In this paper we investigate whether and if so why different pathways to higher education (HE) have an effect on the development of the intention to study and its motivational factors of pupils from different social backgrounds. In Germany as well as in many other countries, non-traditional pathways--mostly vocational oriented schools, but also…

The evolution of community colleges from their origins as junior colleges to institutions with dual missions to provide both academic and workforce preparation raises questions about the impact of a college's mission focus on its students' labor market success. We examine this question using data from the 58 colleges in the North Carolina…

Diversifying the faculty in community colleges, especially with faculty of color, continues to be problematic as we move through the first decade of the 21st Century. National statistics show that overwhelmingly the faculty continues to be Caucasian, even at a time when more and more students are coming from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This…

In the United States, people think of elementary and secondary education as fundamentally different from higher education. The first two levels are where students are expected to learn the building blocks for lifelong learning, while college is meant to confer higher-order thinking and more-specialized skills. How students are treated flows…

One of the most remarkable developments in American education in the past half century has been the creation and rapid growth of the nation's community colleges. Built on the curricular pillars of vocational education, transfer programs, and community education, community colleges today are considered the "engines of statewide economic…

In the UK there has historically been a clear demarcation between the academic and vocational routes through education post-16. Generally vocational study is taken either on a part time basis or full time at Further Education (FE) colleges. Students who want to take academic qualifications such as A levels have the option to enrol in a school…

The issue of student success is a common concern in the typical community college, and no less so at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) in New Mexico. As a result of a comprehensive program review of student success rates in mathematics, the Mathematics Departments in the Divisions of Arts and Sciences and Developmental Studies collaborated on…