Considerable scholarly attention has been devoted to how gender, race and various other demographic factors shape the odds of majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. Such work has identified sizable disparities in access to STEM fields across various dimensions. In turn, these empirical findings have informed…

Social support and psychological distress should be regularly measured when conducting assessments with college students. However, the psychological impact of stressors experienced by college students is subjective and major differences exist between first- and continuing-generation college students where first-generation students typically…

The study draws on longitudinal data covering four years of college among a sample of students from low-income backgrounds, with histories of adverse childhood experiences, who enrolled at more than 150 four-year institutions. Analyses investigate factors that influence the emergence and development of students' sense of campus belonging, with…

Student parents--college students with dependent children--are highly motivated to succeed in college. They pursue degrees not only to achieve economic mobility for themselves but also to secure a better future for their children. Despite their high aspirations, they encounter significant barriers that contribute to frequent stop-outs--withdrawing…

We examine the impact of encouragement emails sent to high-performing students in a principles of microeconomics course at a large state university, aimed at motivating them to take additional economics courses and consider an economics major or minor. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find some evidence of an increase in the likelihood…

A better understanding of how to improve student retention in engineering is required to support students in completing engineering degrees and entering the workforce. Application processes to engineering majors are one barrier to retention in some engineering programs. This study evaluates demographic, grades, application process, and engineering…

Background/purpose: Digital entrepreneurship has become an increasingly prominent field of interest, with universities playing a significant role in supporting students' ambitions to embark on entrepreneurial ventures. This research aims to examine how perceived university support influences students' desirability. Furthermore, it highlights the…

Student complaints against universities are a universal occurrence within higher education. In Australia, these complaints are complicated by the tension between the external appeal mechanisms of state and territory ombudsmen and the regulation of quality and standards in universities at a national level. The nine state and territory ombudsmen…

We examine whether participation in dual enrollment increases student engagement in college using a nationally representative sample of postsecondary institutions. We use student engagement frameworks to guide our analysis, but draw on more recent studies that include student transfer as an outcome option. Dual enrollment initially exposes…

Disparate grade outcomes across various axes of student identities are prevalent in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, including in the biological sciences, yet few studies have examined outcome disparities in upper-division courses. Those that have present mixed findings. Rooted in a critical approach…

Higher education institutions are utilizing comprehensive college transition programs (CCTPs) to streamline support, promote retention and success, and address the structural barriers that at-promise students face. Yet, research about the role of CCTPs rarely explores the importance of major and career self-efficacy (MCSE) for these populations,…

This study examined community college students' mathematics and academic self-efficacy in synchronous live online and asynchronous traditional online learning environments. Additionally, students' self-efficacy as it related to students' feelings of choice and preference regarding course modality was examined. This study took place during the…

This empirical paper proposed collaborative learning as a strategy to enhance performance in Accounting among university students. There has been a notable continuous trend of poor performance in Accounting from the first-year level to the fourth year. Again, there is also a noticeable decline in the number of students majoring in Accounting…

Recent interest in academic well-being has promoted universities to take proactive measures that support students in navigating the challenges of university life, in all its complexity. Drawing on systems theory, this study explored the sources of engineering students' academic well-being at one university in Qatar. Q methodology was applied to…

Authentic assessment is often positioned as an educational panacea, invoked in response to a broad range of complex problems. This paper considers authentic assessment in relation to three key challenges: preparing graduates for the future, cheating, and inclusion. Despite literature supporting its potential benefits, there is limited evidence on…