This qualitative study combined critical youth participatory research and ethnographic methods to investigate rural youth relationships to race and racism, which are currently undertheorized. The research question guiding this inquiry was: How do rural youth describe the salience of race and racism in the United States (U.S.) for themselves…

Aspirations predict students' trajectories, and knowledge of how youth develop and achieve goals is crucial to supporting success. However, rural students may encounter constraining conditions that can curtail their aspirations, and students of color often face institutional barriers that impact their postsecondary pathways. Guided by theories…

The literature presents conflicting views of the rural experience, with one perspective chronicling the deficits associated with growing up rural while the other reveals advantages to small-town community and schooling influences. Adding to the complexities of the rural narrative are the recent demographic and social changes in rural…

Empirical evidence unambiguously asserts that a college education provides robust benefits to both individuals and societies. However, disparities in college enrollment and completion persist and limit opportunities for marginalized students to enjoy the advantages a college education affords, impeding progress toward equitable outcomes for all.…

The use of zero tolerance discipline in schools in the Mississippi Delta created considerable obstacles for African American students to excel, achieve, and graduate. This study used a qualitative phenomenological method to examine and assess how the application of the 1994 zero-tolerance disciplinary policies in Mississippi Delta public schools…