This activity engages students with the concept of mathematics identity to expand conceptions of what mathematics is and therefore what doing mathematics and being mathematical can mean. By mathematics identity, we refer both to ways a learner sees themselves and participates in mathematics, and the ways that others speak about or treat that…

The goal of this action research was to bring awareness of the first-generation community college identity and acknowledge that this identity has many layers. It is important community colleges across the state use the information provided in this action research to be well-informed on how to better support first-generation students. This…

Purpose is an indicator of healthy human development and believed by some theorists and educators to be an important outcome of college. The aim of this study was to test the potential for assessing purpose using a person-centered analysis, thereby providing more individual-specific understanding of students' purpose development, and second by…

This article challenges the "remedial" and "developmental" framing of summer bridge programs. The study used semi-structured interviews and focus groups to assess 63 students of Color who participated in a 5-week summer bridge program. Through the theoretical concept of counterspace, findings showed that the intentional…

The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to investigate the impact of ethnic/racial ambiguity and legal invisibility on racial identity perception and experiences of differential treatment of Arab and Arab American Muslim students at U.S. public higher education institutions. Guided by the multilevel model of intersectionality…

Chicana/Latina undergraduate students represent a significant and growing proportion of student enrollment in higher education institutions in the United States, particularly in states like California that have critical masses of Chicanx/Latinx communities. Despite their increasing enrollment rates, Chicana/Latina college students continue to…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of students formally enrolled in a California community college promise program at Mountain View Community College, Lakeview Community College, Hillcrest Community College, and Ocean Valley Community College, each located in Southern California. The…

This study explored the journeys of Formerly Incarcerated Latino Men (FILM) who are turning to higher education as a reentry support for their lives after being released from prison. Offering programs like higher education during reentry is not just about creating new paths and opportunities, something higher education already does for many. The…

On May 6, 1993, students of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona [CPP]) protested what they believed was a lack of diversity on campus. Over 25 years later, this qualitative study explores the identity development of undergraduate students who led that movement, which resulted in the founding of five cultural centers at…

This qualitative study assesses the influence of a college-level intervention program on its student participants' self-efficacy. Self-efficacy theory provides an essential foundational lens for this study as it provides the necessary sources to broaden an intervention program's plans from students' individualized experiences. Study participants…

Mixtecos are Indigenous people that originate from the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Puebla, in Mexico. This community is unique in that it speaks an unwritten language with different variations based on locations north or south of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla. California and other agricultural states have been the major relocation areas for…

Community colleges play a significant role in the higher education landscape. Open access missions and diverse student bodies are often used to indicate that community colleges are democratizing higher education. This study begins broad questions about what it means to do the work of democracy at a community college. De Anza College in Cupertino,…

This qualitative research study explored current graduate students with disabilities personal and academic experiences. The three theoretical frameworks utilized were Disability Studies in Education (DSE), intersectionality and Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) to connect how race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability identities…

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…

Student mothers are an often overlooked population within higher education. However, one national study found the majority of students raising children while attending college are located in community college and they are predominately female. Therefore, the experience of student mothers in California, which has the largest system of community…