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Researchers have considered how school choice policies affect student achievement, but less inquiry explores how the organization of schools may change in the presence of choice. This descriptive and exploratory paper analyzes a state representative sample of school mission statements at two time points: before the enactment of choice policies in Indiana, namely the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program, and again six years into the policy. Using structural topic modeling, this paper examines whether and how school mission statements topics have changed over this period. Descriptive findings suggest mission statement topics differ significantly between sectors but show few changes over time. The most striking shift is that Catholic and other private religious schools appear to be clarifying the religious aspects of their mission in the presence of robust choice policies.

Public colleges and universities are a key driver of social and economic mobility, yet they also face increasingly challenging financial and political environments. In this essay, I discuss four key areas in which state higher education policy can influence student success and equity: the amount of funding provided, funding allocation mechanisms, tuition policies, and policies related to admissions and enrollment. I then conclude with some key policy questions going forward.

The study examines data from surveys and interviews with teacher candidates and local education mentors at a Midwestern university who were involved in a Grow Your Own program; this article focuses on results for the teacher candidates. Using data based on demographics, financial need, and academic performance, the researchers identified eight educator preparation candidates from under-represented backgrounds. Each teacher candidate was invited to receive an academic scholarship of $1,500 per semester for two terms, fall 2022 and spring 2023, with the understanding each scholarship recipient would be paired with a university mentor and an in-district mentor from one of two rural school districts with close proximity to the Midwest university. Teacher candidates were required to attend introductory meetings, professional learning, and culminating sessions in order to receive and retain the scholarship funds. Researchers sought to understand perceptions on mentoring, financial support, and professional development from the teacher candidates while investigating the impact of mentoring on retention. The qualitative case study included a pre- and post-survey for scholarship recipients. The scholarship recipients also participated in a focus group interview. Findings included the importance of the scholarship funds to the teacher candidates that went beyond financial implications, and being selected to participate made them "feel special." The relationships formed with the university faculty and the local education mentors became a "network" allowing the teacher candidates to feel confident and valued; they became the educators they will continue to rely on throughout their careers. The professional development provided opportunities for participants to see, in real-time, the concepts that were discussed in abstract during their education courses.

This qualitative study uses data from interviews with 20 recipients of a Kazakhstani "Bolashak" scholarship to explore how international students overcome structural barriers and manifest agency in the conditions of public health emergency. The analysis addresses the gap in the scholarly literature on agency of international students by explicitly focusing on manifestations of agency in the experiences of students from Kazakhstan, who have not yet received sufficient attention in research, and by following the students in a variety of country destinations. In addition, in contrast to the majority of studies conducted in the past, instead of recruiting students on a campus of a specific university or in the context of a single country, this study recruits participants from among recipients of a government-sponsored scholarship. The findings are interpreted with the help of Relational Ecological Theory of Agency.

Being recognized as one of the President's Lister (PL) in an academic institution reflects one specific student's dedication, intelligence, and hard work. Therefore, this research investigated and revealed the real-life experiences of students who achieved President's List status as they endeavored to maintain consistency amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic. This phenomenological research comprised 10 participants, evenly distributed between in-depth interviews (IDI) and focus group discussions (FGD). These individuals were exclusively selected from Kapalong College of Agriculture, Sciences, and Technology, all of whom were consistent President's List (PL) students enrolled in the Institute of Teacher Education (ITEd), specifically third-year and fourth-year students. The collected data underwent analysis through coding and thematic analysis. The findings of the study delineated varied experiences, coping mechanisms, strategies, and perspectives of the chosen PL students regarding their pursuit of consistency amidst the pandemic. Lastly, the findings and results of the study are deemed essential and beneficial to the field of education, especially in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as this may serve as their basis for crafting guidelines and policies like special scholarships to these honour students in support to their consistency with their academic pursuit. The results could also provide valuable insights to the Commission on Higher Education for formulating a memorandum and updating the Program Standard and Guidelines, particularly in implementing a flexible learning approach while taking into account the preparedness of both students and educators.

Background: Cultural dissonance and exclusion in schools persevere because of a lack of response to diversity. In South Africa, coloniality manifests itself in teaching and learning practices through promoting and privileging selective cultural norms in schools, often to the detriment of poor black children. Aim: Despite the availability of educational scholarships for poor children as a way to promote economic success, these opportunities are often laden with cultural and hegemonic expectations making them challenging to navigate, often rendering the experiences as traumatic rather than developmental. Setting: The article reflects on children's schooling experiences in South Africa. Methods: This qualitative exposition presents insights from a primary school teacher about her own childhood experiences of exclusion, alienation, and cultural dissonance in South African schools. Results: It reveals the pervasiveness of coloniality and how social justice has still not fully permeated schools. The interplay between race and class remains salient. Conclusion: Schools should intensify efforts to promote inclusion by recognising diversity and avoiding normalising singular narratives in diverse contexts. Educational opportunities given to children from disadvantaged backgrounds should be accompanied by psycho-social support to ease the culture shock and alienation they feel when learning in new contexts that differ from their norm. Contribution: The article demonstrates that culture is more powerful than politics because, despite the democratic political context, the 'cultural bomb' of decoloniality is all-encompassing.

Background/purpose: While the existing literature explores the internalization of higher education, a significant gap remains in comprehending the motivations behind international students choosing Portuguese higher education. This study aims to address this gap by examining the motivations of a specific group within Portuguese universities: international students from Portuguese-speaking African countries. Materials/methods: The study was conducted with a qualitative approach using data obtained from biographical interviews with African Portuguese-speaking international students. The collected data were then analyzed according to content analysis. Results: The findings demonstrate that the students' motivations for studying at Portuguese higher education institutions varied. Their reasons include the international reputation of Portugal, the quality of its education, upon recommendation from family members, the Portuguese language, lower tuition fees compared to their home institutions, cultural proximity, scholarship opportunities, and the perception of Portugal as a safe country. Conclusion: Through an examination of the motivation of students from Portuguese-speaking African countries pursuing higher education in Portugal, this study provides fresh perspective on the existing literature concerning international student mobility. Opting to study in Portugal is seen as a chance for African students to access quality higher education and to obtain an academic degree with significant recognition in the country of origin, with anticipated positive impacts on the personal, social, and professional aspects of their lives.

Mandatory fees in higher education have increased substantially in recent years. These increases have changed the net cost of attendance for students from semester to semester. Coupled with these changes, we are witnessing an increase in students from diverse lived experiences who are traditionally unaware of costs associated with their attendance. As fees typically support services and programs that promote student retention and matriculation, students should be aware of these services and programs. Because these students have varied perceptions of costs and understandings of resources and systems in higher education, it may shape their payment methods. Our findings suggest that university knowledge, attitudes towards mandatory fees, and several of the academic capital subsets all shape student payment methods. Furthermore, race/ethnicity significantly predict how students pay for their education.

This study aims to determine the needs, expectations, problems and experiences of international students in the process of distance education. To this end, phenomenology design was used, and university students representing different departments and countries were selected through a purposive sampling method. A total of 11 international students participated in the study. An interview form was used for data collection. According to the findings, it was found that the participants did not experience any problems during the registration and admission process and could get enough support from the institution during the orientation and services process. The most common problem in the academic process is the language used by the lecturer. Also, the students mostly preferred the department they studied in line with their choices. Thanks to the repetition of the courses in distance education, they could overcome the language and communication barriers they experienced during the face-to-face education process. It was also determined that the students' social relations with their peers and lecturers were positive, and they did not experience any adaptation problems. Finally, participants' statements on financial challenges focused on the difficulties in both finding scholarships and supporting themselves.

Female, Black, Latinx, Native American, low-income, and rural students remain underrepresented among computer science undergraduate degree recipients. Along with student, family, and secondary school characteristics, college organizational climate, curricula, and instructional practices shape undergraduates' experiences that foster persistence until graduation. Our quasi-experimental project, "Improving the Persistence and Success of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Computer Science" (I-PASS), is designed to augment students' persistence until they earn their computer science degree. Drawing on prior research, including Tinto's model of effective institutional actions for retention, I-PASS Scholars--all low-income, female and/or members of underserved demographics groups--receive a four-year scholarship; mentoring, tutoring, advising; and opportunities to integrate into the academic and social life of the campus. Students' written reflections and attitude surveys suggest I-PASS's components foster their retention by, among other mechanisms, enhancing their computer science identity development and sense of belonging in the major.

There are almost 90 million forced migrants around the world, many of whom could benefit from online higher education, and yet there is evidence that displaced people face challenges in online learning environments. This paper reports on a study in the context of a UK university's master'slevel distance learning program that offers Sanctuary Scholarships to forced migrants. The study's aims were: (1) to identify practical ways in which higher education institutions can support displaced learners to engage in online learning, and (2) to add to our theoretical understanding of refugees' and asylum seekers' engagement in online degree programs. The methodology included a theoretical and an empirical component. In the theoretical analysis, the indicators from Redmond et al.'s (2018) Online Engagement Framework were mapped onto capability lists drawn from the literature on the Capability Approach, generating a set of proposed underpinning capabilities for online engagement. The empirical analysis, which was carried out in parallel, was based on semistructured interviews with ten online Sanctuary Scholars. Thematic analysis of the empirical data showed how the research participants had enacted behavioral, emotional, cognitive, social, and collaborative engagement and revealed some of the ways in which engagement fueled further engagement, alongside the mediating role of personal agency. When combined with the theoretical analysis, the findings enabled the creation of a capabilitarian online engagement model. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for institutional policies and practices around learning design and delivery to support online engagement among displaced learners, and potentially also among other underrepresented students.

Low-income students' preferences for higher education might depend on the uncertainty of financial aid. Using a time discontinuity design, this paper exploits the unanticipated cancellation of a nationwide Colombian merit and need-based scholarship, called "Ser Pilo Paga," to study its consequences on students' preferences for higher education. Preferences are measured using a discrete choice experiment administrated to 949 low-income high school students in 2018. The findings reveal that the scholarship's cancellation reduced higher education ambitions among low-income students due to the decreased interest in both financial aid and high-quality universities. The effects were particularly concentrated on income-eligible individuals who were more likely to obtain the scholarship, as their choices for financial aid and high-quality institutions declined by 15 to 50% of the baseline preference.

This study explored the experience of Catholic school principals in Ohio whose schools have participated in the EdChoice Scholarship program. The researcher employed the lens of principal time usage to examine the experiences of Ohio Catholic school principals with EdChoice, with a focus on the direct experiences of principals participating in the program, the principal's role in the supervisory aspects of operating the program at a school, and on the connections between workload and principal perceptions of the EdChoice program. The research questions were explored through semi-structured interviews with eight Catholic school principals and three administrative designees at those schools. The study concluded that no signifcant and direct administrative burden was created by the program on the study participants, but that secondary effects are present, such as the potential need for the hiring of a staff member to manage the program and the importance of communication with stakeholders. Additionally, this study illustrated the need for Catholic school principals to remain aware of and engaged in the legislative process in Ohio, as changes made by the government can have a direct effect on the operation of a school.

Financial constraints caused by the economic slowdown in 2020 and COVID-19 that followed, affecting the student motivation for academic achievements, are of strategic importance to the global higher education (HE) sectors. This study aims to examine the effects of financial constraints on the motivation and academic performance of students of different nationalities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the pandemic. This study will help us recognize the challenges among students from different backgrounds and nationalities and develop remedial strategies with a global perspective. We used a Likert scale-based questionnaire to collect data on motivation level, and associated variables from a sample of 371 students enrolled in different colleges in the UAE. Statistical techniques such as t-test, F-test, and chi-square test were used to explore the relationship between the variables in the data. The findings of the study revealed that financial constraints during the pandemic did not significantly affect academic motivation, regardless of gender, nationality, and age. The participants expressed that they were prepared and aware of the sunk costs involved in education. However, as the financial impact of the pandemic extended beyond 2020, unemployment increased, and parents were less prepared to bear their children's education costs. This inevitably increased the responsibilities of the universities to provide financial support to deserving students.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the gendered motivations of students to undertake doctoral research in a low-income country (LIC), Mozambique. Most research on PhD student motivation is done in high-income countries where the drivers for doing a PhD are quite different from those of people living in LICs. Drawing on original empirical research in the form of semi-structured interviews with PhD students from Mozambique, and utilizing the concepts of 'altruistic' and 'self-concerned' motivations, this article argues that context is a powerful determinant of motivation. The findings of the research highlight the need for scholarships as a major driver for undertaking a PhD in an LIC. Further, PhD students' motivations, unlike those in high-income countries where the self is at the heart of decisions to do a PhD, include altruistic motives such as the desire to serve one's country, institution, community, and people as well as having a voice in the public sphere. These altruistic motivations are more important than the more self-referential factors such as 'intrinsic interest in the subject' and 'self-fulfillment' that dominate the literature from high-income countries. This implies that donor countries, the common suppliers of scholarships for PhD students in LICs, need to ensure that scholarships are adequate to enabling PhD students from LICs to complete their degrees both in terms of duration of scholarship and in terms of amount. Without this completion rates are likely to be slow and low. The article calls for more research on this issue in LICs.

College promise programs, or place-based scholarships, are aimed at helping students attend and afford higher education. The American Dream Scholarship (ADS), offered by Miami Dade College (MDC), is a promise program that covers tuition and fees for the first 60 credits of an associate degree for students residing in and graduating from high school in Miami-Dade County. In this study, we relied on Bourdieu's (1986) sociological framework to conceptualize the impact of the ADS on MDC's student body. We posed the research question of whether the scholarship had any effect on total first-time, full-time college enrollment at MDC. Utilizing data primarily from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we used two comparison groups of colleges that were untreated by any county-level promise program: 26 colleges in the Florida College System and 37 public institutions nationally with the same Carnegie Classification as MDC. We applied difference-in-differences analyses and event studies to explore our research question. Results suggest that compared to untreated institutions in the Florida College System and institutions with the same Carnegie Classification, MDC enrolled 18.5% and 32% more first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, respectively, after ADS's inception. This enrollment increase demonstrates that ADS positively contributed to MDC's programmatic goals to increase student enrollments.

To address local and the national teacher shortage, one college has launched the Build the Teacher Pipeline Initiative. The initiative is designed as a four-pronged, wraparound approach to not only recruit new teachers but also empower educators in elementary, secondary, and special education positions. The article outlines the goals and strategies of the four prongs -- free housing for new students, scholarships for career changers, flexible graduate study options, and professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers. In collaboration with pre-k to 12 field partners, we are not only recruiting interested high school students but designing professional development opportunities to support existing teachers including our 28,000 alumni. The article will discuss the efforts and outcomes thus far and offer suggestions for replication.

This study examined the attitudes of individuals seeking scholarships to study abroad, exploring whether their views on languages and language policy models vary based on gender, study programs, and countries. An online survey was administered to approximately 130 Hungarian government scholarship applicants from diverse nations. Statistical methods were employed to analyze responses, revealing variations and correlations between demographic and attitudinal variables. Participants expressed preferences for multilingual and monolingual language policies, aligning with their attitudes. The findings indicate that most participants pursued language learning with instrumental motivation, aiming to achieve educational and career objectives. Most participants expressed a desire for a multilingual language policy model in their home countries. While many embraced the proposal to adopt English as the medium of instruction, others maintained a critical perspective, acknowledging both the positive and negative impacts of English and multilingualism. Additionally, participants underscored the significance of preserving native languages in their respective countries.

One potential avenue to address the STEM teacher shortages reported internationally is to offer scholarships paired with targeted preparation experiences for high-performing STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers. In the study reported in this paper, the influence of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program on the recruitment and retention of mathematics teachers in high-need schools was investigated. The research found the Noyce Scholarship and program activities to be an effective mechanism for recruiting high performing college students as mathematics teachers and to retain them in the critical first few years of teaching. Discussed in this paper is how the Noyce Program made these impacts through financial incentives, as well as the scholars' participation in the program and interactions with others.

This article presents a collection of narrative examples on how a cohort of African graduates, who are beneficiaries of a scholarship from a global foundation, understand and practice giving back. The scholarship programme aims to cultivate and support a network of like-minded young leaders who are committed to giving back by providing training and mentorship that reinforces the core values of transformative leadership and a commitment to improving the lives of others. To investigate these ideas, the Human Sciences Research Council is tracking recent graduates of the scholarship programme using a longitudinal cohort study design consisting of a tracer study, annual qualitative interviews with scholarship alumni, and smaller collaborative enquiries. Beginning in 2019 and tracking alumni for a five-year period, the study involves alumni from seven study sites. Findings from the study show that alumni exhibit a strong sense of social consciousness including an alignment of their understanding and practices of give-back with deeply embedded African notions of give-back as a 'ripple effect', reciprocity and ubuntu. Alumni acknowledged that there was not only one way to give, indicating that they participated in give-back in relation to their capacity, usually beginning with contributions to the family. As they became more established in their careers, their sphere of give-back increased with their reach expanding to the broader community. A low proportion of alumni felt that they were making an impact on an institutional or systemic level. Findings also show the impactful position that university partners hold in fostering give-back engagement among students and their potential role in supporting alumni after graduation. The article argues that nurturing social consciousness in young people and an understanding of give-back as collective movement building can contribute to solving development and social justice problems in Africa.

Graduate transitions and pathways do not naturally involve moving smoothly or sequentially from education into the world of work. Instead university graduates move through employment, entrepreneurship, unemployment and continued further education as they generate livelihoods. For African universities to be student-centred, with a focus on student development and success, the nature of these livelihood pathways must be examined in order to provide appropriate and relevant training and transition support. This article uses quantitative and qualitative data from African graduates who received a scholarship to complete their degrees at 21 universities (nine in Africa and 12 from other countries). Their post-graduation pathways are mapped and explored to determine how graduates generate livelihoods. The findings show that a minority of African graduates move smoothly from education into employment, and that for the majority, pathways are multidimensional and complex. While some move into the world of work with ease, most develop portfolios of income. By developing initiatives based on these findings, universities can help graduates navigate the challenges of income diversification, provide them with the necessary skills and resources, and foster a supportive ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurial thinking and diversified career paths.

This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical evidence to comprehensively examine factors driving international students' choice of Australia as their preferred destination for tertiary education. Deductive analysis of findings from the 46 selected studies, framed within the push and pull framework, identified 27 factors that revealed Australia's distinctive attractiveness to international students. The results of this review reaffirmed the strengths of Australia's environmental images in the international tertiary education market, highlighting that it could be a double-edged sword. The review discusses Australia's attractiveness, especially after the COVID-19 crisis and suggests strategies to make the international education sector more sustainable. This review provides implications for policy, practice, and future research that are of importance to work towards enhancing Australia's intake of international education. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for those seeking guidance on effectively attracting international students in the post-pandemic era.

This study sought to examine the kinds of mindsets that the participating teachers demonstrated in their teaching and the impact of teachers' mindsets on their ways of teaching mathematics and science. Seven teachers who were teaching science or mathematics in high-needs schools in the urban context of the Bronx, New York were the participants of the study, with interview data and analysis provided for three participants representing the low, medium, and high mindset groupings. Qualitative research method was used to analyze the data. The data were collected through three different questionnaires, lesson observations, and interviews. Data analysis revealed that six participating teachers demonstrated a growth mindset with different degrees and one teacher seemed to have a fixed mindset. Teachers with a growth mindset adopted instructional practices that are more aligned with those that are recommended in the growth mindset literature.

This critical interpretive paper deploys Walter Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge concept to examine higher education internationalisation in Kazakhstan. Amidst growing concerns about economic and environmental sustainability, elitism and cognitive justice, among other critical issues, internationalisation remains a vital government policy. By tracing Kazakhstan's development since independence from the Soviet Union and focusing on key higher education development policy frameworks, the paper argues and illustrates that: (1) the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan promotes a specific representation of the world that is considered universal and modern; (2) the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan illustrates the existing hierarchical global higher education system that is dominated by the West as centres of knowledge and learning while allocating other countries peripheral roles; and (3) the geopolitics of knowledge concept enables the reading of higher education internationalisation beyond what is knowledge to who, why and where knowledge is produced. The data for this paper came from a qualitative study that involved 15 semi-structured interviews with graduates who studied abroad at Western universities through the government-sponsored Bolashak Scholarship. Three focus group sessions with 21 graduate students at Nazarbayev University complemented the interviews. The qualitative data suggest that Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge offers a close-to-perfect description of the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan. The conclusion drawn from this post-Soviet study is the universalisation of Western knowledge as nations utilise it for meaningful development, despite decolonial and cognitive justice concerns.

The shortage of secondary STEM teachers has led to periodic calls over the past four decades for federal intervention. For more than 15 years, the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program has constituted the most important response at the national level to these calls. The main activity is direct support to undergraduate students and degree holders to become K-12 STEM teachers. Here we examine the Noyce program by looking beyond the qualities of particular university programs and measuring long-term outcomes on a statewide level. We accomplished this through a collaboration of eight Texas universities that pooled data on Noyce scholars supported as far back as 2003. Making use of a state longitudinal dataset, we examined whether recipients of Noyce Scholarships are more likely than other math and science teachers to remain in teaching, determined where Noyce scholars taught, and estimated student learning in classes taught by Noyce Scholars. Noyce Scholars are more likely than other STEM teachers from the same universities to teach marginalized students, and students of Noyce Scholars obtained higher value-added scores in mathematics than students of other teachers at the same schools. These are some of the most important intended outcomes. However, Noyce Scholars did not stay in teaching as long as other STEM teachers from their universities, and they were more likely to switch away from schools with low-income students. The Noyce program currently operates far below the scale needed to start reducing national STEM teacher shortages. We conclude with prospects for expansion and modification of the Noyce program.

The study examines ascribed, financial, and college factors to predict study abroad participation among a national sample of students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. Based on a longitudinal sample of 398 fourth-year participants of a national scholarship program (consisting of more than 50% students of color and 50% first-generation college goers), results show that despite higher study abroad participation among this group compared to national averages, finances remain a predominant impediment. The results provide a counter-narrative that study abroad participation is for the privileged. Findings also indicate that grant aid and prior exposure to financial adversity in the form of severe poverty are associated with an increased likelihood of study abroad participation, and that these relationships tend not to be moderated by gender or ethnoracial identity. Exploratory information on student motivations for study abroad is also reported. Given the importance of study abroad to learning outcomes, this study points to the importance of attracting to study abroad those for whom the college experience marks a significant break from the adverse conditions of their youth and may inform how study abroad, academic, and financial aid advisors can work with students to find funding sources to make an international experience a reality.

This study is part of a randomized control trial examining the results of a promise scholarship program, the Degree Project (TDP). Half of the ninth graders in one Midwestern urban school district were notified about a $12,000 promise scholarship offer if they met certain GPA and attendance requirements (2.5 GPA and 90% attendance). This analysis draws on interview data to understand students' financial knowledge over four years (grades 9-12). The study examined how treatment students (those who were offered the scholarship) and control students (those who were not offered the scholarship) explained and understood the methods they intended to use to finance their college education. The analysis also investigated whether promise group students communicated different financial knowledge than non-promise students. Findings indicate the early promise of a scholarship had no bearing on whether students left high school feeling prepared to meet the financial demands of higher education. Despite the intervention, students had a very rudimentary understanding of how to pay for college and by senior year, college affordability was described as a significant barrier to postsecondary aspirations for most students. Findings raise concerns for the untimely and complicated financial aid process in the U.S. and emphasize the need to address the barriers to college that go beyond price.

White students receive a disproportionate amount of private scholarships compared to their Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) peers (Kantrowitz, 2011). Scholarships provide important financial support for higher education and BIPOC students are more likely to graduate with loan debt compared to their White peers (Mishory et al., 2019). This loan debt is higher on average for BIPOC students compared to White students (Mishory et al., 2019). Scholarships could provide funding to reduce loan debt. In considering administrators who are involved in selection processes such as scholarship awarding, their implicit bias can impact judgment (Capers et al., 2017). I have sought to lessen the potential impact of implicit bias on scholarship administration through a low-cost and adaptable intervention strategy which is being piloted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The intervention includes a website, holistic training modules, campus communications and an annual meeting.

Applying an ethnographic approach, this study examines recently implemented scholarship programmes for Indigenous people in private higher education (HE) institutions in Peru. Interviews with students and staff, participant observations, and participatory activities reveal distrust of scholarship holders by government staff and programme regulators, who exercise various surveillance and control mechanisms. Staff at private universities hinder cultural diversity among students through segregation or integration strategies to deal with Indigenous students, thereby curtailing an intercultural approach. Indigenous students ask for more integration activities and intercultural dialogues as they claim a lack of adequate support programmes and real inclusion, which leads to higher dropout rates. This study contributes to the recovery of students' voices and concerns by unveiling persistent inequalities in HE. The findings have implications on policy design that take for granted problematic assumptions riddled with colonial prejudices and privatisation ideologies within the field of HE.

Purpose: The article discusses the development and growth of a newly established Noyce Scholarship Program at a Hispanic Serving Institution and the collaborative efforts of the School of Education (SOE) and its partners during the recruitment and retention process. Design/methodology/approach: The author will explore and answer questions: (1) What were the articulated agreements implemented during the recruitment and application process? (2) In what ways did the scholar's professional growth benefit from the dedicated and shared resources of the SOE's partners? (3) How did the process of mentoring transform into a collaborative research effort resulting in presentation experiences? Findings: The balance of triumphs, challenges and success in the program allows room for growth and reflection. Once scholars were admitted and accepted into the program, various supports were implemented to ensure scholars would be given tools needed to become highly effective educators in high-needs schools. In an informal discussion with scholars, they indicated the program taught them the necessary tools and dispositions needed to effectively teach the curriculum in STEM-based classrooms. However, they believed the issues of the program could be solved through constant communication and consideration of scholar input. Scholars also expressed appreciation for experiences encountered for scholar success. Originality/value: The Noyce Scholars Program has provided opportunities for STEM majors to demonstrate hope and vision regarding the teacher shortage, particularly in STEM areas. The story of a professional development school's unpredictable journey in addressing the teacher pipeline will hopefully be a source of valuable information for other Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships. Recruitment, clinical preparation and continuous support of partners will continue to be integral factors in shaping future efforts to address the STEM teacher shortage creating a better world, locally and globally.

This paper describes the implementation of a STEM scholarship program which utilized a holistic approach to providing a multi-dimensional student support system. The program has been successful in encouraging and supporting women in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science by offering a diverse suite of extracurricular opportunities, actively engaging them in organized events, research projects, and participation in STEM communities, and helping them achieve higher GPAs and shorter times to graduation. The supported women also benefitted from close mentoring relationships with the faculty mentors. The program emphasized the development of empowering settings for women's engagement and achievement, which act to sustain and expand interest in mathematics and computing, and thereby help them to see themselves as future professionals in the field.

This article examines the ways in which the University of Birmingham assisted refugee academics and students from Nazi Germany and other Nazi occupied countries across Europe between 1933 and 1945. It draws on the university's rich but underused archives to explore institutional policy and to assess the influence of individual staff members in driving it. As a case study it examines and evaluates the role played by a British provincial university in supporting displaced academics before the Second World War and refugee students during the war. Analysis of the primary source material reveals the importance of personal connections and the agency of individual university staff in helping refugees. This study aids our understanding of the roles played by British universities in helping displaced scholars and identifies areas for further research.

This paper explores how students participating in a co-curricular scholarship programme in a large Australian university develop their employability. It seeks to add to recent literature regarding different approaches to graduate employability through examining how participating students' capital acquisition is shaped by and internalised within the structure and culture of the scholarship. The paper also offers an example of how comprehensive and integrated co-curricular scholarship programmes can facilitate graduate employability. It suggests that despite curricular intentions to promote comprehensive and processual approaches to employability, students' employability internalisations are influenced by possessive and positional messages and cultural cues within the scholarship programme. These insights serve as important considerations for higher education institutions seeking to instigate or improve their employability curricula.

This study evaluated a scholarship support program, "Mathematics as a Common Language in Science," that was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Running from 2015 to 2020, the scholarship support program assisted 31 students to major in chemistry, physics, or mathematics with the intent of supporting these students to enter graduate school and careers in the physical sciences. In this study, student outcome metrics and survey data were collected to investigate the impact of the program elements on the participants' academic success. Additional program elements, such as access to tutoring support, outreach opportunities, and undergraduate research, were emphasized to support students in their designated major. A 1-credit-hour course, taught first semester for the freshman cohort of students, emphasized study skills and university resources, and engaged students to consider the overarching applicability of math concepts to the science curriculum. The findings of this study offer insight into program elements that supported student success with consideration of aspects that did not function as planned. The authors hope that sharing these insights will aid other programs to structure effective programming for students.

More Americans are needed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) careers to advance the nation's competitiveness in the global economy. Given the extensive training of military service members, this population is well-poised to transition into STEM careers. While many veterans pursue STEM degrees, they often face hardships that impact their ability to attain STEM credentials. The goal of this mixed methods study was to identify factors that contributed to attaining a STEM degree among students in the Military STEM Scholarship Program (MSSP), a grant-funded program implemented at a university in the United States to assist veterans pursuing STEM degrees. By targeting veterans, this program supported a highly diverse group of students. Based on surveys, focus groups, and interviews, the participants credited their academic and professional success to activities promoted by the MSSP program, such as peer interaction, faculty mentorship, utilization of student support services, and internships. As a result, 80% of MSSP participants obtained a STEM degree, approximately 24 percentage points higher than the institution's average six-year graduation rate for all students. Through these findings, a model is offered for institutions to better serve a growing student veteran population.

This study investigates the experiences of an international graduate student at a South Korean university via positional identity theory. It reveals the positional identities that evolved out of the student's experiences studying the Korean language prior to starting her graduate degree, and during her time as a graduate student. Applying narrative research methodology that employed interviews and journal entries, the findings reveal that the student's self-perceived right to receive her lectures in English coupled with negative experiences learning Korean prior to her graduate studies influenced her willingness to learn the Korean language and impacted upon her experiences during her graduate lectures. Perceived neglected duties and denied rights clustered to form positional identities which were radically different to described identities held prior to her time in the South Korean educational context. Implications on what these results might mean for the newly developing international graduate student market in Korea are then discussed.

The Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) is amongst the most well-known and generous tuition-free policies. This study advances the understanding of Promise student performance and persistence. We used a weighted-least square means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) SEM approach and k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) to deal with missing data. The main model suggested first-year college GPA ([beta] = -0.48) possessed the strongest effect on a first-year stop out followed by socioeconomic advantage ([beta] = -0.26), high school performance ([beta] = -0.25), immediate enrollment ([beta] = -0.22), and KPromise funding ([beta] =0.06). Model differences from 06-10 and 11-15 cohorts, illustrate that in the later cohorts socioeconomic advantage's effect on a first-year stop out lessened.

This randomized trial investigates the long-term effects of a primary school scholarship program in rural Cambodia. We estimate impacts--9 years after program inception--on educational attainment, cognitive skills, socio-emotional outcomes, labor market outcomes, and well-being. Our results point to systematic improvements in educational attainment but no average impacts on long-term cognitive or socio-emotional outcomes. A merit-based (as opposed to poverty-based) targeting strategy did, however, increase cognitive outcomes, especially for poorer students. The results suggest positive effects on cognition for males. We find no improvements in labor market outcomes, yet positive effects on well-being, driven by recipients of merit-based scholarships. These findings shed light on the complex relationship between barriers to primary schooling and long-term outcomes, emphasizing the need for targeted approaches that consider both socioeconomic factors and individual merit, while also raising important questions about gender dynamics.

Developing an engineering identity is crucial for students pursuing an engineering degree. Community college students may experience greater difficulty building and maintaining engineering identities than their peers at 4-year universities. The purpose of the present study is to examine how socioeconomic status (SES) and the S-STEM scholarship, a program funded by the National Science Foundation, influence engineering identity development for community college students. Eight engineering students from a community college in the Midwest were interviewed. The data were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. Analyses revealed three key findings: (1) regardless of SES status, the S-STEM scholarship allowed students to focus on developing and maintaining an engineering identity; (2) financial security and engineering identity development share a meaningful relationship for low-income and first-generation students; and (3) the community college experience for engineering students may be marked by transfer identity complications and disruptions in engineering identity.

While computing programs in the U.S. are experiencing growth in enrollment trends, they are still grappling with matters related to retention and persistence of computing undergraduates. One construct identified by scholars as having an impact on persistence in computing is computing identity, which is shaped by constructs such as recognition, performance/competence beliefs, sense of belonging, and interest. Likewise, participation in what scholars call communities of practice (CoPs) can aid in the development of their computing identity. To help foster computing identity development, an initiative was designed at three large public universities named Flit-Path (Florida IT Pathways to Success). Flit-Path was established using the principles inherent to communities of practice with the goal of recruiting and retaining computing students. The Flit-Path program leveraged curricular and co-curricular support to engage academically talented students with financial need in computing disciplines (e.g., computer engineering, computer science, and information technology) and provided financial assistance via scholarships. The guiding research question for this study was, What is the impact of a computing community of practice (the Flit-Path program) on students' computing identity, specifically the constructs of recognition, performance/competence, sense of belonging, and interest? In order to address this question, a validated survey instrument was used to compare 64 computing students who enrolled in the Flit-Path program with students from the same universities with matched years in college, computing GPA, race/ethnicity, gender, home/environment support, and work hours outside the home. For comparing the two groups, the research team used multivariate matching methods in R. The results of the study revealed that students in the Flit-Path program demonstrated substantially higher computing identities. Students who participated in the Flit-Path program experienced higher recognition, performance/competence, and sense of belonging in the computing field than their non-Flit-Path counterparts. There was also a borderline positive effect for interest. Together, the results indicate that well-designed CoP interventions in computing programs can have a significant effect on students' identification with computing and ultimately their persistence.

This research examines Latino economic elites in Los Angeles who engage in "ethnoracial philanthropy" -- giving to or creating ethnic-centric organisations that focus on alleviating socioeconomic inequalities. We draw on 65 in-depth interviews to provide insights into the ethnoracial educational structures created by Latino elites to facilitate the mobility of Latino youth. We compare three ways in which philanthropy manifests: via the creation of Latino scholarship funds; ethnic-centric charter schools in low-income Latino neighbourhoods; Latino youth leadership programmes comprised of college students from the top 100 universities. These institutions may serve to widen the path to inclusion by creating a distinct ethnoracial integration path via education, contrasting with assimilation theory and the minority culture of mobility framework. However, the focus on education, and not on other issues, benefits those who reproduce the elites' image.