The Center for Postsecondary Success (CPS) is a research center dedicated to identifying and evaluating institutional, state, and federal policies and programs that may serve to improve student success. In keeping with this mission, researchers in the Center are engaged in a number large scale projects which have the potential of informing and improving postsecondary policy at all levels. Our current projects include:
College readiness remains a significant issue in the United States, as nearly half of all undergraduates require at least one developmental education course, at an annual estimated cost of $7 billion. College readiness has been shown to be a primary factor in predicting success in college. We seek to understand the factors impacting college readiness and how developmental education might be delivered in the most effective ways to help students succeed.
Texas Corequisite Developmental Education
A growing number of institutions and state systems of higher education are embracing corequisite developmental education (DE) models whereby students take developmental (or remedial) courses in the same semester as the associated introductory college-level English or math course. This model abandons the traditional notion that students must complete all DE courses before taking college-level courses. In line with this movement, Texas passed House Bill 2223 in 2017, which required all public Texas institutions to adopt corequisites as the primary developmental education model. This legislation permitted individual institutions to decide how to offer corequisite course options in terms of both structure (concurrently/paired, sequentially, or via non-competency based option) and intensity (number of credit hours, ranging from 0 to 4). Texas corequisite developmental education research through the Center for Postsecondary Success presents insights from Texas faculty, staff, students, and administrators in hopes of better understanding these corequisite offerings and the implementation of HB 2223.
Project Publications
Park-Gaghan, T., Mokher, C., Daniels, H., McCoy, K., Henning, H., & Moran, A. (2022). Exploring corequisite developmental education models in the lone star state: A first report on student success and corequisite implementation. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Developmental Education Reform
In 2013, the Florida legislature drastically restructured developmental education placement and instruction through Senate Bill 1720. The new law mandates that the 28 state colleges (formerly the community colleges) in the Florida College System (FCS) provide developmental education that is more tailored to the needs of students. This law gives students much more flexibility in deciding whether they need developmental education and how they can go about receiving developmental education instruction. For many students, developmental education and placement tests are now optional regardless of prior academic preparation. In addition, developmental education must now be delivered through a variety of accelerated and co-requisite strategies. The legislation does not mandate the specific programmatic details around each option (it only requires that each option be provided), and therefore allows the individual campuses in the FCS some flexibility in the form and delivery of each option.
Project Publications
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Park-Gaghan, T., Hu, X., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2019). Institutional transformation reflected: Administrators’ perceptions of the fifth year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2019). Increasing momentum for student success: Developmental education redesign and student progress in Florida. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2018). Exploring institutional change: Administrator’s perceptions of the fourth year of developmental education reform in the Florida college system. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Brower, R. L., Woods, C., Bertrand Jones, T., Park, T., Hu, S., Tandberg, D. A., Nix, A. N., Rahming, S. G., & Martindale, S. K. (2018). Scaffolding mathematics remediation for academically at-risk students following developmental education reform in Florida. Community College Journal of Research and Practice.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Harrison, J., Sermon, J., Daniels, H., Park, T., & Mokher, C. (2018). Meeting the Needs of Students: Site Visit Report of the Fourth Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2018). Exploring Institutional Change: Administrator’s Perceptions of the Fourth Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C. G., Harris, J., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Continuing adaptations: Administrators’ perceptions of the third year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success at Florida State University.
Brower, R., Bertrand Jones, T., Tandberg, D., Hu, S., & Park, T. (2017). A policy implementation typology of Florida’s developmental education reform. Journal of Higher Education, 88(6), 809-834.
Woods, C., Richard, K., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Academic advising, remedial courses, and legislative mandates: An exploration of academic advising in Florida community colleges with optional developmental education. Innovative Higher Education, 42(4), 289-303.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R.L., Park, T., Nix, A., Rahming, S., Harrison, J., Sermon, J. & Daniels, H. (2017). Changes on the Ground: Site Visit Report of the Third Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Harris, J., Park., T & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Continuing adaptions: Administrators’ perceptions of the third year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Park, T., Woods, C., Tandberg, D., Richard, K., Cig, O., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Examining student success following developmental education redesign in Florida. Teachers College Record.
Hu, S., Park, T. J., Woods, C. S., Tandberg, D. A., Richard, K., & Hankerson, D. (2016). Investigating developmental and college-level course enrollment and passing before and after Florida’s developmental education reform (REL 2017–203). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
Hu, S., Richard, K., Woods, C., Nix, S., Tandberg, D. A., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Adapting to Change: Administrators’ Perceptions of the Second Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Nix, A., Martindale, S., Rahming, S., Park, T., & Tandberg, D. A. (2016). Learning to Adapt: Lessons from the Second Year of Developmental Education Reform at Florida College System Institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Woods, C., Richard, K., Tandberg, D. A., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Probability of Success: Evaluation of Florida’s Developmental Education Redesign Based on Cohorts of First-Time-In-College Students from 2009-10 to 2014-15. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Park, T. J., Woods, C. S., Richard, K., Tandberg, D. A., Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). When developmental education is optional, what will students do? A preliminary analysis of survey data on student course enrollment decisions in an environment of increased choice. Innovative Higher Education, 41, 221-236.
Park, T. J., Tandberg, D. A., Hu, S., Hankerson, D. (2016). One policy, disparate reactions: Institutional responses in Florida’s developmental education reform. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 40(10), 824-837.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Nix, A., Rahming, S., & Martindale, S. (2015). Learning from the Ground Up: Developmental Education Reform at Florida College System Institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Woods, C., Richard, K., Tandberg, D., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2015). Diving into the Deep End: How State College Administrators in Florida Describe the First Year of Developmental Education Reform. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Woods, C., Tandberg, D., Bertrand Jones, T., Hankerson, D., & Richard, K. (2015). How Students Make Course Enrollment Decisions in an Era of Increased Choice: Results from a Survey of Enrollment Patterns and Choice Factors. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Hankerson, D., Collins, R., & Nix, A. (2014). Florida developmental education reform: Responses from the leaders of Florida College System institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Tandberg, D. A., Park, T., Nix, A., Collins, R., & Hankerson, D. (2014). Florida developmental education reform: What do the Florida College System institutions plan to do? Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Tandberg, D.A., Park, T., Nix, A. Collins, R. & Hankerson, D. (2014). Policy Brief 1, Developmental education reform in Florida: Perceptions of institutional leaders and plans for institutional actions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Woods, C.S., Richard, K., Park, T. Tandberg, D.A., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Academic advising, remedial courses, and legislative mandates: An exploration of academic advising in Florida community colleges with optional developmental education. Innovative Higher Education, doi:10.1007/s10755-016-9385-4.
Pathways to College Degrees
This research focuses on pathways to educational attainment. These interests are particularly acute with respect to underrepresented minority youth, students from low-socio-economic backgrounds, and high school and community factors that influence college going and retention. We consider not only transitions from high school to college, but also transitions from community colleges to four-year institutions.
Project Publications
Perez-Felkner, L. (2015). Perceptions and resilience in underrepresented students’ pathways to college. Teachers College Record, 117(8), 1-60.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2015). Perceptions Matter: How Schools Can Enhance Underrepresented Students’ Resilience on the Rocky Path to College. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2012). Educational aspirations: Understanding social inequality in higher education and careers. Pathfinder (4), 5-8.
Perez-Felkner, L., Hedberg, E. C., & Schneider, B. (2011). The changing landscape: Enhancing the public school option for Black youth. In D. Slaughter-Defoe, H. Stevenson, E. Arrington, & D. J. Johnson (Eds.), Black educational choice: Assessing the private and public alternatives to traditional K-12 public schools (pp. 234-254). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Press.
Within the United States, state governments retain the primary responsibility for policy and finance of public higher education. Each state approaches these responsibilities in their own way, allowing for significant innovation and diversity in regard to higher education finance and policy. Through our various projects, we seek to understand the antecedents of states’ policy and finance decisions and the impacts of those decisions on student and institutional outcomes.
State Financial Aid Programs
Using the state of Florida as the study setting and the state’s merit aid program, the Bright Futures Scholarship program, as the fully developed intervention to be evaluated, this project examines the effects of Bright Futures program on 1) college enrollment and degree production in the state and in different types of institution, and 2) individual student college choice, persistence, and degree completion.
Project Publications
Zhang, L., Hu, S., Sun, L., & Pu, S. (2016). The effect of Florida’s Bright Futures program on college choice: A regression discontinuity approach. Journal of Higher Education, 87, 115-146.
Zhang, L., Hu, S., & Sensenig, V. (2013). The effect of Florida’s Bright Futures Program on college enrollment and degree production: An aggregated-level analysis. Research in Higher Education, 54, 746-764.
Hu, S., Trengove, M., & Zhang, L. (2012). Toward a greater understanding of the effects of state merit aid programs: Examining existing evidence and exploring future research direction. In J. C. Smart, & M. B. Paulsen (Eds.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 291-334). New York: Springer.
Private Scholarship Programs
Philanthropic organizations have become increasingly interested in investing in scholarship programs to expand postsecondary educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, established the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) and Washington State Achievers (WSA) programs to help qualified students go to college and succeed in postsecondary education and beyond. A series of studies have been done to evaluate the impacts of GMS and WSA programs on student educational outcomes.
Project Publications
Hu, S. (2011). Scholarship awards, student engagement, and leadership capacity of college graduates. Journal of Higher Education, 82, 511-534.
St John, E. P., Hu, S., & Fisher, A. F. (2011). Breaking through the access barrier: Academic capital formation informing policy in higher education. New York: Routledge.
Hu, S. (2010). Scholarship awards, college choice, and student engagement in college activities. Journal of College Student Development, 51, 151-162.
Hu, S., & Ma, Y. (2010). Mentoring and student persistence in college: A study of the Washington State Achievers program. Innovative Higher Education, 35, 329-341.
Williams, K., Hu, S., & St. John, E. P. (2008). The influence of public funding strategies on enrollment of low-income, high-achieving African American students. In E. P. St. John (Ed.), Resources, assets, and strengths among successful diverse students: Understanding the contributions of the Gates Millennium Scholars program (pp. 179-200). New York: AMS Press.
St. John, E. P., & Hu, S. (2007). School reform, scholarship guarantees, and college enrollment: A study of the Washington State Achievers program. In E. P. St. John (Ed.), Confronting educational inequality: Reframing, building understanding, and making change. Reading on equal education (pp. 351-385). New York: AMS Press.
St. John, E. P., & Hu, S. (2006). The impact of guarantees on financial aid on college enrollment: An evaluation of the Washington State Achievers program. In E. P. St. John (Ed.), Public policy and educational opportunity: School reforms, postsecondary encouragement, and state policies on postsecondary education. Reading on equal education (pp. 213-257). New York: AMS Press.
Performance Funding
Performance funding for higher education has become an increasingly popular state policy for higher education. States, seeking to hold institutions accountable and desiring to move away from an inputs-oriented funding approach for public colleges and universities, have begun tying state funds to institutional performance on a number of agreed-upon metrics. Using a variety of data sources, and advanced quasi-experimental methods, this project seeks to evaluate the impact that state finance policies such as performance based funding and higher education vouchers have on educational outcomes for students.
Project Publications
Hillman, N., Tandberg, D. A., & Fryar, A. H. (2015). Evaluating the impacts of ‘new’ performance funding in higher education. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37(4), 501-519.p>
Tandberg, D. A., Hillman, N., & Barakat, M. (2014). State higher education performance funding for community colleges: Diverse effects and policy implications. Teachers College Record, 116(12), 1-31.
Hillman, N. W., Tandberg, D. A., & Gross, J. P. K. (2014). Performance funding in higher education: Do financial incentives impact college completions? The Journal of Higher Education, 85(6), 826-857.
Tandberg, D. A., & Hillman, N. W. (2014). State higher education performance funding: Data, outcomes and policy implications. Journal of Education Finance, 39(3), 222-242.
Hillman, N. W., Tandberg, D. A., & Gross, J. P. K. (2014). Market-based higher education: Does Colorado’s voucher model improve higher education access and efficiency? Research in Higher Education, 55(6), 601-625.
Volkwein, J. F., & Tandberg, D. A. (2008). Measuring up: Examining the connections among state structural characteristics, regulatory practices, and performance. Research in Higher Education, 49(2), 180-197.
The Community College Baccalaureate (CCB)
The purpose of this project is to compare and contrast student baccalaureate degree attainment for students who start their educational careers in three different educational pathways: (1) community college students who eventually transfer to four-year institutions, (2) students enrolling in baccalaureate degree programs in a community college, and (3) students initially enrolling at a four-year institution. Given the long-standing controversy over the role of the community college in student baccalaureate degree attainment, and the emergence of community college baccalaureate degree programs, this project will make a theoretical contribution and generate information keenly applicable to public policy conversation.
Project Publications
Park, T. J., Tandberg, D., Shim, H. K., Hu, S., & Herrington, C. (in press). Community college teacher education baccalaureate programs: Increasing teacher education degree production and diversity?. Educational Policy.
Postsecondary Finance Innovations and Support of Higher Education
This project examines the factors associated with states’ adoption of innovative postsecondary policy and state support of higher education generally. Using advanced statistical techniques including event history analysis, we examine the impact of policy diffusion and state political, higher education, and economic and demographic factors on the likelihood that states will adopt various policy innovations for higher education.
Project Publications
Lacy, T. A., & Tandberg, D. A. (2014). Rethinking policy diffusion: The interstate spread of state finance “innovations.”. Research in Higher Education, 55, 627-649.
McLendon, M., Tandberg, D. A., & Hillman, N. (2014). Financing the college opportunity: Factors influencing state spending on financial and campus appropriations, 1990 through 2010. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 655(1), 143-162.
Hillman, N. W., Tandberg, D. A., & Gross, J. P. K. (2014). The Efficacy of Vouchers in Higher Education: The Case of Colorado. WISCAPE Policy Brief.
Hillman, N. W., Tandberg, D. A., & Gross, J. P. K. (2014). The Efficacy of Vouchers in Higher Education: The Case of Colorado. WISCAPE Policy Brief.
Tandberg, D. A. (2013). The conditioning role of state higher education governance structures. The Journal of Higher Education, 84(4), 506-543.
Tandberg, D. A., & Griffith, C. (2013). State support of higher education: Data, measures, findings and directions for future research. In Smart, John C., & Paulsen, Michael B. (Eds.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, v. 28 (pp. 613-685). The Netherlands: Springer.
Ness, E., & Tandberg, D. A. (2013). The determinants of state spending on higher education: How capital project funding differs from general fund appropriations. The Journal of Higher Education, 84(3), 329-362.
Tandberg, D. A., & Ness, E. (2011). State capital expenditures for higher education: ‘Where the real politics happens.’. Journal of Education Finance, 36(4), 394-423.
Tandberg, D. A. (2010). Interest groups and governmental institutions: The politics of state funding of public higher education. Educational Policy, 24(5), 735-778.
Tandberg, D. A. (2010). Politics, interest groups and state funding of public higher education. Research in Higher Education, 51(5), 416-450.
Tandberg, D. A. (2008). The politics of state higher education funding. Higher Education in Review, 5, 1-36.
Tandberg, D. A., McLendon, M. K., & Fowles, J. T. (2017). The governor and the state higher education executive officer: How the relationship shapes state financial support for higher education. The Journal of Higher Education.
Fowles, J., Tandberg, D. A., & Lacy, A. (submitted). Even keel or balance wheel? Assessing the relationships between agency politicization, centralization, and volatility in state higher education appropriations. Review of Higher Education.
Tandberg, D. A., McLendon, M. K., & Fowles, J. T. (2017). The governor and the state higher education executive officer: How the relationship shapes state financial support for higher education. The Journal of Higher Education.
Identifying effective institutional interventions remains a critical area of higher education research. College and university policy and practices directly impact students, and college and university leaders still search for specific, campus-wide, and resource-efficient ways to improve student engagement and retention. We seek to identify policies and practices that show the greatest potential to positively impact student success in college.
Institutional Policies Affecting Student Success
This project seeks to identify specific institution-wide policies that might be leveraged to increase college student engagement – a key predictor of student grades and persistence that is especially beneficial to Hispanic, African American, and academically under-prepared students.
Project Website http://cherti.fsu.edu/LIPSS/index.html
Project Publications
Brower, R. L., Cox, B. E., & Hampton, A. (2016). No adult left behind: Student affairs practices targeting adult undergraduates. ACPA Developments, 14(2).
Cox, B. E., Reason, R. D., Tobolowksy, B. F., Underwood, R. B., Luczyk, S., Nix, S., Dean, J., & Wetherell, T. K. (2012). Linking institutional policies to student success: Initial results from a five-state pilot study. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Higher Education Research, Teaching, and Innovation.
Tobolowsky, B. T., McClellan, R., & Cox, B. E. (2014). Opposing forces: An organizational view of transfer policies and practices. College Student Affairs Journal, 32(1), 67-80.
Tobolowsky, B. T. & Cox, B. E. (2012). Rationalizing neglect: An institutional response to transfer students. Journal of Higher Education, 83(3), 389-410.
Faculty Behaviors Affecting Student Success
Faculty members are the primary institutional representatives with whom students will interact throughout their college experience. This line of work examines the relationships between institutional policies, faculty cultures, and instructor behaviors that ultimately shape the student academic experience.
Project Publications
Cox, B. E. (2012). A developmental typology of faculty-student interaction outside of the classroom. In S. Hu & S. Li (Eds.), Understanding college student experiences and outcomes: A typological approach. New Directions for Institutional Research, 49-66.
Cox, B. E., McIntosh, K. L., Reason, R. D., & Terenzini, P. T. (2011). A culture of teaching: Policy, perception, and practice in higher education. Research in Higher Education, 52(8), 808-829.
Reason, R. D., Cox, B. E., Lutovsky Quaye, B. R., & Terenzini, P. T. (2010). Faculty and institutional factors that promote student encounters with difference in first-year courses. Review of Higher Education, 33(3), 391-414.
Cox, B. E., McIntosh, K. L., Terenzini, P. T., Reason, R. D., & Lutovsky Quaye, B. R. (2010). Pedagogical signals of faculty approachability: Factors shaping faculty-student interaction outside the classroom. Research in Higher Education, 51(8), 767-788.
Cox, B. E. & Orehovec, E. (2007). Faculty-student interaction outside the classroom: A typology from a residential college. Review of Higher Education, 30(4), 343-362.
Student engagement in educationally purposeful activities is one of the best-established predictors of student success in postsecondary education. This project is intended to examine the types of student engagement that are related to student persistence as well as educational and labor market outcomes. It also examines how student engagement works for students of different backgrounds. Findings from this project can help shed light on institutional programming and practices.
Student Engagement and College Outcomes
Using a number of national data sets on college students, this project examines how student engagement in college activities is related to student persistence, learning, and personal developmental outcomes. A particular thread of this research is student athlete engagement and its relationship to student experiences and selected cognitive and affective outcomes.
Project Publications
Cox, B. E., Reason, R. D., Nix, S. & Schwab, M. (2016). Life happens (outside of college): Non-college life-events and students’ likelihood of on-time graduation. Research in Higher Education, 57(7), 823-844.
Rettig, J. & Hu, S. (2016). College sport participation and student educational experiences and selected outcomes. Journal of College Student Development, 57(4), 428-446.
Hu, S., & McCormick, A. (2012). An engagement-based student typology and its relationship to college outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 53, 738-754.
Hu, S., McCormick, A., & Gonyea, R. (2012). Examining the relationship between student learning and persistence. Innovative Higher Education, 37, 387-395.
Hu, S. (2011). Reconsidering the relationship between student engagement and persistence in college. Innovative Higher Education, 36 (2), 97-106.
Student Engagement and Labor Market Outcomes
Using a unique dataset from NORC of Gates Millennium Scholars recipients (GMS) and comparable non-GMS recipients, this project examines the contributions of academic and social engagement of students during college and their early career earnings in the labor market.
Project Publications
Hu, S., & Wolniak, G. (2013). College student engagement and early career earnings: Differences by gender, race/ethnicity, and academic preparation. Review of Higher Education, 36, 211-233.
Hu, S., & Wolniak, G. (2010). Initial evidence of the influence of college student engagement on early career earnings. Research in Higher Education, 51, 750-766.
Technological advancement and the changing postsecondary landscape have made the application of information technology in higher education a new reality. Learning anywhere, anytime, for anyone created new demands to examine how novel educational modes affect student experiences and outcomes. It also calls for better understanding of software or web-design features that are conducive to student outcomes in postsecondary education.
Mixed-Reality-Integrated Immersive Learning
The mixed-reality-integrated immersive learning environment (MILE) is an emerging and promising learning platform to support educational activities. It supports in-situ, immersive role-play to enable the transfer of skills between taught and real contexts, and provides a multi-user, embodied space for real time, remote learning.
Project Publications
Ke, F., Xie, K., & Xie, Y. (2016). Game-based learning engagement: A theory- and data-driven exploration. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), 1183-1201.
Ke, F., & Hsu, Y. (2015). Mobile augmented-reality artifact design as a component of mobile computer-supported collaborative learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 26, 33-41. Inclusive Design of E-Learning
Ke, F., & Chávez, A. F. (2013). Web-based teaching and learning across culture and age. New York: Springer.
Inclusive Design of E-Learning
This research examines inclusive, e-learning environments that promote engaging and effective learning interactions for a diversified learner population.
Project Publications
Ke, F., & Chávez, A. F. (2013). Web-based teaching and learning across culture and age. New York: Springer.
Despite projected growth in STEM jobs, corresponding degree attainment among underrepresented minorities and women has remained strikingly and persistently low, especially in certain scientific fields. Much is still unknown regarding how to more effectively support underrepresented women’s persistence in CEPT science fields. Research on postsecondary STEM education often focuses broadly. Our team focuses on longitudinal pathways into scientific careers, field-specific dimensions to this underrepresentation, and students’ intersectional identities that influence their sense of belonging in various contexts.
Gender Disparities in STEM Education and Careers
This project utilizes multiple large-scale, nationally representative, and longitudinal databases to examine gendered differences in the changing landscape of U.S. postsecondary education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM), with a particular focus on those fields with the strongest patterns of sex segregation.
Project Publications
Nix, S., & Perez-Felkner, L. (2019). Difficulty orientations, gender, and race/ethnicity: An intersectional analysis of pathways to STEM degrees. Social Sciences, 8(2), 1-29. doi: 10.3390/socsci8020043. See also video abstract: Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity | Dr. Perez-Felkner & Dr. Nix
Perez-Felkner, L., Gaston Gayles, J. (Eds.) (2019, in press). Advancing Higher Education Research on Undergraduate Women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, vol. 179.
Šaras, E., Perez-Felkner, L., & Nix, S. (2019, in press). Warming the Chill: Insights for Institutions and Researchers to Keep Women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, vol. 179.
Nix, S., Perez-Felkner, L. C., & Thomas, K. (2018). Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: A longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields. In S. Ceci, W. M. Williams & S. Khan (Eds.), The Underrepresentation of Women in Science: International and Cross-Disciplinary Evidence and Debate (pp. 133-151). Lausanne, Switzerland: Frontiers Media. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/2794/underrepresentation-of-women-in-science-international-and-cross-disciplinary-evidence-and-debate. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00530
Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K, & Schneider, B. (2017). Engagement, Persistence, and Gender in Computer Science: Results of a Smartphone ESM Study. Frontiers in Psychology. 8(602). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00602
Nix, S., Perez-Felkner, L., & Thomas, K. (2015). Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: A longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields. Frontiers in Psychology, 6.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2015). Achievement Differences and Gender. In R. Gunstone (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Science Education. (pp. 9-10): Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-2150-0_349.
Schneider, B., Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K., & Gutin, I. (2015). Does the gender gap in STEM majors vary by field and institutional selectivity? Teachers College Record. See associated poster.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2015). Achievement differences and gender. In R. Gunstone (Ed.), Encyclopedia of science education (pp. 9-10). The Netherlands: Springer.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2015). Attitude differences and gender. In R. Gunstone (Ed.), Encyclopedia of science education (pp. 93-94): The Netherlands: Springer.
Perez-Felkner, L., McDonald, S.-K., & Schneider, B. L. (2014). What happens to high-achieving females after high school? Gender and persistence on the postsecondary STEM pipeline. In I. Schoon & J. S. Eccles (Eds.), Gender differences in aspirations and attainment: A life course perspective (pp. 285-320). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Perez-Felkner, L., McDonald, S.-K., Schneider, B., & Grogan, E. (2012). Female and male adolescents’ subjective orientations to mathematics and their influence on postsecondary majors. Developmental Psychology, 48(6), 1658–1673.
Cross-National, Institutional, and Racial-Ethnic Variation in STEM Higher Education
Perez-Felkner, L., Thomas, K., Nix, S., Hopkins, J., & D’Sa, M. (2019, online first). Are 2-Year Colleges the Key? Institutional Variation and the Gender Gap in Undergraduate STEM Degrees. Journal of Higher Education. p. 1-29. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2018.1486641
Perez-Felkner, L. (2019, in press). Conceptualizing the field: Higher education research on STEM gender gaps. New Directions for Institutional Research, vol. 179.
Schneider, B., Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K., & Gutin, I. (2015). Does the gender gap in STEM majors vary by field and institutional selectivity? Teachers College Record.
Perez-Felkner, L. C., Nix, S., & Magalhaes, M. (presented 2015). Rural poverty and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) gender segregation in Cambodia. Paper presented at Annual Meeting, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Denver, CO.
Perez-Felkner, L. C., Thomas, K., Nix, S., & Hopkins, J. (presented 2014). Are two-year colleges the key to expanding the scientific labor force? Unpacking gender and racial-ethnic gaps in undergraduate STEM degrees. Paper presented at Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.
Cross-National, Institutional, and Racial-Ethnic Variation in STEM Higher Education
Drawing on U.S. and international data sources, this research examines STEM higher education with a focus on the intersections between students’ identities and the changing demographics of their institutional and national contexts.
Project Publications
Schneider, B., Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K., & Gutin, I. (2015). Does the gender gap in STEM majors vary by field and institutional selectivity? Teachers College Record.
Perez-Felkner, L. C., Nix, S., & Magalhaes, M. (presented 2015). Rural poverty and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) gender segregation in Cambodia. Paper presented at Annual Meeting, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Denver, CO.
Perez-Felkner, L. C., Thomas, K., Nix, S., & Hopkins, J. (presented 2014). Are two-year colleges the key to expanding the scientific labor force? Unpacking gender and racial-ethnic gaps in undergraduate STEM degrees. Paper presented at Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.
While much attention has been given to college access for diverse student populations, far less research exists on persistence, graduation, and labor market outcomes. At a time when policy has begun to shift to focus on college completion and diversity has been increasing in the United States, we seek to explore mechanisms to increase access, graduation rates, and labor market outcomes for students of different backgrounds.
Minority Serving Institutions
This project investigates college access and postsecondary outcomes for Black and Hispanic students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The current papers utilize the state longitudinal student-level database in Texas. The next phase of the project will be led through the CPS, focusing on expanding the scope of the work to include MSIs in Florida, engaging additional finding agencies, and examining returns on investment.
Project page for Minority Serving Institutions (hosted by NYU)
Associated Publications
Flores, S. M., Park, T. J., Baker, D. (in press). The Racial College Completion Gap Evidence from Texas. Journal of Higher Education.
Flores, S. M., & Park, T. J. (2015). The effect of enrolling in a minority-serving institution for Black and Hispanic students in Texas. Research in Higher Education, 56, 247–276.
Park, T.J., & Flores, S.M. (2014). MSI degree completion: Using data for fair comparisons. MSIs Unplugged: A Research Outline for the Center for Minority Serving Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania.
Flores, S. M., & Park, T. J. (2013). Race, Ethnicity, and College Success: Examining the Continued Significance of the Minority-Serving Institution. Education Researcher, 42(3), 115-128.
Black Women in Higher Education
Using data from the Sisters of the Academy Research BootCamp®, an early career professional development program for Black women emerging scholars(doctoral students and junior scholars), this project explores the intersectionality of identity, the role of academic preparation in graduate education, effective structures for professional development and faculty socialization, and the development of mentoring relationships for Black women in academia.
Project Publications
Bertrand Jones, T., & Osborne-Lampkin, L. (2013). Black female faculty success and early career professional development. Negro Educational Review, 64(1-4), 59-75.
Bertrand Jones, T., Wilder, J. A., & Osborne-Lampkin, L. (2013). Employing a Black feminist approach to doctoral advising: Preparing Black women for the professoriate. Journal of Negro Education, 82(3), 326-338.
Wilder, J. A., Bertrand Jones, T., & Osborne-Lampkin, L. (2013). A profile of Black women in the 21st century academy: Still learning from the “outsider-within”. Journal of Research Initiatives, 1(1), 27-38.
Davis, D. J., Reynolds, R., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2012). Promoting the inclusion of tenure earning Black women in academe: Lessons for leaders in education. Florida Journal of Educational Administration & Policy, 5(1), 28-41.
College Students with Autism
Each year, roughly 49,000 individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) complete high school. Approximately 16,000 of those students will subsequently pursue higher education; however, national statistics confirm that only 38.8% of those will graduate. The College Autism Network aims to improve experiences and outcomes for college students with autism through advocacy, research, and training. Project goals focus on student well-being, educational achievement, and institutional responsiveness.
Project Website for the College Autism Network
Project Publications
Cox, B. E., Mintz, A., Locks, T., Thompson, K., Anderson, A., Morgan, L., Edelstein, J., & Wolz, A. (2015, April). College students with autism: Bridges and barriers to postsecondary success. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
Full text of the AERA paper is available here; slides are available here.
Anderson, A., Cox, B. E., & Edelstein, J. (2015, May). Students with high functioning Autism and communication through online forums. Presentation at the Annual Conference of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, Fort Lauderdale.
Poster is available here.
Community colleges serve as the primary postsecondary access point for millions of Americans. As we, a nation, attempt to improve our educational attainment rates, community colleges will be an ever more important area for innovation and research. As a Center we conduct policy relevant research on critical issues facing community colleges and the students they serve.
Developmental Education Reform
In 2013, the Florida legislature drastically restructured developmental education placement and instruction through Senate Bill 1720. The new law mandates that the 28 state colleges (formerly the community colleges) in the Florida College System (FCS) provide developmental education that is more tailored to the needs of students. This law gives students much more flexibility in deciding whether they need developmental education and how they can go about receiving developmental education instruction. For many students, developmental education and placement tests are now optional regardless of prior academic preparation. In addition, developmental education must now be delivered through a variety of accelerated and co-requisite strategies. The legislation does not mandate the specific programmatic details around each option (it only requires that each option be provided), and therefore allows the individual campuses in the FCS some flexibility in the form and delivery of each option.
Project Publications
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Park-Gaghan, T., Hu, X., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2019). Institutional transformation reflected: Administrators’ perceptions of the fifth year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2019). Increasing momentum for student success: Developmental education redesign and student progress in Florida. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2018). Exploring institutional change: Administrator’s perceptions of the fourth year of developmental education reform in the Florida college system. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Brower, R. L., Woods, C., Bertrand Jones, T., Park, T., Hu, S., Tandberg, D. A., Nix, A. N., Rahming, S. G., & Martindale, S. K. (2018). Scaffolding mathematics remediation for academically at-risk students following developmental education reform in Florida. Community College Journal of Research and Practice.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Harrison, J., Sermon, J., Daniels, H., Park, T., & Mokher, C. (2018). Meeting the Needs of Students: Site Visit Report of the Fourth Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Spencer, H., Hu, X., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2018). Exploring Institutional Change: Administrator’s Perceptions of the Fourth Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C. G., Harris, J., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Continuing adaptations: Administrators’ perceptions of the third year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success at Florida State University.
Brower, R., Bertrand Jones, T., Tandberg, D., Hu, S., & Park, T. (2017). A policy implementation typology of Florida’s developmental education reform. Journal of Higher Education, 88(6), 809-834.
Woods, C., Richard, K., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Academic advising, remedial courses, and legislative mandates: An exploration of academic advising in Florida community colleges with optional developmental education. Innovative Higher Education, 42(4), 289-303.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R.L., Park, T., Nix, A., Rahming, S., Harrison, J., Sermon, J. & Daniels, H. (2017). Changes on the Ground: Site Visit Report of the Third Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Mokher, C., Harris, J., Park., T & Bertrand Jones, T. (2017). Continuing adaptions: Administrators’ perceptions of the third year of developmental education reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Park, T., Woods, C., Tandberg, D., Richard, K., Cig, O., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Examining student success following developmental education redesign in Florida. Teachers College Record.
Hu, S., Park, T. J., Woods, C. S., Tandberg, D. A., Richard, K., & Hankerson, D. (2016). Investigating developmental and college-level course enrollment and passing before and after Florida’s developmental education reform (REL 2017–203). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
Hu, S., Richard, K., Woods, C., Nix, S., Tandberg, D. A., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Adapting to Change: Administrators’ Perceptions of the Second Year of Developmental Education Reform in the Florida College System. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Nix, A., Martindale, S., Rahming, S., Park, T., & Tandberg, D. A. (2016). Learning to Adapt: Lessons from the Second Year of Developmental Education Reform at Florida College System Institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Woods, C., Richard, K., Tandberg, D. A., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Probability of Success: Evaluation of Florida’s Developmental Education Redesign Based on Cohorts of First-Time-In-College Students from 2009-10 to 2014-15. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Park, T. J., Woods, C. S., Richard, K., Tandberg, D. A., Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). When developmental education is optional, what will students do? A preliminary analysis of survey data on student course enrollment decisions in an environment of increased choice. Innovative Higher Education, 41, 221-236.
Park, T. J., Tandberg, D. A., Hu, S., Hankerson, D. (2016). One policy, disparate reactions: Institutional responses in Florida’s developmental education reform. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 40(10), 824-837.
Hu, S., Bertrand Jones, T., Brower, R., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Nix, A., Rahming, S., & Martindale, S. (2015). Learning from the Ground Up: Developmental Education Reform at Florida College System Institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Woods, C., Richard, K., Tandberg, D., Park, T., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2015). Diving into the Deep End: How State College Administrators in Florida Describe the First Year of Developmental Education Reform. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Woods, C., Tandberg, D., Bertrand Jones, T., Hankerson, D., & Richard, K. (2015). How Students Make Course Enrollment Decisions in an Era of Increased Choice: Results from a Survey of Enrollment Patterns and Choice Factors. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Park, T., Tandberg, D., Hankerson, D., Collins, R., & Nix, A. (2014). Florida developmental education reform: Responses from the leaders of Florida College System institutions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Tandberg, D. A., Park, T., Nix, A., Collins, R., & Hankerson, D. (2014). Florida developmental education reform: What do the Florida College System institutions plan to do? Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Hu, S., Tandberg, D.A., Park, T., Nix, A. Collins, R. & Hankerson, D. (2014). Policy Brief 1, Developmental education reform in Florida: Perceptions of institutional leaders and plans for institutional actions. Tallahassee, FL: Center for Postsecondary Success.
Woods, C.S., Richard, K., Park, T. Tandberg, D.A., Hu, S., & Bertrand Jones, T. (2016). Academic advising, remedial courses, and legislative mandates: An exploration of academic advising in Florida community colleges with optional developmental education. Innovative Higher Education, doi:10.1007/s10755-016-9385-4.
The Community College Baccalaureate (CCB)
The purpose of this project is to compare and contrast student baccalaureate degree attainment for students who start their educational careers in three different educational pathways: (1) community college students who eventually transfer to four-year institutions, (2) students enrolling in baccalaureate degree programs in a community college, and (3) students initially enrolling at a four-year institution. Given the long-standing controversy over the role of the community college in student baccalaureate degree attainment, and the emergence of community college baccalaureate degree programs, this project will make a theoretical contribution and generate information keenly applicable to public policy conversation.
Project Publications
Park, T. J., Tandberg, D., Shim, H. K., Hu, S., & Herrington, C. (in press). Community college teacher education baccalaureate programs: Increasing teacher education degree production and diversity?. Educational Policy.
This research utilizes multiple large-scale, state and national longitudinal databases to examine gendered differences in the changing landscape of U.S. postsecondary education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM), with a particular focus on those fields with the strongest patterns of sex segregation.
Community College Pathways to Computing (CCPC)
Project (NSF ECR grant #19-20670, 2019-2022)
In 2013, the Florida legislature drastically restructured developmental education placement and instruction through Senate Bill 1720. The new law mandates that the 28 state colleges (formerly the community colleges) in the Florida College System (FCS) provide developmental education that is more tailored to the needs of students. This law gives students much more flexibility in deciding whether they need developmental education and how they can go about receiving developmental education instruction. For many students, developmental education and placement tests are now optional regardless of prior academic preparation. In addition, developmental education must now be delivered through a variety of accelerated and co-requisite strategies. The legislation does not mandate the specific programmatic details around each option (it only requires that each option be provided), and therefore allows the individual campuses in the FCS some flexibility in the form and delivery of each option.
Investigator Team: Dr. Lara Perez-Felkner and Dr. Shouping Hu
Dr. Lara Perez-Felkner and Graduate Assistants
Meet the Team
Dr. Lara Perez-Felkner, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Higher Education and Sociology
Dr. Shouping Hu, Co-Principal Investigator and Louis W. and Elizabeth N. Bender Endowed Professor of Higher Education
Jinjushang (Chena) Chen, Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Psychology
Kristen Erichsen, Graduate Research Assistant, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology
Teng Zhao, Graduate Research Assistant, Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education
Yang Li, Graduate Research Intern, Ph.D. Student in Higher Education
Advisory Board to Enhance Rigor and Impact
We draw on both a Technical Advisory Board and Broader Impacts Advisory Board given the importance of research informed by policy and practice and designed to generate results, which can contribute to broadening participation in computing and science and technology more broadly, in Florida, the U.S., and beyond.
News and Relevant Links
- Florida State University news coverage of our work includes radio and TV features on why community college women’s access to computing fields matters.
- Upcoming paper sessions scheduled at AERA 2020, ASEE 2020
Contact us for more information or to subscribe to our project newsletter
Associated Recent Publications, with * denoting funding support from NSF computing project and ^ denoting past NSF funding support.
^ Perez-Felkner, L., Felkner, J., Nix, S., & Magalhães, M. (2020). The Puzzling Relationship between International Development and Gender Equity: The Case of STEM Postsecondary Education in Cambodia. International Journal of Educational Development 72(1) 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2019.102102 See related translational article in Elsevier Connect.
^ Nix, S., & Perez-Felkner, L. (2019). Difficulty orientations, gender, and race/ethnicity: An intersectional analysis of pathways to STEM degrees. Social Sciences, 8(2), 1-29. doi: 10.3390/socsci8020043. See also video abstract: https://youtu.be/w-2QEoJjKDE
^ Perez-Felkner, L., Thomas, K., Nix, S., Hopkins, J., & D’Sa, M. (2019). Are 2-Year Colleges the Key? Institutional Variation and the Gender Gap in Undergraduate STEM Degrees. Journal of Higher Education. 90(2), 181-209. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2018.1486641
Perez-Felkner, L., Gaston Gayles, J. (Eds.) (2018). Special Issue: Advancing Higher Education Research on Undergraduate Women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, vol. 179, pp. 1-137.
Perez-Felkner, L., Gaston Gayles, J. (2018). Editor’s Notes. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2018(179): 7-9.
Perez-Felkner, L. (2018). Conceptualizing the field: Higher education research on the STEM gender gap. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2018(179): 11-26. doi: 10.1002/ir.20273
Šaras, E., Perez-Felkner, L., & Nix, S. (2018). Warming the Chill: Insights for Institutions and Researchers to Keep Women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2018(179): 115-137. doi:10.1002/ir.20278
^ Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K, & Schneider, B. (2017). Engagement, Persistence, and Gender in Computer Science: Results of a Smartphone ESM Study. Frontiers in Psychology. 8(602). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00602
^ Perez-Felkner, L., Nix, S., & Thomas, K. (2017). Gendered Pathways: How Mathematics Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Postsecondary Course and Degree Field Choices. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(386). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386 See related press.
^ Schneider, B., Milesi, C., Perez-Felkner, L., Brown, K., & Gutin, I. (2015). Does the gender gap in STEM majors vary by field and institutional selectivity? Teachers College Record. See associated poster.
^ Nix, S., Perez-Felkner, L. C., & Thomas, K. (2015). Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: A longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(530), 1-19. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00530. See related press.
^ Perez-Felkner, L., McDonald, S.-K., & Schneider, B. L. (2014). What happens to high-achieving females after high school? Gender and persistence on the postsecondary STEM pipeline. In I. Schoon & J. S. Eccles (Eds.), Gender differences in aspirations and attainment: A life course perspective (pp. 285-320). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139128933.018 Read and download here.
Perez-Felkner, L., McDonald, S.-K., Schneider, B., & Grogan, E. (2012). Female and Male Adolescents’ Subjective Orientations to Mathematics and Their Influence on Postsecondary Majors. Developmental Psychology, 48(6), 1658–1673. See also APA link. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0027020
