Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, Ph.D
Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
The Unchosen Me: Race, Gender and Identity Among Black Women in College
Racial and gender inequities persist among college students, despite ongoing efforts to combat them. Students of color face alienation, stereotyping, low expectations, and lingering racism even as they actively engage in the academic and social worlds of college life. The Unchosen Me examines the experiences of African American collegiate women and the identity-related pressures they encounter both on and off campus.
Rachelle Winkle-Wagner finds that the predominantly white college environment often denies African American students the chance to determine their own sense of self. Even the very programs and policies developed to promote racial equality may effectively impose "unchosen" identities on underrepresented students. She offers clear evidence of this interactive process, showing how race, gender, and identity are created through interactions among one’s self, others, and society.
At the heart of this book are the voices of women who struggle to define and maintain their identities during college. In a unique series of focus groups called "sister circles," these women could speak freely and openly about the pressures and tensions they faced in school. The Unchosen Me is a rich examination of the underrepresented student experience, offering a new approach to studying identity, race, and gender in higher education.
Diversity and Inclusion on Campus: Supporting Students of Color in Higher Education (2nd Ed.)
As scholars and practitioners in higher education attempt to embrace and lead diversity efforts, it is imperative that they have an understanding of the issues that affect historically underrepresented students. Using an intersectional approach that connects the categories of race, class, and gender, Diversity and Inclusion on Campus comprehensively covers the range of college experiences, from gaining access to higher education to successfully persisting through degree programs. Authors Winkle-Wagner and Locks bridge research, theory, and practice related to the ways that peers, faculty, administrators, and institutions can and do influence racially and ethnically underrepresented students’ experiences. This book is an invaluable resource for future and current higher education and student affairs practitioners working toward full inclusion and participation for all students in higher education.
Cultural Capital: The Promises and Pitffalls in Education Research: ASHE, Volume 36, Number 1
Amid the increased use of the notion of cultural capital as a theoretical or analytical tool in educational research remain many different definitions, misconceptions, and appropriations of the concept. Cultural capital--the cultural relevent knowledge, competencies, skills, or abilities valued in a particular context--acts as a form of social currency in educational settings. This monograph extensively reviews the past thirty years of research, investigating the strengths and weaknesses regarding the widely varying uses of cultural capital in educational research. Althougth the concept of cultural capital holds great promise for explaining the perpetuation of power and privilege, unfillled hopes remain. The use of the economic methopher implied by cultural capital, the lack of attention to race annd gender inequalities, the possibility for misunderstanding in transferring the concept between countries and a general implied deficiency model present limitations in many studies of cultural capital. An understanding of cultural capital, if appropiately theorized about and applied to research, has the promise of helping to understand and transofrm educational inequalities.
Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice in Educational Research
Methods at the Margins
This book provides new ways of thinking about educational processes, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Concrete examples of research techniques are provided for those conducting research with marginalized populations or about marginalized ideas. This volume asserts theoretical models related to research methods and the study of underrepresented groups. Ultimately, it aims at expanding knowledge itself - altering the center by allowing the margins to inform it - allowing it to be created and extended to include those ways of knowing that have historically been unexplored or ignored.
Expanding Postsecondary Opportunity for Underrepresented Students: Theory and Practice of Academic Capital Formation
Part I. Theory Building: Edward P. St. John, "Academic Capital Formation: An Emergent Theory"; Laura W. Perna and Margaret A. Hadinger, "Promoting Academic Capital Formation among Urban Youth: Citywide Approaches"; Shaun R. Harper, Collin D. Williams Jr., David Perez II, and Demetri L. Morgan, "His Experience: Toward a Phenomenological Understanding of Academic Capital Formation among Black and Latino Male Students"; Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner, "Mentoring Latinas/os in Higher Education: Intentional Cultivation of Talent"; Malisa Lee and Edward P. St. John, "Academic Capital Formation among Hmong Students: An Exploratory Study of the Role of Ethnic Identity in College Transitions"; Pamela P. Felder, "Prior Socialization in Academic Capital Formation: Historically Black College and University Origins and Their Impact on Doctoral Student Success".
Part II. Models of Successful Practice: Rick Dalton, Victoria J. Milazzo-Bigelow, and Edward P. St. John, "College For Every Student: A Model for Postsecondary Encouragement in Rural Schools"; Tatiana Melguizo, "The Role of Student Long-Term Goals on College Persistence of Low-Income Students: Evidence from the Washington State Achievers Program"; Edward P. St. John, Shirley Ort, and Lynn Williford, "Carolina Covenant: Reducing the Retention Gap"; Edward P. St. John and Victoria J. Milazzo-Bigelow, "STEM Transfer Students in Research Universities: A Qualitative Assessment of Academic Capital Formation".
Part III. Conclusions: Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, "Academic Capital Formation: Can It Help Untangle Confusion about Social Stratification in the Study of College Students?". Index.
Standing on the Outside Looking in:
Underrepresented Students' Experiences in Advanced Degree Programs
Compared to the literature on the impact of post-secondary institutions on undergraduate institutions, the literature on the academic experiences of graduate students from underrepresented populations is comparatively meager.
This book remedies this gap by gathering a rich collection of personal narratives and empirical research to provide a comprehensive account of the actual lived experiences of graduate students of color and their perception of the campus climate.
This volume examines issues of access, retention, and transition; and explores the personal experiences of students of color in advanced-degree programs. The contributors cover issues such as financial aid; the culture, mission and racial climate at doctoral granting institutions; the transitional challenges STEM undergraduates face on entering graduate programs; mentoring; the distinct concerns and challenges that African, Asian and Latina/o students encounter in doctoral and professional programs; and the need to acknowledge and support their spirituality.
Franklin Tuitt concludes the book by summarizing the issues raised, and making recommendations to faculty, administrators, and directors of graduate programs about what they can do to promote the well-being and success of graduate students of color.