AERA Division J Blog

Anyone is invited to submit material for consideration, and submissions will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. We hope to receive material from graduate students, faculty members, and practitioners.

A new AERA Division J Blog has been created. To view previous post go to:
http://aeradivisionj.blogspot.com/

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Black Thriving and Flourishing in Higher Education: The Imperative for a New Research Agenda

By Agyemang Amofa Prempeh & Dr. Sydney Freeman, Jr. Black people continue to face significant challenges in higher education. The Underrepresentation of Black students in colleges and universities and a lack of Black faculty and administrators highlight the pressing need for targeted initiatives to foster Black thriving and flourishing on campuses. While valuable research has been conducted on concepts such as Black joy and a sense of belonging, a comprehensive research agenda on Black thriving and flourishing in higher education is still lacking. A research agenda on Black thriving and flourishing will provide a comprehensive approach to correct the existing disparities faced by Black students, faculty, staff, and administrators at predominately White institutions (PWIs). Such a research agenda may also lead to developing strategies that, when implemented, facilitate higher education campuses where Black people can reach their fullest potential academically and professio

Preparing for the (Non-Academia) Higher Education Job Market

I entered graduate school knowing that my higher-education doctoral degree would be the catalyst for changing my career path. My original path through student affairs had been fulfilling but not sustainable. The long hours of evening events strained my relationships, and the pay and opportunities for advancement were few. Over time, my values shifted, and I was no longer willing or able to make the tradeoffs in my work-life balance and mental health often required in student affairs positions. I had a vague understanding that I would need further education to embark on a career in research in higher education, but what even was a research career? I entered my graduate program knowing that a faculty role is the most commonly sought post-graduation career path. Additionally, I felt fortunate that my institution offered a Certificate in Institutional Research and some guidance for students who wanted to follow that path. Beyond those two options, I was unsure what else existed for me.

A Focus on Rural Student Strengths: Dismantling Deficit Thinking and Language on Rurality in Higher Education

Ty C. McNamee, Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi In recent years, issues that for decades have plagued rural areas have been front-and-center in mainstream news outlets, such as high rates of poverty, declining population, fewer white-collar job opportunities, and comparatively lower levels of educational success. Such issues impact rural students’ higher education attainment, a topic that news media have appeared to notice with headlines such as: “ Colleges Discover the Rural Student ,” “ The Rural Higher-Education Crisis ,” and “ For Colleges, A Rural Reckoning .” Each piece highlighted rural youth holding some of the lowest college attainment rates in the country , compared to other geographic locales. These pieces put rural students at the forefront of higher education conversations for the first time in decades. Unfortunately, much of the discussion surrounding rural Americans frames their lives and educational experiences as deficient. In turn, my co-researchers

Looking: Using Proximity-Based Dating Apps like Grindr and Scruff for Participant Recruitment in Education and the Social Sciences

Nick Havey Looking (for research participants)? Consider “the Apps” If you’re familiar with the HBO series Looking, which explores very white queer life in San Francisco, or have used a dating app in the last 10 years, you might know “looking” as a one-word interrogative that says a lot. It mostly is meant as a lazy (or efficient) way of asking another user if they’re interested in casual sex, but you might be “looking” for research participants! Having a baseline understanding of how dating apps work is prerequisite for using them for research purposes, as understanding terms like “looking” and app-based norms can help researchers navigate confusing virtual spaces and build trust and rapport with potential participants. I have used proximity-based dating apps as recruitment sites for two different research projects. One considers the state of queer sexual education and how queer collegians are responding to sex educations that were not inclusive of their experiences or desires, comp

Expansive Blackness: Making Space for the Multiple Identities of Black College Students

Laila McCloud, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership and Counseling Department, Grand Valley State University. I didn’t become aware of the term diversity until my first year of college. I left the west side of Chicago for a small, private liberal arts college in rural Ohio. It was on that campus that I learned about the many ways to be Black. I learned to love the distinct way that Black folks from Louisville and Baltimore pronounce words with the letter “r” in them. I met Black folks from California and Texas who told me that the tacos I had in Chicago were trash. Some of us graduated from elite boarding schools in the northeast like Choate or the George School. Some of us had white parents and some of us were dating white people. Some of us were the children of immigrants from the Caribbean, west, and east African countries. Some of us were coming into our queerness. We had different religious upbringings that impacted how we understood what to do Fri

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