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Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education

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A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 15725

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Terrell Lamont Strayhorn

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Guest Editor

Department of Educational Administration & Foundations, College of Education, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, USA
Interests: diversity; equity; inclusion and belonging in higher education; faculty productivity; staff performance/evaluation; student success
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts for this Special Issue of Education Sciences. This Special Issue aims to push the boundaries of research, science, and scholarship in the field of education—especially higher education—to reframe, reimagine, rethink, reinvent, and reinterpret equity and diversity as we work toward achieving belonging, inclusion, and social justice in education and broader society. In this Special Issue, I aim to highlight and center research and scholarly works that illustrate emergent approaches to the scientific study of equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education using critical, equitable, and/or inter-/transdisciplinary frames. Authors are strongly encouraged to (re)envision the possibilities of higher education research and praxis via a social justice, racial justice, and/or antiracist lens. Manuscripts that reflect deep thinking about or critique of language, culture, policies, politics, practices, and objectivist assumptions (e.g., fairness, justice, quality) are also encouraged.

In this Special Issue, original research articles, reviews, short communications, technical reports, commentaries, and book reviews are welcome. Manuscripts demonstrating the power and role of engaged scholarship, public–private partnerships, and social activism leading to equitable change are encouraged. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Increasing diversity in higher education faculty, staff, and students;
student activism on campus or in broader society;
diversity in the classroom and pedagogy;
diversity in stem college education;
identity and belonging;
promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in professions;
citizenship, immigration, and culture;
anti-black racism, antiracism, and equity;
critical race theory;
black lives matter and global racial reckoning;
gender issues;
LGBTQIA issues.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Terrell Lamont Strayhorn
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Equity
Diversity
Higher education
Inclusion
Belonging
Antiracist
Social justice

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Internal Tensions of Building a Dissertation through the Lens of Black Finesse: Toward Decolonizing Higher Education

by Janiece Zalina Mackey

Educ. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 780; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci11120780 - 01 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2547

Abstract

In this paper, I focus on the process of building a dissertation that honored the Black souls of my undergraduate participants along with my own Black soul as a form of resistance to advance racial equity in higher education. Through endarkened narrative inquiry, this paper will address the internal tensions I navigated in building a dissertation that centered Blackness through the prism of what I have conceptualized as Black Finesse. I unveil components from my dissertation that manifested a shift in how knowledge generation can be developed and written. I conceptualized a methodology entitled race-grounded phenomenology (RGP) and call for a re-imagining of qualitative research around the ways Black students navigate higher education. I reflected upon the internal tensions and mental leaps of my dissertation process through theoretical decolonial inquiry. As decolonial praxis to unmake the canon of research and dissertation creation, I lean upon four elements of decolonizing higher education as a way to reimagine decolonial futures that were actualized via my dissertation process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education)

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14 pages, 551 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Broken Yellow Brick Road: A Narrative Exploration of the College-Going Decisions and Trajectory of a Low-Income Single Mother of Color

by Constance Iloh

Educ. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 601; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci11100601 - 30 Sep 2021

Viewed by 3905

Abstract

Communities frequently treated as ‘have-nots’ in higher education are a window into the condition of postsecondary education access, exclusion, inequities, and outcomes. This reality is no more evident than with the college-going trajectories of low-income single mothers of color. Evoking the possibilities of narrative inquiry in general, and life history method in particular, the author explores the college-going ecology, decisions, and trajectory of a 35-year-old low-income Filipina single mother. Through this empirical undertaking, particular attention is paid to the challenges present within the informant’s context of information, time, and opportunity—the three dimensions of the Iloh Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories. Findings of this narrative include prolonged and disjointed experiences; poor navigational structures and asymmetries of information; and institutional constraints, barriers, and disregard. In addition to insights that reflect decision-making challenges and buyer’s remorse of minoritized students; this study situates new directions for addressing concerning contexts of time, information, and opportunity for single mothers pursuing college. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education)

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16 pages, 3204 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laying the Groundwork to Investigate Diversity of Life Sciences Reading Lists in Higher Education and Its Link to Awarding Gaps

by Maria Taylor, Jacob Hung, Thi Elena Che, Daniel Akinbosede, Katy J. Petherick and Md Zahidul I. Pranjol

Educ. Sci. 2021, 11(7), 359; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci11070359 - 17 Jul 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3595

Abstract

This study presents a case for decolonising the life sciences curriculum to improve representation of the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) scholars—a step in eliminating the race “awarding gap”. Here, we investigated diversity among authors in terms of ethnicity and gender of reading lists at the School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex. We show that the reading lists are not diverse and do not represent the demography of the student body. For instance, a disproportionately high number of authors in the reading lists are white 83.40 ± 5.70% (n = 977 authors), male 75.90 ± 5.40% (n = 878 authors), and of European descent. Additionally, our analysis of the geographical locations of publications reveals that a significantly high number of our materials stem from the USA or the UK, whereas the second highest global output of scientific literature (after the USA) comes from China, which is only featured in 1.02% of the reading list. Moreover, we constructively provide potential solutions to decolonise the curriculum of the University of Sussex’s School of Life Sciences by diversifying their reading lists. This study should help to establish a foundation, along with other work that is being conducted, to address the BAME awarding gap and to better showcase the work of women and ethnically underrepresented scientists in history and in modern day. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education)

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16 pages, 1872 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Undergraduate Research Program to Recycle Composite Waste

by Waleed Ahmed, Essam Zaneldin and Amged Al Hassan

Educ. Sci. 2021, 11(7), 354; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci11070354 - 16 Jul 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2256

Abstract

With the rapid growth in the manufacturing industry and increased urbanization, higher amounts of composite material waste are being produced, causing severe threats to the environment. These environmental concerns, coupled with the fact that undergraduate students typically have minimal experience in research, have initiated the need at the UAE University to promote research among undergraduate students, leading to the development of a summer undergraduate research program. In this study, a recycling methodology is presented to test lab-fabricated Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) for potential applications in industrial composite waste. The work was conducted by two groups of undergraduate students at the UAE University. The methodology involved the chemical dissolution of the composite waste, followed by compression molding and adequate heat treatment for rapid curing of CFRP. Subsequently, the CFRP samples were divided into three groups based on their geometrical distinctions. The mechanical properties (i.e., modulus of elasticity and compressive strength) were determined through material testing, and the results were then compared with steel for prompt reference. The results revealed that the values of mechanical properties range from 2 to 4.3 GPa for the modulus of elasticity and from 203.7 to 301.5 MPa for the compressive strength. These values are considered competitive and optimal, and as such, carbon fiber waste can be used as an alternate material for various structural applications. The inconsistencies in the values are due to discrepancies in the procedure as a result of the lack of specialized equipment for handling CFRP waste material. The study concluded that the properties of CFRP composite prepreg scrap tend to be reusable instead of disposable. Despite the meager experimental discrepancies, test values and mechanical properties indicate that CFRP composite can be successfully used as a material for nonstructural applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education)

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Review

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12 pages, 843 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Double Whammy of Pandemic and War: A Systematic Review of India’s Education Diplomacy to Address Educational Inequities in Afghanistan

by Bawa Singh, Jaspal Kaur, Rajinder Kumar Sen, Balinder Singh and Vijay Kumar Chattu

Educ. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 651; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci11100651 - 18 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2224

Abstract

Higher education is considered an important tool for the overall development of any country, and it holds true in the context of Afghanistan as well. At the same time, a good eco-environment in terms of political will, leaders’ farsighted vision, a fair budget, good infrastructure, and a good teaching community are some of the basic requirements for higher education to move in the direction of new and higher horizons. However, due to the ongoing war during the last couple of decades, the country’s education system has become out of reach for a substantial part of the population due to poverty, lack of infrastructure, refugees and internally displaced, digital division, etc., critically affecting the education equity. This systematic review examines India’s education diplomacy in addressing the inequities in Afghanistan’s education system and making them more equitable. Education was further dilapidated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Afghanistan is caught between a war and a pandemic and suffers from a double whammy in losses. Subsequently, given their chilling effects, higher education becomes devoid of multiples equities, including education. However, because of their historical and geo-civilizational ties, India has focused on development diplomacy in general and education diplomacy (E.D) in particular to improve educational infrastructures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Research on Equity and Diversity in Higher Education)

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