Community colleges have evolved a lot over the decades, but as much as they've changed over the years, they've remained true to their core mission of serving their community's needs. They have done so as they always have--by being highly responsive to shifting priorities. This calls to mind the old saying: The more things change, the more they…

This study employed the career capital framework (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994; Inkson & Arthur, 2001) and the associated three ways of knowing adapted for community colleges: "knowing why" (aspirations), "knowing how" (knowledge and skills), and "knowing whom" (sources of information). The authors constructed an…

This research is an exploratory study that focused on describing the experiences of adult students who identify themselves as women enrolled in male-dominated Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) career pathway programs at a large Midwestern multi-campus community college. The study was undertaken to build on the research of women in…

Community colleges enroll almost half of U.S. undergraduates and were predicted to produce 12% of the workforce for STEM professions in 2018. Half of these students are the first in their families to attend college and therefore are more likely unfamiliar with the steps required to transfer to four-year universities or internship programs.…

Female students continue to lag behind their male counterparts in STEM degree attainment despite performing as well as boys in mathematics and science in high school. Female students who expressed interest in mathematics and science may opt out of majoring in STEM once in college. Given that women may not be perceived as mathematics doers, this…

This chapter urges researchers to use a "spatial lens" to identify mismatches between educational offerings and the local labor market for middle-skill careers. Students who are unlikely to relocate for a job will benefit from occupational credentials aligned with geographically local and available careers. The proposed spatial research…

After the choice of a two-year college, more choices follow--and individuals make those choices based on a combination of knowing why (aspirations), knowing how (gaining knowledge and skills), and knowing whom (sources of information about college and careers). In this article, we unpack the relationship between two-year college students' choices…

This interpretative phenomenological analysis examined what influenced10 women's decisions to become rural community college presidents in the western region of the US. The themes which emerged were how career history shaped decisions; the role groups played in women's decision to become presidents; the importance of rural roots and the…

Critical math and science educators have argued for pedagogies that focus on equity, social justice, and the identities of learners. To inform debates about the purposes and values of math and science pedagogy, we need to better understand how different kinds of curriculum and instruction are taken up by learners over time. This study examines the…

This report examines the results of the Senior Exit Survey, which is administered annually to all graduating high school students, pursuant to state requirements. The Senior Exit Survey in its eighth administration replaces the Graduate Exit Interview. The fourfold purpose of this study is to explore seniors': (1) postsecondary plans; (2) the…

Purpose: Amidst continued calls for the democratization of access to higher education for historically underrepresented populations alongside the first global health crisis in a century lies the opportunity to address persistent societal needs: increasing access for underrepresented minority students to educational pathways that lead to careers in…

This two-year case study summarizes the views of students, instructors, and administrators toward a learning community program that served first-year developmental reading students at a public two-year college. One-on-one interviews and focus groups revealed that semester-long learning communities helped students overcome obstacles toward academic…

This article evaluates the reasons for career choice and job satisfaction among community college faculty who teach sociology, in relation to a social justice motivation for teaching. Using closed- and open-ended response data from a 2014 national survey of community college sociology faculty, this study finds that a preponderance of faculty do…

Today, community college students are tasked with making high-stakes decisions about their major and career paths in a very complex and confusing decision-making environment, often without adequate labor market knowledge and career guidance which can have a direct impact on their future earnings, employment, and mental health (Baker, Bettinger,…

Since the publication of "Redesigning America's Community Colleges" (Thomas Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars, and Davis Jenkins) in 2015, guided pathways reform has become a national movement in community colleges. As of spring 2018, more than 250 community colleges have committed to undertaking large-scale guided pathways reforms as part of…