ERIC Number: EJ1393954
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Nov
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0895-9048
EISSN: EISSN-1552-3896
Opportunity Structures for Student Activism, Diversity, and Institutional Change
Educational Policy, v37 n7 p1886-1916 Nov 2023
College students across the United States are engaging in protests, sit-ins, and walk-outs, but when do these political acts result in tangible institutional policy changes? This paper draws on qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with 502 participants across the United States to examine when and why college student political behaviors influence institutional changes on college campuses. Findings from this study suggest that higher education institutions present different political opportunity structures for students to engage in activism. These political opportunity structures provide policy windows at the institutional level to affect campus wide change. To the extent that these changes promote diversity, equity, and inclusion though also depends on these varying structures. In this paper, a typology of these structures is presented to explain when student activism shapes institutional change and for whom.
Descriptors: Activism, College Students, Diversity, Educational Change, Opportunities, Political Attitudes, Equal Education, Inclusion, Student College Relationship, Student Personnel Services, Student Subcultures
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A