The future of higher education is in crisis. Between falling undergraduate enrollment, rising student debt, program elimination, and widespread faculty burnout, families across America are left wondering: Is college worth it? In "The Conversation on Higher Ed," editor Mary Churchill explores the complicated landscape of academic life in…

Extant research has focused on the barriers faced by minority faculty in academia. Despite outward notions of commitment to diversity, higher education institutions remain largely exclusive to anyone who does not prescribe to the 'ideal' faculty. Recently, more attention has been given to minority faculty who possess intersectional identities,…

A growing body of evidence shows that positive student outcomes are associated with racial/ethnic diversity among university STEM instructors. However, few studies to date have been able to provide direct causal evidence identifying the specific mechanism(s) hypothesized to drive the benefits of instructor racial/ethnic diversity. Leaving these…

The purpose of the Faculty, Academic Careers and Environments (FACE) project is to understand who faculty are, what their academic careers look like, and how the environments in which they work shape their ability to thrive as instructors, researchers and public scholars in the community. This report provides an overview of a new conceptual model…

This report describes the two-year pilot study of how best to create a national study of faculty working at non-profit colleges and universities of all types across the country, given the social media and survey research environment of the 2020s. Since 2004, two major developments have significantly changed the landscape for academic employment:…

This collective case study documents four research universities' efforts to advance faculty diversity and inclusion on their campuses. Informed by the campus racial climate framework, our research team offers identifies two broad categories of barriers, including structural barriers and active barriers. Structural barriers included institutional…

Many preservice teachers experienced a profound sense of isolation while going through their credential programs due to school closures and social distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the pandemic highlighted discrepancies present in educational settings, including those between Black and Indigenous People of Color…

The purpose of the Faculty, Academic Careers and Environments (FACE) project is to understand who faculty are, what their academic careers look like, and how the environments in which they work shape their ability to thrive as instructors, researchers and public scholars in the community. The goal of the project is to examine and pilot test how…

This qualitative study focuses on the tenure experiences of Black women faculty who have attained tenure at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) of higher education. Black Feminist Theory, Endarkened Feminist Epistemology, and Identity Taxation create theoretical lenses and frameworks for this study. Methodologically, this study uses sister…

Multi-organizational networks are increasingly understood as powerful levers for inducing change in higher education, particularly for fostering more diverse and inclusive organizations. Yet, there is limited scholarship on how these networks successfully change colleges and universities. This case study follows the evolution of one network…

Many institutions within higher education are committed to hiring a diverse and representative body of faculty and staff, yet few institutions have realized this commitment. Instead, administrative staff demographics have not significantly changed over recent decades. To examine the intersection of institutional commitments and outcomes, this…

Higher education institutions have come under fire for their perceived restrictive tactics and lack of diversity among students and faculty. This article dives into the possible synergy between anthropology and critical consciousness, drawing inspiration from Paulo Freire's seminal contributions. The major goal is to create a revolutionary…

This article draws on findings from a qualitative study of academics' role in higher education's contribution to the public good based on 15 interviews with academics from two universities in South Africa. I argue that if higher education in South Africa is to transform for the public good, the transformation of the university academic staff needs…

Research suggests that diversity is not often readily accepted within the classroom by students driven by their personal perceptions and biases of working with diverse educators. Furthermore, racial ideologies are often projected across campus during communication and actions by students and faculty. Using a theoretical framework for…

Higher education leadership is a highly important role that impacts many and can have far-reaching effects on those in the educational institute and beyond. These leadership positions are very demanding roles that require hard work, ingenuity, and insight. For this very reason, it is essential that positions of higher education leadership are…