medicine, as well as their perceptions of how the act of volunteerism impacts their identity, along with their impressions of what qualities define a physician. The research study sought to answer these questions: 1. What comprises the identity of a newly accepted medical student? 2. How does their educational and experiences shape their professional identity development? 3. Specifically, what are the characteristics of professional identity development? 4. How do they negotiate their professional identity and consider their role beyond the clinical aspect? 5. How do they plan to navigate life’s most difficult conversations that come with the territory of being part of a profession that is responsible for the lives of others? 6. Are they prepared for having difficult conversations with patients and their families around poor outcomes? 7. How do they define a “well-prepared” physician, and what qualities encompass a physician? What values are important to them, and what communities to they serve? Do they have a specific emphasis or lens by which they practice medicine? These questions illuminate a gap that I seek to better understand by conducting a series of qualitative interviews with newly accepted medical students in an attempt to further understand their developmental process as well as performing an in-depth review of classic and modern literature informing a contextual framework for ongoing analysis. My findings from the interviews reveal two groups experiencing dual realities as they become members of the same profession. These two groups can be described as a cohort of first-generation students of color. The second, are members of the doctor dynasty, whose parents and/or grandparents are physicians. I will explore this notion of first-generation students of color experiencing disruption to their identity formation process versus continuity of access and privilege within members of the doctor dynasty. While the first group has experienced ongoing rerouting in their process of becoming physicians, members of the doctor dynasty have been given ongoing support, and unlimited resources to succeed in medicine, along with quality mentorship. I will also report on findings around the socialization process prior to medical school that shapes their values, understanding and definition of what being a physician means. This dissertation contributes to prior literature regarding the need for reform around first-generation student of color supports in medical school, more specifically, with positive mentorship. By highlighting the inherent strengths of the group, along with the elements that contribute to the disruption of their professional identity formation, this dissertation challenges an existing medical education model that is failing students that are not part of the doctor dynasty. While literature exists around physician identity, there has been very little focus around the identity of those who have been just admitted to medical school, and who aspire to practice medicine, as well as their perceptions of practicing medicine on an emotional realm from the perspective of a first-generation medical student of color. Implications of my study include fostering awareness around the vulnerabilities of the socialization process. In addition, high quality mentorship, and locating support systems within medicine, and for faculty and administrators to recognize when students may need additional support. Mentorship, fundamentally, is the mechanism for the transmission of both professional and personal values. Ultimately, these gaps in support and mentorship reflect the values of the academy, and the overall culture of the medical profession as one that is built to serve the elite. This study highlights this gap among two very different groups who are entering the same profession with dualities in their socialization process into medicine.

The purpose of this research is to illuminate the role of the chief academic officer at research universities. First, it identities the activities of provosts as a collective---as a group of similarly situated executive managers who interact with one another on a regular basis. Next, it examines the careers of chief academic officers, including their transition into administration and their professional relations with presidents, deans, and faculty. Further, it identifies and analyzes the spoken agendas of the provosts, including the management mechanisms they employ and the directions they pursue. Fundamentally, it asks, "What is the role of chief academic officers at research universities, and where are they taking their institutions?" The investigation is a multiple case study of twenty AAU research university provosts and five collective bodies through which they meet and interact. The study employs qualitative research methods including participant-observation, direct personal interviews, and document analysis. The data gathered in the study is analyzed through the frameworks provided by several organizational and sociological theories as applied to leadership and management in higher educational organizations. Chief Academic Officers at research universities are revealed in this study to be interconnected executive managers who work individually and collectively to advance the cause of research universities and to establish the directions pursued on the campuses. At once complex and contradictory, the role of the research university provost begins with reluctant acceptance of administrative responsibilities and progresses through the acquisition of new knowledge and skills to the utilization of powerful management mechanisms and professional contacts. Ultimately, the provost draws upon these skills, mechanisms, and contacts to advocate for the advancement of research universities generally and to reshape the campuses individually in response to the competitive marketplace. As they do so, the activities of deans and faculty are redirected to projects that benefit the institutions through the attraction of external resources.

Due to the steady increase of Asian female students and scholars at U.S. higher education institutions, this research examines how Asian women use connections when seeking faculty employment. The research investigates shifting career strategies and how the women coped with their dual minority status of being a foreigner and a female in the highly masculine fields of science and engineering. The data explores the social networking processes that aid in academic job placement in science and engineering fields within the southwest U.S.Using a qualitative approach of interviews and document analysis, this study explores the career networks and strategies for female faculty members in the fields of science and engineering. The theoretical framework of social network theory and transnational migration theory are applied to examine data on 24 women from 8 Asian countries employed at 2 Research I universities.The shifting career strategies spanned 3 phases: migration, education and training, and career. Intention to return to their home country was reassessed at each phase. Push-pull forces influenced migration to the U.S. Influential networks were created throughout these phases. Participants chose between industry or academia and were influenced by faculty socialization during graduate school. The participants created engendered career strategies to cope with their male-dominated work environment. The creation of new family networks via marriage and children determined the geographical location of jobs and created a transnational social space of maintaining multiple networks across national lines. Academic couples also created strategies to find dual positions with one partner functioning as the tied migrant or to live apart.The participants created networks based around family, education and training, and work linkages. The participants identified their connections by mapping out visual diagrams. The masculine nature of science and engineering provided more male-female networks based on the actor's role rather than gender. These networks were access points to other faculty and job-related information. When networks failed, web-based formalized job postings allowed the participants to gain access to a basic level of job resources. Personalized contacts were crucial for academic couple hiring.