This qualitative investigation explains the ways in which community college decision makers justify the inclusion of international students at three community colleges in the United States. We identify and explain the ways in which decision makers rationalize institutional policy--particularly recruitment strategies and motivations--related to…

This qualitative instrumental case study explored the experiences and perceptions of seven community college leaders of their use of anticipatory leadership. Two research questions guided this study: (a) How do community colleges use anticipatory leadership to respond to internal and external changes? (b) How do community college leaders use…

Women are underrepresented in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) from high school to college and into employment. As these are the fastest growing and highest paying fields of the economy this means women are missing the large economic benefits. While there has been a great deal of research into female STEM…

Purpose: Community colleges continue to face an ever-changing environment. California Community Colleges are confronted with state initiatives, accountability, and accreditation changes that require integrated planning processes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the role of communication as perceived by community college…

The benefits of involvement in work-integrated learning programs, also known as cooperative education have been touted since inception in 1899. Unfortunately, little research has been published related to the factors that impact enrollment within these programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that have influenced the…

The purpose of this study was to add to the literature on community colleges and organizational change. This study explored how interested parties, internal and external, understood the organizational change called the Reinvention Initiative occurring at the City Colleges of Chicago and how this organizational change influenced constituencies'…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative, replication study was to discover what behaviors female administrators exhibit that may prompt male administrators with whom they work in a California community college to demonstrate behaviors associated with gender dissonance and also to determine what impact these dissonant behaviors may have on women's…

Preceptorship in nursing education, pairing a student with an experienced nurse in a clinical setting, is a popular method of clinical instruction that may be used throughout the nursing curriculum or as a culminating experience in the last semester of the nursing program. Although many studies have been conducted regarding the preceptor,…

Objective: Beyond understanding whether first-year student success interventions in community colleges are effective--for which there is mixed evidence in the literature--this study's purpose was to uncover how they work to realize observed outcomes, including at times unanticipated undesirable outcomes. Method: This qualitative multiple case…

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs units in the community college context from a basic interpretivist qualitative perspective. The aim was to examine the experiences, influences, and perceptions of mid-level and chief student affairs and academic affairs officers…

The purpose of the qualitative study was to discover instructional practices used by developmental math instructors that facilitate learning and academic success of students in developmental math courses at select community colleges in Alabama in order to generate improved instructional practices in the developmental education field. Emergent data…

This study explored the perception of student veterans regarding how they navigated barriers to academic success. The number of military and student veterans entering higher education continues to grow. Military education benefits provide financial support to eligible military personnel and veterans entering post-secondary education after…

Contrary to the model minority myth that portrays Asian Americans as academic all-stars overrepresented in elite 4-year institutions, nearly half of all Asian American college students do, in fact, attend community colleges, and many experience myriad challenges. This exploratory study utilized a qualitative analysis and investigated how model…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and understand single-mother community college students' perceptions of their ability to succeed. The theoretical framework that guided this research was Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory concept of self-efficacy, defined as a person's belief in his or her ability to succeed. Given…

Objective: The objective of this article is to delve more deeply into the thought processes of the key decision makers at community colleges and understand how they make decisions. Specifically, this article focuses on the role of the community college president's personal values in decision making. Method: We conducted interviews with 13…