Diversity and inclusion are well regarded as beneficial and advantageous for communities, organizations, institutions, and societies. Equity or fairness is commonly understood as necessary for democracy. Public perception about what institutions can and should be doing to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, (DEI), continues to change as…

First-generation college students are a population of students who are often under-served in higher education institutions. Previous research indicates their well-being is impacted by their experiences within the collegiate environment, which contributes to their lower retention and graduation rates. The purpose of this qualitative research study…

In this introspective piece, the author reflects on his own journey as an emerging academic by tracing ancestral histories and examining critical life experiences that have shaped and informed his personal and professional trajectory. By integrating theoretical constructs with familial and personal memories, the author engages in a systematic…

Comparative studies of European social policy have pointed to significant differences with respect to the way in which diversity is valued and understood, contrasting nations that have adopted strongly compulsory and integrationist policies with others that have pursued more voluntary and pluralistic approaches. Within the higher education sector…

Largely because it puts higher education within reach for all people, the community college is thought to play a vital role in the democratic functioning of American society. Partly driven by an ethos of American egalitarianism, low-cost and open access community colleges enroll, train, and educate nearly anyone who aspires to higher education.…

Mass expansion of the UK Higher Education (HE) sector is eroding its well-documented benefits -- leading many to question whether HE remains worthwhile. Avoiding the traditional approach of estimating the returns to HE, we investigate why many now feel that attending university will not yield any financial benefits. Using BSA data from 2010 we…

This powerful, practical resource helps faculty create an inclusive dynamic in their classrooms, so that all students are set up to succeed. Grounded in research and theory (including educational psychology, scholarship of teaching and learning, intergroup dialogue, and social justice theory), this book provides practical solutions to help faculty…

Discussing socioeconomic status in college classes can be challenging. Both teachers and students feel uncomfortable, yet social class matters more than ever. This is especially true, given increased income inequality in the United States and indications that higher education does not reduce this inequality as much as many people hope. Resources…

This qualitative study explores social class consciousness, salience, and values of White, low-income, first-generation college students. Overall, participants minimized the salience of social class as an aspect of their identity with many of them expressing that they did not want their social class to define them. Although participants largely…

This paper explores students' seemingly puzzling engagement with what I call "processes of classification." Whilst most students on the Social Identities module I taught between 2005-2006 and 2008-2009 claimed that "class didn't matter" to them, during 2009-2010 more students engaged with classificatory processes. Using the…

In this article college football coach Ricky Santo argues that in order to change the ways of the misunderstood world of racism, one needs to acknowledge the sociocultural consciousness in society today. The sociocultural consciousness is a way to understand how people think and behave which is influenced by their race/ethnicity, social class, and…

Since the 2016-17 winter semester, migration has become an essential component of the theoretical and practical teacher training in the central region (Upper Austria, Salzburg) as part of the interdisciplinary unit on diversity and inclusion. Reflective and inclusive migration pedagogy requires therefore extensive self-critical reflection work by…

The preparation of students to take part in social justice advocacy has been increasingly embraced within higher education in the USA; nevertheless, the corollaries of social justice intentionality and commitment among students have yet to be investigated thoroughly. To contribute to the study of this question, data from 217 American psychology…

Researchers have demonstrated that unconscious prejudices around characteristics such as race, gender, and class are common, even among people who avow themselves unbiased. The authors present a method for teaching about implicit racial bias using online Implicit Association Tests. The authors do not claim that their method rids students of…

Children living in poverty are at an elevated risk for academic, behavioral and emotional problems compared with children who are in the middle and upper classes (Kim-Cohen et al., 2004). Students living in poverty generally have fewer opportunities in schools as schools are less likely to offer rigorous curriculum or advanced classes for poor…