Purpose: College and university campuses serve as a vital test bed for sustainability solutions of various types. To date, though, campus sustainability efforts have focused more on the environmental and economic aspects of sustainability, with less attention to its social aspects. This paper aims to draw on a study of student food insecurity to…

The current study examined changes in prevalence of e-cigarette use and perceptions of the harmfulness of e-cigarette and combustible cigarettes following a campus-wide tobacco ban. Undergraduate students completed surveys of tobacco use and perceived product harmfulness. Four samples were collected: in 2013 prior to the ban (n = 792) and in fall…

Objective: To determine whether students who engage in a sedentary task in an urban park-like setting experience improved mood and whether this effect is moderated by mindfulness meditation. Participants: 234 (133 females) undergraduate students, who either engaged in outdoor recreation frequently or infrequently. Methods: Participants engaged in…

Objective: To examine health behavior and environmental perception differences among vegetarian and nonvegetarian students. Participants: First-year university students (n = 1078) from eight United States universities. Methods: Data were obtained from base 2015 and followup 2016 assessments. Vegetarians and nonvegetarians were compared for…

The under-representation of women in computer science education courses is well documented, and the social and commercial need to address this is widely recognised. Previous literature offers some explanation for this gender imbalance, but there has been limited qualitative data to provide an in-depth understanding of existing quantitative…

Research which attends to LGBTQ+ students' experiences in Higher Education (HE) asserts that they are more likely to be targets of physical, verbal and symbolic violence than non-LGBTQ+ students, have poorer mental health and wellbeing, and report university settings and systems as generally exclusionary and unsafe. The Australian body of research…

Like other transitional countries, the Western Balkans face educational challenges due to the long transition period, respectively centralised educational activities associated with a dearth of scientific activities, and limited academic freedom. The previous centralised political and economic system in the Western Balkans created the academic…

The current study explores the role of individual and environmental determinants on students' fear of crime. Based on a large-scale survey among students of a Belgian university (n = 1,463), the relationship between perceived social and physical disorder and the three dimensions of fear of crime (perceived risk of victimization, feelings of…

Community colleges located in urban areas face unique challenges and opportunities. How leaders in these institutions respond to this unique setting requires an understanding of the skills that might be required to adeptly work in these environments. Drawing upon survey research from the past 20 years, a research-team developed instrument was…

This paper examines Informal Learning Spaces (ILS) usage among students from colleges with versus those without a dedicated building in a university, using a mixed method approach. The library is the most visited ILS, while convenience and locales of colleges determine student traffic behavior and ILS usage. Students from dedicated buildings that…

The years 2020 through 2021 have been exceptionally turbulent in the United States. We have experienced a world-wide pandemic, extensive racial justice protests, a bitter presidential election, and more. All include race, gender, socioeconomic, and other social identity implications. All have impacted our institutions of higher education. At the…

This dissertation adds to the economic study of gun and marijuana laws. Chapter 1 studies the impact of stand your ground laws (SYGs) on traffic fatalities. Chapter 2 investigates the effects of campus concealed carry laws (CCCs) on higher education outcomes. Chapter 3 looks at the impact of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) on youth crimes. The first…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Black first-generation college students enrolled at historically White institutions as well as their parents and how parental support influences their experiences in successfully navigating the collegiate process at historically White institutions in order to provide a better…

This study examines and elevates the experiences of first-generation, low-income, Black women (FGLIBW) who are navigating the community college pipeline. Three forms of data--biographical questionnaires, phenomenological interview responses, and testimonio share back prompt responses--capture the extent to which participants feel welcomed,…

The integration of diverse perspectives propels scientific innovation (Hofstra et al., 2020; Van der Vegt & Janssen, 2003), enhances scientific capacity to address particularly-challenging problems (Sulik et al., 2021), and better prepares scientists to grapple with the meaning of their work (Harding, 2015; Rolin, 2019); however, present…