Institutional researchers can be confronted with ethical quandaries. Pressures from their institutions can conflict with professional standards and general ethical requirements. Analyses that appear to be neutral can conceal hidden assumptions that are unintentionally harmful to those individuals whom institutions have a responsibility to protect.…

This chapter leverages STEM-focused Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS) data to investigate the consequences of chilly institutional climates across institutional types, with particular attention to implications for institutions and researchers. Further, we synthesize the literature, findings, and recommendations across the volume and…

As we become increasingly acquainted with the rich opportunities that analytics systems can provide, there is a commensurate need to consider the extent to which analytics tools are effectively integrated, with proper training, into the day-to-day functioning of higher education professionals. This chapter explores the extent to which predictive…

This chapter will value of including diverse voices of researchers. An innovative, cost-effective model for assessment will be described, capturing the process implemented at a university in its efforts to center social justice within assessment and evaluation research practices.

In this chapter, we explore the contexts within which institutional researchers must try to ensure the ethical use of data. We also identify challenges institutional research professionals can face when navigating college culture while trying to ensure the ethical use of data. Finally, we identify potential solutions for improving institutional…

This chapter sheds light on the ways in which institutional research (IR) professionals can be involved in the development and/or modification of high-quality academic programs. Suggestions from authors within this volume for how IR can assist in accomplishing these goals will be integrated and organized in alignment with Terenzini's (1993) three…

This chapter provides a conceptual model that institutional research professionals can use to develop contextual intelligence of issues of interest in higher education with the use of case studies from peer institutions. The model draws from the metaphor of the "divided brain" and how the two hemispheres must work together with both…

This chapter utilizes the duties and functions of institutional research to outline the skills needed by institutional research professionals in an evolving digital institution. The concept of future-proofing, explained and considered in this context, encourages professionals to develop skills for the present with the future needs of data-informed…

Critical mixed methods approaches allow us to reflect upon the ways in which we collect, measure, interpret, and analyze data, providing novel alternatives for quantitative analysis. For institutional researchers, whose work influences institutional policies, programs, and practices, the approach has the transformative ability to expose and create…

Although institutional research has been a significant feature of U.S. higher education for more than 50 years, it is not so well understood in other parts of the world. As higher education around the world faces increasingly challenging times in responding to pressures of massification and globalization, increasing forms of accountability and…

This chapter presents various considerations researchers undertook to conduct a quantitative study on low-income students using a national data set. Specifically, it describes how a critical quantitative scholar approaches guiding frameworks, variable operationalization, analytic techniques, and result interpretation. Results inform how…

This chapter explores the importance of systematic evaluation of co-curricular activities directed at graduate- and professional- school students. Approaches to assessment and benefits of sound practice are presented along with the critical role that institutional researchers can play.

This chapter discusses the utility of person-centered approaches to critical quantitative researchers. These techniques, which identify groups of individuals who share similar attributes, experiences, or outcomes, are contrasted with more commonly used variable-centered approaches. An illustrative example of a latent class analysis of the college…

This chapter describes how assessment of co-curricular student learning outcomes can be used as part of the institutional accreditation process and the opportunities institutional researchers and student affairs educators have to collaborate in those efforts.

The upcoming challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs) globally is how to respond to an increasing variety of societal needs but with fewer public resources and increased accountability demands. In this chapter we draw attention to the central role institutional research (IR) professionals play in positioning HEIs in a competitive and…