First-generation college students are underrepresented within honors programs and colleges, and their retention and persistence rates lag far behind their continuing-generation peers. Students in honors programs and colleges have higher retention and persistence rates than non-honors students. The best practices within honors have shown to include…

Student-athletes have long been a population of interest to researchers regarding identity development and academic success. More specifically, researchers have looked into the identity foreclosure of student-athletes; its impact on academic success, motivation, and career outlook; and differences of this foreclosure among student-athletes. Most…

For mature learners, the challenges and successes in undertaking a formal learning programme can be particularly significant, as they bring with them a range of prior experiences of, and attitudes toward learning. Older mature learners (i.e., 40+ years), represent a notable proportion of learners in further education and training in Ireland. This…

College students have long engaged in various forms of protest and dissent about both structural and human oppression appearing in the form of racial and social injustice, gender inequity, laws, war, and politics. Situating student activism in the context of student learning and identity development is key to fulfilling the role of higher…

Latinas' experiences in special education are often untold or unheard. The process and labeling of a learning disability and how it affects identity is an elusive concept that is not often found in quantitative or qualitative research. This study sought to understand the experience of Latina women, who were previously identified as having a…

Research findings generally agree that international-service-learning (ISL) experiences may contribute to changes in the self in service learners. However, few studies have investigated how the self is experienced and rediscovered in the process of ISL. The purpose of this study was to investigate how students experienced their own self-becoming…

One in five undergraduate students in the United States is also a parent raising at least one child (Gault et al., 2014), but few will complete a bachelor's degree within six years. Using Greene's (2014) Ecological Resiliency Model as a conceptual framework, this phenomenological study examines the persistence of 38 single mothers in the latter…

In the current study, we focused on measuring the development of important professional attitudes, such as "compassion satisfaction" and "burnout." Students from four different colleges worked in teams to conceptualize innovative engineering products. During the ideation phase of their project, participants completed a…

This study explores the sophomore year, a critical juncture during the undergraduate experience with notable attrition rates. By dissecting environmental, academic, and situational determinants, this study provides insightful perspective by delving into the student narrative, enriching the existing literature. Employing semi-structured interviews,…

Increasing student retention is one of the greatest challenges faced by community colleges. First-year community college students face a complex set of issues in grappling with their new academic roles and identities. Therefore, there is a need for effective retention efforts that support students during this time of transition. First-Year…

In at-risk areas of social exclusion, a higher number of adolescents drop out of school. Dropout from compulsory education and early school leaving are associated with unemployment, poverty, and greater health problems, posing a significant threat to the youth's development and wellbeing. Nevertheless, some students manage to pursue formal…

In this paper, we explored our experiences navigating new identities as international students of color during our doctoral programs. Duoethnography, functioning as a dialogic space, facilitated the unpacking of our experiences and our understanding of how race/racism shapes our racial identities and everyday experiences. The paper is organized…

This dissertation presents a critical analysis of the literature on the experiences of racially minoritized graduate students' experiences. The author focuses on factors that influence spiritual and identity development and belonging for minority students in predominantly White evangelical colleges. This dissertation provides background…

This paper explores the intersection of U.S. graduate music student experiences and mental health. A literature review discussing nineteenth-century mechanist piano pedagogy practices, Carl Seashore's Measures of Musical Talent, the impact of neoliberal capitalism on students, and an overview of current U.S. studies on university music student…

In the United States, Latinas are underrepresented in obtaining PhDs that lead to high level professional careers and academia. This may be due, in part, to patriarchal academic institutions and approaches that have historically devalued the cultural experiences and identities of marginalized populations, including Latinas in higher education.…