Research News

Professor Timothy R. Cain considers the role of labor unions in higher education in a book chapter published in the Research Handbook on the Transformation of Higher Education (Edward Elgar, 2023). Grounded in the concept of union voice, Cain argues that academic unions can both promote positive change in higher education organizations and can challenge the widespread attacks on workers’ rights and higher education more broadly.

Krystal L. Williams, assistant professor at the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education, has received a prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award of over $600,000 to examine undergraduate academic and career-related outcomes among Black women pursuing computing degrees.

by Jewel Caruso

by Jewel Caruso

Associate professor, Amy Stich, and McBee Institute graduate Andrew Crain joined forces to publish new research on social class and students’ college-going and future aspirations. The article, “Structuring middle-class aspirations: the role of place-based habitus and higher education,” appears in the British Journal of Sociology of Education.

AIR Forum, May 29-June 2, 2023

View conference program

Several current students and graduates joined Professor Karen Webber, AIR President, at the recent AIR Forum in Cleveland, Ohio. Members of the McBee Institute community presented or presided over more than 15 sessions during the four-day conference.

Tuesday, May 30

12:00-12:45

by Jewel Caruso

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) recently released the book, Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education edited by Jennifer A. Delaney.

Two McBee faculty members, James C. Hearn and Erik Ness, collaborated with two alumni, Denisa Gándara and Paul Rubin, to write a chapter in this new book, titled “Political Volatility in State Commitment to College Completion Efforts.” This project was a product of the William T. Grant Foundation grant.

by Jewel Caruso

Research by three McBee Institute PhD graduates and a former postdoctoral associate is published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. The article, titled "'One of the Weakest Budget Players in the State': State Funding of Higher Education at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic" is a qualitative study of higher education appropriation decisions in two states.

by Jewel Caruso

Krystal L. Williams, assistant professor at the McBee Institute, co-published an article in the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering with Leonard D. Taylor, associate professor at Auburn University.

by Jewel Caruso

Ijaz Ahmad, current doctoral student, has a received short-term research grant from the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) for $3,000.

This grant will help fund Ahmad's research related to Pakistan's higher education, titled "Seeing Beyond Control: Assessing the Impact of the 18th Amendment on Pakistan's Higher Education."

Ahmad strives to explores how the quality and relevance of higher education in different provinces of Pakistan are affected by the constitutional amendment that reshaped the Pakistani governance.

by Jewel Caruso

Amy Stich, associate professor, and George Spencer, assistant professor, recently published an article in Research in Higher Education titled “College Choice Revisited: Socioeconomic Differences in College Transfer Destinations Among Four-Year College Entrants.”

Stich and Spencer sought to gain more insight into the strategies and effects behind lateral transfer decisions among students  across socioeconomic groups. They believe the study “provides evidence of the role of college transfer in exacerbating class inequalities in higher education.”

by Jewel Caruso

A research paper co-authored by Amy Stich and Melissa Whatley in 2020 recently appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

by Jewel Caruso

Ben Cecil (PhD 2022) and Justin Jeffery (PhD 2021) co-authored an article recently published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies. The paper, "International Student Engagement: Closing Gaps and Internationalizing Student Affairs," was released in the December 2022 issue.

by Jewel Caruso

Kate Collier (doctoral student), Sondra Barringer (former post doc), and Karley Riffe (alumnus) appear in The International Journal of Higher Education Research. The paper, "University presidents as agents of connection: an exploratory study of elite presidential ties in the United States, 2005-2020," explores how university presidents form relations between their institutions and external organizations. Using data from elite universities from 2005 to 2020, their results show growth in these connections over time.

by Jewel Caruso

In the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Journal, emeritus professor, Karen Webber, and associate professor, Amy Stich, published their article, "The importance of career competencies in work related experiential activities for engineering and computer science majors." McBee doctoral students Matthew Grandstaff and Collin Case contributed to the research and writing for the paper.

Krystal L. Williams, assistant professor at the McBee Institute, was presented with the Excellence in Public Policy in Higher Education Award this past week at the ASHE Conference.

This award recognizes an individual who shows excellence in their research in academic scholarship and policy practice that helps advance the public policy discourse in higher education.

Mid-conference and McBee Institute folks are still going strong in Las Vegas! Check out these Friday programs.

9:15-10:00

10:15-11:30

12:45-2:00

So many programs offered by members of the McBee Institute community today at ASHE!

10-11:15-

12:30-1:45-

ASHE 2022 is kicking off, and the McBee Institute community is presenting on many important topics. Check your programs!

8:00-9:15

8:15-9:30

by Jewel Caruso

Jillian Morn, a doctoral candidate, recently gave two presentations for the Assessment Institute. 

Her first presentation was co-presented with Jackie Belanger of UW covering how to build a compelling case with data, "Data Storytelling in Assessment: A Practical Guide to Narrative Centered Research Design, Visualizations, and Reporting."

by Jewel Caruso

Greg Wolniak, associate professor, and Sarah Burman, doctoral candidate, report the impacts of COVID-19-related campus closures on students' sense of belonging and academic self in their article, "COVID-19 Disruptions: Evaluating the Early Impacts of Campus." Published in the Journal of College Student Development, the article capitalizes on a pre-existing longitudinal survey that tracks student perceptions that began in 2017 and continued in 2020.

by Jewel Caruso

Three McBee Institute graduates and a postdoctoral associate combined forces to research funding trends during the pandemic, Paul Rubin (PhD 2017), Meredith Billings (Postdoc Research and Teaching Associate 2017-2019), Lindsey Hammond (PhD 2020), and Denisa Gándara (PhD 2016). 

An article based on this work was recently published in American Behavioral Scientist titled "State Higher Education Funding during COVID-19: Exploring State-Level Characteristics Influencing Finance Decisions."

by Jewel Caruso

Gregory Wolniak, associate professor at the McBee Institute, explores social exclusion in the arts with Amy Whitaker, assistant professor of visual art representation at NYU Steinhardt.

In their article, "Social exclusion in the Arts: The dynamics of social and economic mobility across three decades of undergraduate arts alumni in the United States," they highlight the acute diversity disparities in outcomes that persist among arts alumni over three decades.

by Jewel Caruso

Tim Cain, professor, co-authors the article "The queer student affairs career of Stephen Lenton, 1970-1980," with Michael Hevel. They extensively examined and drew from Lenton's papers to reconstruct his LGBTQIA+ advocacy when he was a student affairs professional at Virginia Commonwealth University.

by Jewel Caruso

Heidi Leming (PhD 2013) authored a chapter in the recently released book Delivering on the Promise of high-Impact Practices: Research and Models for Achieving equity, Fidelity, Impact and Scale.

by Jewel Caruso

Associate professor Greg Wolniak co-authored an article that appears online in Research in Higher Education.

The article, "The Long-Term Role of Undergraduate Experiences: Predicting Intellectual and Civic Outcomes," was written in collaboration with Nicholas Bowman, Tricia Seifert, Kathleen Wise, and Charles Blaich. Along with Wolniak, they explored the connection between college experiences and post-college outcomes. Their sample pool consisted of 21,716 bachelor's degree recipients from 68 private institutions.