This article examines how Chinese international students develop a complex understanding of race and racism from a transnational perspective. Through semi-structured interviews and follow-up exchanges with 21 Chinese international undergraduates at a US public research university, the article argues that students' racial learning was jointly…

This exploratory study aimed to understand the experience of mothers in higher education both during the COVID-19 pandemic and toward the end of restrictions. The population included academic mothers with children at home during the pandemic. Data was analyzed thematically by a team of researchers. The results generated six themes: (a) life…

A narrative inquiry study explored six graduate students' experiences of "imposter syndrome" during their graduate studies. Semi-structured interviews occurred with each participant at two time points: one initial interview and a follow-up interview to discuss the impact of the initial interview and to perform member checking. Each…

Existing research explains academic course failure with two contrasting narratives; one narrative is negative, and the other is more hopeful. To reconcile these contrasting narratives, this study explored students' perspectives on failing a course. The findings offer practical implications for higher education policy, student-faculty/staff…

Purpose: Structural mentoring barriers are policies, practices and cultural norms that collectively disadvantage marginalized groups and perpetuate disparities in mentoring. This study aims to better understand structural mentoring barriers at the postdoctoral training stage, which has a direct impact on faculty diversity and national efforts to…

There is a well recognised desire to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking in university students, however core or mandatory provision has the potential to dilute the enthusiasm or engagement in enterprise. This paper reflects on the choice to offer optional (elective) enterprise modules to STEM students at Undergraduate (level 6) and…

The present study evaluated the experience of burnout among mothers who attended a psychology graduate school program. Eight individuals who identified as mothers participated in the qualitative study. Participants were asked questions that targeted the experience of burnout in a semi-structured interview. The Reissman narrative model, which also…

Building on decades of scholarship critiquing scientist representation in classrooms and textbooks, the present study characterizes the lifetime experiences of undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of scientists and science identity. Informed by the theoretical framework of Cultural Learning Pathways (CLP), we conducted 31…

Within the burgeoning doctoral mobility scholarship, inhabiting an entwined international and doctoral student status has been argued to render the PhD enterprise peculiarly challenging for candidates. Nonetheless, recognizing that this academic population has a relatively higher level of maturity and sophistication, research has increasingly…

Microaggressions have been studied in higher-education institutions, professional work environments, and ordinary life. However, most research studies on microaggressions in higher education focus on the experiences of college students at four-year institutions, exposing a gap in the literature on microaggressions in two-year community colleges.…

Higher-degree research (HDR) students often struggle with the transition into independent research, the juncture in which students accustomed to the structure and predictability of coursework suddenly become project managers: narrowing research questions to address a meaningful gap in the literature, designing projects that adhere to ethical…

Purpose: Transitions to and within university studies can be associated with heightened distress in students. This study focusses on the less studied transition from a bachelor's to a master's degree. During a master's degree, study requirements and autonomy increase compared to bachelor's studies. The present study examines how students'…

This article employs an interpretive autoethnographic approach to explore how the author navigates the paradigmatic contradictions between poststructuralism as a theoretical framework and his personal religious beliefs. It narrates and analyzes how the researcher arrives at specific understandings of reality, knowledge, and the self. The author…

Studying abroad acts as investment in human capital and ideally outweighs associated investment costs due to higher earnings or related non-monetary benefits. We estimate monetary returns to studying abroad for female graduates 1 and 5 years after graduation. The empirical estimates--based on panel data from four graduate cohorts in 1997, 2001,…

Background: Real-world engineering problems are ill-defined and complex, and solving them may arouse negative epistemic affect (feelings experienced within problem-solving). These feelings fall into sequenced patterns (affective pathways). Over time, these patterns can alter students' attitudes toward engineering. Meta-affect (affect or cognition…