Supporting Student Success
Refugee Access and Equity in Higher Education in Nepal
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Monica Lakhwani
A look into social exclusion theory to examine educational inequities of refugees related to higher education in Nepal. Bhutanese refugees lived in Nepal for nearly two decades. Central concepts include sociocultural disparities looking into marginalized groups, socioeconomic challenges, and accessibility issues including outbound mobility. Participants lived experiences regarding access, quality, and opportunity as refugees are explored.
Religious Identity, Spirituality, and College Persistence Among African American and Latinx Students
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Felicia Wiltz, Carmen Veloria
While African American and Latinx students have experienced modest gains in U.S. college enrollment (U.S. Department of Education, 2018 and Krogstad & Fry, 2014), graduation rates among these students lag significantly behind their White and Asian counterparts. According to Inside Higher Ed, African American and Latinx graduation rates were 38% and 45.8%, respectively, as compared to White and Asian rates, which were 62% and 63.2% respectively (Tate, 2017). Much has been written about the various reasons for these disparities and the barriers that contribute to low completion rates of African American and Latinx college students, including the inhospitable environments of predominantly white colleges and universities. This exploratory study seeks to investigate how African American and Latinx students who self identify as religious or spiritual experience college life on predominantly white campuses. While overall religiosity in the United States has declined over the years, African Americans are reported to be more religious than Whites and Latinx (Masci 2018). While younger African Americans are reported to be less religious than older African Americans, they are more religious than other racial groups of their age group (Diamant & Mohamed, 2018). During fall 2018 and spring 2019, we investigate the role that religion and spirituality play in the identity formation and college persistence of African American and Latinx students, many of whom face various exclusionary –isms based on, but not exclusive to, their race and ethnicity. This research has implications for higher education and community organizations, including religious institutions that support these students.
Border Crossing for Universities: Creating a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Swann, Sarah Stanlick
Over sixty-five million people are seeking refuge worldwide and twelve million have come to the US in the past decade. The current political climate has forced many US immigrants to go underground - seeking refuge in sanctuary cities, counties and states – as well as creating an environment of fear for our international, undocumented, and first generation students in higher education. In this research, we ask: what is a university’s role in engendering acceptance and inclusion for our on- and off-campus communities? We will also provide examples of efforts done in partnership across campus units and with the local community to address the challenges faced by vulnerable populations in their own neighborhoods and workplaces. The Lehigh Valley (a metropolitan area that includes Lehigh University), has welcomed 12,400 from outside the US. Lehigh University has contributed to this diversity, growing the international population to 10% of its student body, while also creating intentional policies, processes, and practices to meaningfully grow our domestic diversity. In this study, we focus on three specific case studies: the creation of Lehigh’s Council for Equity and Community and impact on campus culture, programming developed between Lehigh’s Martin Luther King Committee and the NAACP, and longstanding work in partnership between Lehigh’s Center for Community Engagement and the valley’s refugee resettlement partners. These case studies will be framed through a systems-wide inclusion lens, while exemplifying strategies and goals across stakeholders to realize a more diverse, inclusive community on campus and beyond.
Diversity and Democratic Educational Leadership in Greek Schools: A Survey of High Schools and Lyceum Teachers of Aitoloakarnania Regional Unity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Georgios Bestias, Efstathios Balias
Theoretical and research interest in issues of diversity in modern multicultural societies is now particularly high. Education is aimed at shaping a society in which the new generations will acquire the knowledge and skills that will enable them to share and adopt democratic attitudes and values, the core of which is respect for diversity. Schools can play a key role in the diffusion of these values in society, especially the respect for diversity, and, therefore, to the strengthening of democracy. Hence, the promotion of respect for diversity is one of the basic and ultimate goals of democratic education in Western societies, particularly in recent years due to the problems of the immigrants’ integration. One of the most important educational methods developed internationally in the field of educational research and theory is the educational leadership. In the perspective of this method, the respect for diversity can be cultivated at school through the implementation of a well-articulated and collaborative – democratic model of leadership through which teachers can cultivate the above value by following the curriculum or raising practical issues of promoting it in school life. In this study, we present the results of research, which examines the attitudes of teachers regarding the promotion of diversity in the school environment. The results of our research lead us to the conclusion that the participants think that today's school does not provide sufficient knowledge about democracy and does not adopt appropriate learning methods to promote diversity in the school community.
