This study is an interpretative discourse analysis [following Gee, J. P. 2005. "An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method." 2nd ed. New York: Routledge; Gee, J. P. 2011. "How to Do Discourse Analysis: A Toolkit." London: Routledge; and Willig, C. 2008. "Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology."…

Students who are labelled as low attaining in mathematics are often seen as a homogeneous group and as such can be assigned learning attributes by others that observe their identity work in the classroom. Rachel Helme argues that by giving attention to an otherwise marginalised voice, it may be possible to challenge the discourse of deficiency,…

Worldwide, an increasing number of students in higher education have mental health problems. Talking about these problems at the university is often not that easy. Students fear to be stigmatised if they disclose their problems to others. However, if they do not disclose their problems, they may not get the support they often need. Existing…

Attending college can create dissonance for working-class students as they experience tension between their home communities and the norms and values of higher education. In this study, I explored how working-class students make meaning of their social class identity at public research institutions. Through a critical constructivist narrative…

Universities throughout the world contain people of Chinese heritage studying, researching or working in higher educational institutions. This paper offers a case study example from a higher education institution in China in analysing the fluctuating identity positions of Chinese heritage students. From a critical intercultural perspective, the…

College students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face unique social barriers and are often stigmatized by their peers. Communication and instruction researchers are uniquely positioned to foster an inclusive communication climate in the classroom that minimizes stigma and promotes peer acceptance. To do so, instructors must understand how…

This paper endeavors to ascertain the prevailing classroom management styles of instructors as well as the prevailing instructor-student relationship in a Philippine higher education institution. It employed mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative methods of research to investigate the line of inquiry. A total of thirty faculty members and…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways in which religious students manage the dual identities of student and member of faith. If an "identity clash" occurs, how is it managed? A total of 17 students from a British university were interviewed to investigate the nature of this identity management. The results show that many…

At the University of Manitoba, Canada a team comprised of four faculty members from the Faculty of Education, an Indigenous Education Consultant, and a graduate student embarked on a change initiative entitled: "Indigenizing Curriculum, Pedagogy and Spaces in Teacher Education." In the spirit of reconciliation, the initiative involved…

Organisational change literature is littered with labels for those who instigate, support, resist, or implement change. Absent is research into the perspectives of those who are given these labels. This paper reports findings from a literature search, journal scan and a case study of an Australian university where change agents were labelled…

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term, including dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum and Tourette syndrome. The increasing number of students with learning difficulties associated with neurodiversity entering higher education (HE) poses a shared and growing challenge internationally for…

There are different ways of theorising dyslexia and different ways of constructing meanings around dyslexia in different learning contexts. This paper considers the role of neoliberalist ideology in shaping conversations about dyslexia and "fairness" during two focus group conversations analysed as part of a study into the discursive…

This qualitative study fills a gap in our understanding of how students who attend for-profit institutions make sense of their education choices, their understanding of themselves as students, and the meaning of post-secondary education in the context of their diverse life experiences. The narratives of students who have attended for-profit…

This paper examines the impact and consequences on college students in the United States whose names are Americanized ('Americanization' is used throughout this paper to apply only to residents of the United States and has two possible meanings: within the US, it refers to acculturation of immigrants, whereas internationally it refers to the…

Student engagement can be thought as the intersection between student behaviors and institutional conditions (Kuh et al., 2007). Focusing on what the institution does, academic probation is a policy intended to enable student engagement (Arcand, 2013; Duffy, 2010; Houle, 2013; Holland, 2005). However, academic probation is also a classification…