Going to College tells the powerful story of how high school students make choices about postsecondary education. Drawing on their unprecedented nine-year study of high school students, the authors explore how students and their parents negotiate these important decisions. Family background, finances, education, information-all influence students' plans after high school and the career paths they pursue, as do the more subtle messages delivered by parents and counselors which shape adolescents' self-expectations. For high school guidance counselors, college admissions counselors, parents and teachers, and public policy makers, this book is a valuable resource that explains the decision-making process and helps adults to help students make appropriate choices. The authors identify predisposition, search, and choice as the three stages in the student decision-making process. Predisposition refers to the plans students develop for education or work after they graduate from high school. The search stage involves students discovering and evaluating a variety of colleges and universities. In the choice stage, students choose a school to attend from among a list of institutions that are being seriously considered. Understanding exactly how students move through the predisposition, search, and choice stages of the college decision-making process can help students and parents prepare themselves for this process and consider a wider array of options. For education professionals, understanding this process can lead to new initiatives to guide students and families effectively-by providing better incentives for college savings, for example, or devising more effective early information programs about postsecondary education. Going to Collegeis the first book to seriously study over an extended period the decisions that have a pervasive and lasting impact on individual careers, livelihoods, and lifestyles. The authors conclude with important recommendations for improving academic support, exploring various financial options, providing early encouragement-in other words, for recognizing the factors that influence students' decisions, and knowing when to pay attention to them.

Going to College: How Social, Economic, and Educational Factors Influence the Decisions Students Make

Universities in Western countries host a substantial number of international students. These students bring a range of benefits to the host country and in return the students gain higher education. However, the choice to study overseas in Western countries may present many challenges for the international student including the experience of acculturative stress and difficulties with adjustment to the environment of the host country. The present paper provides a review of current acculturation models as applied to international students. Given that these models have typically been empirically tested on migrant and refugee populations only, the review aims to determine the extent to which these models characterise the acculturation experience of international students. Literature pertaining to salient variables from acculturation models was explored including acculturative stressors encountered frequently by international students (e.g., language barriers, educational difficulties, loneliness, discrimination, and practical problems associated with changing environments). Further discussed was the subsequent impact of social support and coping strategies on acculturative stress experienced by international students, and the psychological and sociocultural adaptation of this student group. This review found that the international student literature provides support for some aspects of the acculturation models discussed, however, further investigation of these models is needed to determine their accuracy in describing the acculturation of international students. Additionally, prominent acculturation models portray the host society as an important factor influencing international students’ acculturation, which suggests the need for future intervention.

A review of the acculturation experiences of international students

Perceptions of intercultural communication competence and international student adaptation to an American campus

While much is known about how Black students negotiate and navigate undergraduate studies, there is a dearth of research on what happens when these students enter graduate school. This article presents the results of a study of 21 Black male graduate students in engineering from one highly ranked research-intensive institution. This article provides evidence of structurally racialized policies within the engineering college (e.g., admissions) and racialized and gendered interactions with peers and advisors that threaten Black males’ persistence in engineering. We argue for taking an anti-deficit approach to understanding Black males’ persistence in engineering. We conclude with implications for policy, practice, and research that could further improve the scholarship and experiences of Black males in engineering graduate programs.

https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=edu_pubs

Into the Storm: Ecological and Sociological Impediments to Black Males’ Persistence in Engineering Graduate Programs:

Parent Involvement in Children's Education

Foreign-born students of color arrive in the United States with racial and cultural orientations specific to their country of origin, which are often quite distinct from issues of race and racism within the U.S. context. This qualitative study examines the college experiences of 15 foreign-born students of color to address the research question: How do foreign-born students of color perceive and respond to racialized experiences and their racial minority status in the United States? The findings of this study reveal that traditional frameworks on race and racial identity development do not fully capture the perceptions and behaviors of foreign-born students of color. Our data reveal patterns that we offer as an emergent framework on Learning Race in a U.S. Context (LRUSC). Understanding how foreign-born students make meaning of racialization in the United States can give education researchers and practitioners more holistic insight into the educational experiences of this growing student population.

Learning Race in a U.S. Context: An Emergent Framework on the Perceptions of Race among Foreign-Born Students of Color.

This study focuses on 15 foreign-born students majoring in physics who are also racial/ethnic minorities. We address the research question: What are the acculturation experiences of foreign-born Students of Color majoring in physics? Berry’s (2003) theory of acculturation and Bandura’s (1994) theory of self-efficacy were substantive frameworks for analyzing the data. The findings illustrate participants’ cultural, educational, and social adjustments. Emphasis is placed on how participants navigate and achieve success in this process.

The Acculturation Experiences of Foreign- Born Students of Color in Physics

For decades, higher education research has recognized the importance of cross-cultural interaction among students. However, this body of scholarship has largely examined this phenomenon across race...

Examining Intraracial Dynamics and Engagement Between Native-Born and Foreign-Born Black Collegians in STEM:

Abstract:Using critical consciousness as a framework, we investigated how the predominantly White institution (PWI) environment plays a role in Black immigrant students' engagement with race, racism, and race-based activism in the United States. Findings from this qualitative study demonstrate that Black immigrant students' positive and negative race-related experiences in PWIs over time had an impact on their awareness of, desire to learn more about, and/or activism in racial justice work.

Waking From the American Dream: Conceptualizing Racial Activism and Critical Consciousness Among Black Immigrant College Students

This study examined the differences between U.S. civilian and military children in their attainment of milestones toward college during a period of burgeoning military deployment (2002–2004). In spite of this intensive deployment, the process of attainment of milestones toward college among military children from Grade 10 to Grade 12 was remarkably similar to that of civilian children.

Alicia M. Peralta

Papers

Learning Race in a U.S. Context: An Emergent Framework on the Perceptions of Race among Foreign-Born Students of Color.

The Acculturation Experiences of Foreign- Born Students of Color in Physics

Examining Intraracial Dynamics and Engagement Between Native-Born and Foreign-Born Black Collegians in STEM:

Waking From the American Dream: Conceptualizing Racial Activism and Critical Consciousness Among Black Immigrant College Students

The Invisible 1%: A Comparison of Attaining Stepping Stones toward College between Military and Civilian Children.