Education Commons^™

Advancing Higher Education As A Field Of Study, Sydney Freeman Jr., Linda Serra Hagedorn, Lester F. Goodchild, Dianne A. Wright

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Where is higher education as a field of study going in this century? How will higher education program leaders design and sustain their degree programs' vitality in the face of perennial challenges from inside and outside the academy? While in 1979 the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) defined standards for student affairs master's level preparation, and while 2010 saw the adoption of guidelines for higher education administration and leadership preparation programs at the master's degree level, there still are, however, no guidelines that address higher education leadership doctoral programs, despite increasing demands for assessment and …

Eastern Dreams: Alternative Pathways For Chinese Students Pursuing Baccalaureate Degrees In The United States, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Jiayi Hu

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The number of international students pursuing postsecondary degrees in the United States has increased consistently over the past several years (Institute of International Education 2012, 2013). In fact, the most recent report— for academic year 2012–13—indicates that compared to the previous academic year, the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities increased by 7.2 percent, to more than 800,000. Students from China lead this global trend, accounting for 28.7 percent of all international postsecondary students in the United States. Moreover, the number of Chinese students studying in the United States continues to increase, as demonstrated by the sharp …

International Graduate Students: How Do They Choose Academic Majors?, Jia Ren, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Michael T. Mcgill

Linda Serra Hagedorn

International graduate students are a sizeable segment of the student body in the U.S. higher educational system, but remain an understudied population in the educational literature. As a result, this student population is not adequately understood by higher education administrators and faculty. The current study explored 16 factors associated with international graduate students’ choice of academic majors for their American degrees and how factors affected this population’s academic choice among four academic categories. Based on the findings, this study suggests recruitment and admission policies and support services and programs to attract and retain international graduate students, in order to understand …

Chinese Parents' Hopes For Their Only Children: A Transition Program Case Study, Jiayi Hu, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The Challenge of Growth, A significant and increasing number of international students are seeking postsecondary education in the United States. According to the Open Doors report (Institute of International Education (IIE) 2011), over academic year 2010–11, the number of international students at colleges and universities has increased by five percent. There are now 32 percent more international students studying at US colleges and universities than there were just a decade ago, for a total of 764,495 in academic year 2011–12. Although the number of international students is growing in general, China represents a country with extreme growth. According to the …

College Application With Or Without Assistance Of An Education Agent: Experience Of International Chinese Undergraduates In The Us., Yi (Leaf) Zhang, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Using third-party education agents is a well-established practice in many countries. As a result, the number of international students placed by agents has grown considerably over the past years. However, in the US, the practice of using agents to increase international enrollment still carries a derogatory connotation in the educational community. Inexperience with agents coupled with incomplete knowledge about students’ experiences using agents may contribute to misunderstandings about agent recruitment practices that may lead to biased institutional decisions. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this study provides a better understanding of the use of education agents and how they may …

Earning American College Credits In China: New Model Of Transfer College Credit Programs, Jiayi Hu, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The concept of “Transfer College Credit Programs (TCCP)” has spread to the far corners of the Earth. There are two types of TCCPs: 1) high school students around the globe planning on attending American colleges or universities enroll in college-level courses while still in high school in their home country and earn American college credits which are later transferred to their American institutions, and 2) currently enrolled international undergraduate students taking courses offered during summer break in their home countries and transferring the credits back to their university. This study investigates the popularity of these programs in China, and illustrates …

International Graduate Students’ Academic Performance: What Are The Influencing Factors?, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Jia Ren

Linda Serra Hagedorn

International graduate students have been a sizeable segment of the student body in the U.S. higher educational system. However, this student population has not completely been understood by higher education administrators and faculty and their diverse needs have not been met by existing services on campuses. This study examined factors associated with the students’ academic performance in the United States. The findings indicated that factors associated with masters and doctoral students’ academic performances were greatly different. This study suggests policies, services and programs to meet this population’s unique needs and to assist in their academic success in the United States.

Studying Overseas: Factors Impacting Intention Of Female Students In Mainland China, Yi Zhang, Jie Sun, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that impact Chinese female students’ intention to study overseas. This study also aimed to understand how these factors impact female students’ decision making process. Using a survey questionnaire, data were collected from 96 female undergraduates who enrolled in a 4-year public university in North Central China fall 2010. Descriptive analyses, exploratory factor analyses, and structural equations modeling were utilized to answer the research questions. The results of the study indicated that students’ satisfaction with campus experience, English proficiency, and only child status had significant direct effects on their intention to …

Remedial/Developmental Education And The Cost Of Community College Transfer: A Los Angeles County Sample, Tatiana Melguizo, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Scott Cypers

Linda Serra Hagedorn

This study calculates and explores the total costs of a community college education prior to transfer to a four-year college. Included are all courses both at and below the college level by 411 students who attended one of the nine community colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and who successfully transferred to a four-year institution. The main finding is that students with deep developmental needs averaged five years at the community college before transferring, and transferred only one year's worth of college-level courses. Of concern is the great number of African American and Latino students in remedial …

The Negative Commandments: Ten Ways Urban Community Colleges Hinder Student Success, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Atena I. Perrakis, William Maxwell

Linda Serra Hagedorn

This article highlights ten negative operative principles identified through focus group interviews conducted on 9 urban campuses with faculty, students, and administrators. Together with its sister paper “The Positive Commandments”, the list of operatives serve as an indication of appropriate practices.

Transitions Within The Community College: Pathways To Access And Inclusion., Linda S. Hagedorn, George M. Prather

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Community colleges are often criticized for the low numbers of students who ostensibly appear successful. This article takes a unique look a the pathways many community college students take and redefines success as transition. Using the full population of the Los Angeles Community College District, this article examines the intra-institutional transitions of 1) remedial to college level, 2) English as a second language to traditional college courses, and 3) lower to higher academic goals. Analyses revealed that: 1) those students at the lowest levels of developmental English and Math were much less likely to transition than those who began their …

Transcript Analyses As A Tool To Understand Community College Student Academic Behaviors., Linda S. Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Community colleges are truly an American invention that, despite many documented successes, remains controversial. There is a large body of research that criticizes these institutions citing non-successes (Dougherty, 1987, 1994; Brint & Karabel, 1989). Debates whirl not only about the overall outcomes of these institutions, but also about how to measure community college student progress and outcomes. This article specifically promotes the utilization of transcript analysis to document and understand the complex academic behaviors of community college students. Transcripts or the records of student activities that include enrollments, course drops, and grades are important, yet ignored documents that tell the …

The Academic And Occupational Outcomes Of Private Residential High School Student Instruction, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Hye Sun Moon, Shawn M. Kanaiaupuni, Katherine A. Tibbetts

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Using a population of graduates from a large high school with both residential and commuter students serving specifically students with Native Hawaiian ancestry, the study compares outcomes such as high school graduation, college attendance, college graduation, occupational status, and overall life happiness to determine the effects of residential status. Results indicated that the strongest variable that separated the college completers from the non-completers was receipt of college financial aid. Other important variables included Hawaiian culture, locus of control, family predominance of standard English, and beginning college at a community college

Marriage, Children, And Aging Parents: The Role Of Family-Related Factors In Faculty Job Satifsfaction, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Linda J. Sax

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Due to changes in the academic market, faculty job satisfaction is especially critical. Using a multi-step framework, this study explores the role of family and stress related “pull factors” on a measure of overall job satisfaction for a large nationally representative sample of college and university faculty members. These “pull factors” include, but are not limited to, care for a child, spouse or elder, as well as other responsibilities and duties not directly related to one’s academic career.

Factors Contributing To College Retention In The Native Hawaiian Population, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Katherine Tibbetts, Hye Sun Moon, Jaime Lester

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Only a few rare educational studies have focused on the indigenous population of Hawaii; making Native Hawaiians one of the most understudied populations in the educational literature. Usually when Hawaiians are included in a study they are bundled under the heading of “Asian Americans”. This study uses data from a unique project that focuses on alumni and a set of students who received a special financial aid from a private school dedicated to the education of Native Hawaiians. The study proceeds to identify the factors leading to the acquisition of a bachelor’s degree of Native Hawaiians from the high school …

Making School To College Programs Work: Academics, Goals, And Aspirations, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Shereen F. Fogel

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Education—Soviet Style, Nurgul Kinderbaeva, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The nature of the Soviet educational system has been developing in accordance with the Soviet Union's 70-year history. During these years that the Soviet Union was controlled by the communist party, it developed an ideology centered on communist party doctrine. Also, under the leadership of different rulers the system of Soviet Education passed through many changes and reforms. Consequently, it is difficult to describe the entire history of soviet education in brief since it is such a broad topic and comprehensive from its political and ideological perspective.

Postsecondary Educational Delivery In China, Caleb Zia, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

China, a country with 5,000 years of civilization, has a culture that profoundly influenced its traditional education theories, classroom and lecture practices, and educational system (Lo, 1989). Chinese education has grown out of the Confucian teaching. This teaching is still highly regarded as the major guideline of educational development (Hao, 1993).

Unite For Success: Creating Business And Community College Partnerships For Economic Development, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

While community colleges have historically been a source of training for many people, the latest trend is a drift from their vocational focus to one of a more scholarly focus: transfer to four-year institutions. At the same time, business and industry are demanding more highly-trained workers as many employment opportunities remain open due to a lack of appropriately trained individuals. This white paper posits a confluence of the missions and needs of community colleges and local businesses and describes scenarios where long-term united efforts will assist local residents to engage the jobs and opportunities in Los Angeles and to strengthen …

Final Report Of The Community College Chancellor And Presidential Seminar, June 30 2000, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

As part of the Higher Education for a New Century Conference held at the University of Southern California, we convened an invited one-day seminar for community college presidents and chancellors. The invitation list included the chancellors from Los Angeles and Orange County as well as all of the campus presidents from Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Bernardino County. The purpose of the day was to discuss the future of community colleges in southern California and to share ideas, concerns, and best practices. The following provides the minutes and conclusions from the one-day seminar attended by 18 Southern California Community …

Science, Mathematics And Engineering Graduate Education And Students Of Color, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Despite the country's general shortage of science, mathematics and engineering (SME) professionals (Holden, 1994), undergraduate education in these fields continues to be more of a "weeding-out" than a cultivation process (Miller, 1993). It may therefore come as little surprise that these fields are predicted to remain dominated by one gender (males) and one race (White) (Grandy, 1997). While the likelihood of students of color entering science, mathematics or engineering fields is slim, for the small number of undergraduate minority students who manage to major in SME the likelihood of remaining in the field and enrolling in subsequent graduate level education …

Cooperative Learning And Unity: The Perspectives Of Faculty, Students, And Ta's, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Hye Sun Moon, Donald Buchanan, Eric Shockman, Michael Jackson

Linda Serra Hagedorn

A program designed to encourage university faculty and teaching assistants (TAs) to use cooperative learning in undergraduate classrooms was evaluated through the perspectives of faculty, TAs and students. The program was part of an initiative called DiverSCity, and the evaluation focused on the initial climate and culture of the college and responses to a series of faculty seminars conducted to introduce faculty to collaborative instruction and to encourage its use for the creation of diversity. Three surveys were administered in the spring semester 1998 to a sample of faculty, the population of TAs, and the senior student cohort. The response …

The New California System Of Remediation Of College Students, Linda Serra Hagedorn

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The higher education news is full of stories about New York's latest decision to phase-out remedial education at 9 of the 11 City University of New York (CUNY System) campuses. Remedial education will be the responsibility of the already overworked New York State community college system.

Although this decision is being heralded as drastic it apparently has escaped many that California has already adopted a similar plan. California has a somewhat unique system of postsecondary institutions. Basically there are three layers of institutions each with a different mission and culture. At the top of the hierarchy of prestige is the …

Does Community College Versus Four-Year College Attendance Influence Students' Educational Plans?, Ernest T. Pascarella, Marcia Edison, Amaury Nora, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Patrick T. Terenzini

Linda Serra Hagedorn

In this study researchers tested the hypothesis that community college attendance lowers students' precollege plans to obtain a bachelor of arts degree. In the presence of controls for precollege plans, other background factors, and college academic and nonacademic experiences, community college students initially planning to obtain a bachelor of arts degree were between 20% and 31% more likely than similar four-year college students to lower their plans below a bachelor of arts degree by the end of the second year of college.

Women's Perceptions Of A "Chilly Climate" And Their Cognitive Outcomes During The First Year Of College, Ernest T. Pascarella, Elizabeth J. Whitt, Marcia I. Edison, Amaury Nora, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Patricia M. Yeager, Patrick T. Terenzini

Linda Serra Hagedorn

In this study of 2- and 4-year colleges, the extent to which women students' perceptions of a "chilly campus climate" were related to first year cognitive outcomes was investigated at 23 institutions. After a variety of potentially confounding influences were controlled for, several negative relationships were found between perceived chilly climates and women's cognitive growth. The negative relationships were more pronounced for women attending 2-year colleges than for their counterparts at 4-year institutions .

Additional Evidence On The Cognitive Effects Of College Racial Composition: A Research Note., Ernest T. Pascarella, Marcia Edison, Amaury Nora, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Patrick Terenzini

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The relative cognitive impacts on Black students' attendance at historically Black versus predominantly White colleges were investigated. Controlling for individual precollege ability, average precollege ability of the students attending each institution, gender, socio-economic origins, academic motivation, age, credit hours taken, work responsibilities, place of residence, and types of coursework taken, Black students attending the 2 Black colleges did as well or better than their counterparts at the 16 predominantly White institutions on standardized measures of writing skills and science reasoning administered at the end of the second year of college.

Preoccupational Segregation Among First-Year College Students: An Application Of The Duncan Dissimilarity Index., Linda Serra Hagedorn, Amaury Nora, Ernest T. Pascarella

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Annual earnings continue to be unequal across gender and racial lines. One reason for this disparity is occupational segregation, the overrepresentation of women and minorities in lower-paying jobs and occupations. This study involved an investigation of what could be considered the roots of subsequent occupational segregation among male and female minority and male and female non-minority first-year college students in relation to college major. A measure of preoccupational segregation was quantified through the use of the Duncan Dissimilarity Index. Findings indicated that preoccupational levels of segregation in the form of selection of college majors are not as prevalent as those …

What Have We Learned From The First Year Of The National Study Of Student Learning?, Ernest T. Pascarella, Elizabeth J. Whitt, Amaury Nora, Marcia Edison, Linda Serra Hagedorn, Patrick T. Terenzini

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Student affairs professionals take seriously their responsibilities for fostering learning and personal development....If learning is the primary measure of institutional productivity by which the quality of undergraduate education is determined, what and how much students learn also must be criteria by which the value of student affairs is judged. (ACPA, p.2. 1994)

Effects Of Teacher Organization/Preparation And Teacher Skill/Clarity On General Cognitive Skills In College., Ernest Pascarella, Marcia Edison, Amaury Nora, Linda S. Hagedorn, John Braxton

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Controlling for such factors as precollege cognitive ability and academic motivation, ethnicity, gender, exposure to college, work responsibilities, and the pattern of courses taken, students reporting that the first-year instruction they received was well organized and prepared tended to demonstrate greater general cognitive development than their peers who reported receiving less organized and prepared instruction. Implications for student affairs are discussed.

Cognitive Effects Of Community Colleges And Four-Year Colleges: Further Evidence From The National Study Of Student Learning., Ernest Pascarella, Marcia Edison, Amaury Nora, Linda S. Hagedorn, Patrick Terenzini

Linda Serra Hagedorn

The two-year community college has become one of the major institutional configurations in the American postsecondary system. It has undoubtedly increased both the access to higher education and the social mobility of numerous individuals whose education world otherwise have ended with high school (Cohen & Brawer, 1989; Nunley & Breneman, 1988). However, critiques of the community college posit that, although it may largely guarantee equality of opportunity for access to higher education, it has not, in relationship to four-year colleges and universities, provided equal opportunity in terms of the outcomes or benefits of higher education (Brint & Karabel, 1989; Grubb, …