Taking the perspective of career choice as a lifelong, iterative, constructive, and agentic process, the present study focuses on the development of vocational aspirations of nursing trainees; that is, thoughts about a long-term perspective in nursing (i.e., persistence), ideas of finishing the training but changing into another profession after…

Despite high college expectations and enrollments among young people, their trajectories through higher education have become increasingly complex. Even after initially starting as "traditional" students, many college graduates are only able to complete a bachelor's degree after a series of stops and starts across multiple institutions.…

Although improvements have been made in terms of enhancing the number of students that enrol in higher education, the long-term educational pathways of adolescents to university studies are understudied. This calls for further research into the mechanisms that underpin the long-term educational pathways of adolescents who study at university…

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Afghan women refugees in community colleges. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth theory, the study explored Afghan women's motivation for attending college, the experiences that brought them to the college, the challenges they experienced while navigating the institution,…

Access to post-secondary education for first-generation college students (FGCS) has become even more important after COVID-19 brought to the forefront the most affected in the workforce: those who had a high school degree or less. College access programs play a vital role to move the needle in closing the educational achievement gap. These…

This article focuses on the need identified by African Canadian students for a "racial oasis" -- a physical space designed to increase their exposure to positive racial identities -- which can support them in developing a community of support among peers who understand the effects of anti-Black racism, and to identify strategies for…

Literature shows that undocumented students in the United States experience significant challenges to and through higher education. Only a few studies have uncovered the mechanisms that undocumented students use to persist in college; in particular, the role that family plays on their postsecondary success is understudied. In this qualitative…

Despite the rekindled interest in emotions and individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) under the influence of positive psychology, the interrelationships among regulatory focus, L2 grit and achievement emotions remain under-researched. Drawing on structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, this study aimed to examine the…

How do youth placed in foster care aspire to and access college? This book chronicles the lives and experiences of 49 college students navigating the challenging terrain of the United States' foster care system. Through in-depth interviews, Johnson provides insight into the harsh realities of how our nation's educational and welfare systems often…

This study focuses on the disparities between the educational aspirations and expectations of high school students in the U.S., and explores why students do not expect to earn a bachelor's degree despite their aspirations. Using a national dataset and logistic/multinomial logistic regression analyses, the study identified the factors associated…

Concern over falling retention rates at community colleges is not new; however, declines in success rates for mature English language learners (ELLs) in credit English as a second language (CESL) programs has become even more pronounced. The purpose of this mixed-method action research was to investigate the impact of a classroom intervention and…

It has been reported that former foster care alumni aspire to attend college and graduate. However, the intent of those aspirations and the reality of those aspirations differ greatly. Many former foster care alumni do not make it to graduation. The purpose of this case study is to explore how an exemplar support program helps their former foster…

Background: Students are more likely to persist when they both perceive themselves as capable of success (expectancy) and perceive tasks to be interesting, important, and useful (values) or less costly in terms of effort, lost opportunities, and psychological stress (perceived costs). Prior research has not examined whether these motivational…

Historically, racially marginalized communities are less likely to access health care, partly due to structural inequities as well as distrust for white providers. This need for increased racial and ethnic representation is specifically an issue in the pharmacist career, as more than 90% of the United States population lives within five miles of a…

In recent years, both policymakers and practitioners working to increase postsecondary attainment rates in the United States have shifted their focus from college access to college success. At the same time, they have recognized that the prevalence of 36 million adults with some college education but no postsecondary credential is an important…