Students double down on STEM careers after college summer bridge programs

A new study illuminates one powerful and effective way to address the STEM worker shortage and lack of diversity: Get students enrolled in bridge programs. Abstract | Full article HTML | Full article PDF Students who participate in college STEM summer bridge programs are twice as likely to pursue a STEM career, compared with students who don’t. That is according to a new national […]

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William G. Tierney in EdSource: Perspectives on Gov. Brown’s contributions to education

Pullias co-director William G. Tierney was one of the 10 education leaders asked by EdSource to comment on “what they think Gov. Jerry Brown’s most important contributions to education reforms in California have been, what major education issues remain unaddressed and what they are hoping for from incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom.” Here are Tierney’s perspectives: Gov. Jerry Brown’s most important contribution to education reform […]

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Adrianna Kezar and Elizabeth Holcombe in Inside Higher Ed: An Overlooked solution for diversifying STEM

This op-ed by Pullias co-director Adrianna Kezar  and research associate Elizabeth Holcombe was originally published in Inside Higher Ed on Jan. 14, 2019. For decades, researchers have tried to boost the very low success rates of first-generation, low-income and underserved minority students in STEM education in college. Yet while more students from these groups have been entering colleges and pursuing STEM majors, […]

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William G. Tierney in EdSource: California higher education leaders have high hopes

Pullias co-director William G. Tierney was quoted in an EdSource article titled “California higher education leaders have high hopes for Newsom’s spending plans”: Yet despite the state’s surplus, some experts think that Newsom will continue to pressure UC and CSU for more efficiencies, such as reducing the time it takes for students to graduate. “I think it’s inevitable that any governor — but […]

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Zoë B. Corwin in The Washington Post: Academic boot camp prepares first-generation college students

Zoë B. Corwin, a research associate professor at the Pullias Center,  was quoted in an article in The Washington Post about summer bridge programs for first-generation college students: Successful summer programs for first-generation students need to make sure undergraduates feel cared for and connected, said Zoe Corwin, an associate professor with the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. For […]

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New research: Changing academic culture, from diversity work to STEM reform

Recent works by Pullias researchers tackle big topics in higher education, such as promoting racial diversity and performing diversity work on college and university campuses, addressing the influence of corporate culture on academic culture, and adapting to changing faculty trends. In addition, new papers tackle STEM education, from summer bridge programs to large-scale reform. Read the abstracts and excerpts for […]

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Pullias is hiring: Project coordinator wanted for exciting interdisciplinary initiative

Are you passionate about equity and inclusion? Would you like to be part of an interdisciplinary team, collaborating with faculty and administrators across the United States to diversify STEM graduate education? Come work as a project coordinator at the Pullias Center for Higher Education, one of the world’s leading research centers on higher education, for an opportunity to take part in […]

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New project aims to improve programs for male students of color

A $300K grant from ECMC Foundation will support a study of best practices to improve college persistence and graduation rates for minority men For several decades, men have been earning far fewer college degrees than women. Men are less likely  to enroll in or graduate from college—and for men of color, this trend has been especially alarming. In the California […]

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William G. Tierney in The Chronicle of Higher Education: How scandal and severance enrich private-college presidents

Pullias co-director William G. Tierney was quoted in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “How scandal and severance enrich private-college presidents”: But William G. Tierney, a professor and co-­director of the U. of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education, says governing boards need to better communicate with their college communities after presidential upheavals occur. Just as he would expect to […]

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Adrianna Kezar in Inside Higher Ed: Toward better assessments in online courses

In a Q&A about strategies for better assessment of online courses in Inside Higher Ed, Pullias co-director Adrianna Kezar was quoted about faculty development for adjunct instructors: As Adrianna Kezar has written, faculty development can go a long way to eliminating the worst aspects of the growing adjunct situation, but it cannot resolve the long-term structural issues, and this needs to be […]

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