Undergraduate research is a way for students with minoritized racial identities to engage in a high-impact practice that increases their critical thinking, writing, and communication skills as well as their academic aspirations and retention (Bowman & Holmes, 2018). For racially minoritized students, the role of race is a critical component…

Methods to estimate the causal effects of interventions are increasingly used in clinical medicine, public policy and social science. Using observational data, researchers can obtain causal treatment effect estimates without the ethical risks and time constraints that typically burden randomized experiments. The three studies in this dissertation…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a behavioral based intervention program on minority student behavior. The Breakfast Club was an intervention created with the goal of improving the negative behavior of minority adolescent students. The participants in this study were minority, high school students who displayed frequent…

This study explored how mentoring begins and the benefits provided for African American sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) youth. Participants were mentors and mentees living in three Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentees (ages 15-21, n = 14) identified as African American; cisgender male, transgender female, or non-binary assigned male; and had sexual…

Administrative burden, or the frictions individuals experience in accessing public programs, has implications for whether and which eligible individuals receive aid. While prior research documents barriers to accessing federal financial aid, less is known about the extent to which state aid programs impose administrative burden, how administrative…

Increasing and diversifying STEM college graduates, and consequently the STEM workforce, remains a pressing national priority. As such, the purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the Educate to Innovate campaign within higher education. Using preexisting public survey data together with interrupted and comparative interrupted time…

A major challenge for universities across the globe is to address the lack of diversity within higher education. Widening participation (WP) programmes can vary between in-reach and outreach programmes. Some initiatives focus on either pre-entry stage (primary or secondary schools) or post-entry stage (helping students adapt to university life).…

Colleges across the United States have shown a commitment to advancing diversity in the STEM fields by creating programs aimed at improving outcomes of women and/or racially and ethnically minoritized students. However, most existing literature focuses on the successes of singular college programs rather than comparing these STEM interventions…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of multiple campus teams as they engaged in the assessment of their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) mentoring ecosystems within a peer assessment dialogue exercise. Design/methodology/approach: This project utilized a qualitative multicase study method…

Background: Substance use in minoritized youth is associated with negative long-term health and life outcomes. The present study explores perspectives of school stakeholders at urban minority-serving schools regarding integration of an evidence-based intervention, screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) into existing…

The study explored the relationship between how many student success programs and which programs first-year students of color at the University of Kansas (KU) participated in and how this was related to outcomes of retention to sophomore-year and first-year GPA. The study used data from the University of Kansas of students of color who…

Background: Schools are responsible for promoting LGBTQ+ students' academic success, yet many LGBTQ+ students contend with unsupportive learning environments. Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs)--clubs that affirm students' sexual orientation and gender diversity--could promote academic engagement and protect against disaffection. Aims: We aimed to…

This quantitative study examines the outcomes of the Pre-Matriculation program at the University of Kansas Medical Center's School of Medicine, a pipeline initiative designed to equip students from historically underrepresented groups in medicine (HURM) with the skills and knowledge necessary for success in medical school. A student is considered…

The number of students choosing to study abroad has steadily increased over the past 25 years. Immediately prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, 10.9% of all undergraduates in the US studied abroad at some point while pursuing their degree. This rapid expansion has largely been welcomed on college campuses due to globalization and the sense that…

California community colleges have a completion crisis problem, with over 70% of students failing to graduate. This study was conducted to identify effective support services in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) program, which serves marginalized community college students. This EOPS program study surveyed almost 2,000 EOPS…