Search

As federal strategic plans prioritize increasing diversity within the biomedical workforce, and STEM training and outreach programs seek to recruit and retain students from historically underrepresented populations, there is a need for interrogation of traditional demographic descriptors and careful consideration of best practices for obtaining demographic data. To accelerate this work, equity-focused researchers and leaders from STEM programs convened to examine approaches for measuring demographic variables. Gender, race/ethnicity, disability, and disadvantaged background were prioritized given their focus by federal funding agencies. Categories of sex minority, sexual (orientation) minority, and gender minority (SSGM) should be included in demographic measures collected by STEM programs, consistent with recommendations from White House Executive Orders and federal reports. Our manuscript offers operationalized phrasing for demographic questions and recommendations for use across student-serving programs. Inclusive demographics permit the identification of individuals who are being excluded, marginalized, or improperly aggregated, increasing capacity to address inequities in biomedical research training. As trainees do not enter training programs with equal access, accommodations, or preparation, inclusive demographic measures can welcome trainees and inform a nuanced set of program outcomes that facilitate research on intersectionality to support the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in biomedical research.

This study investigates the relationship between acculturation and language attitudes among Turkish immigrant parents and their children's heritage language proficiency, using Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978) and Berry's acculturation theory (Berry, 1997). Fifty-two Turkish parents (M age = 38.15, SD age = 4.84) completed questionnaires on acculturation and language attitudes, while their children (M age = 8.23, SD age = 2.18) completed vocabulary tests. Results reveal a positive correlation between parents' separation attitudes and supportive language practices, emphasizing Turkish use at home. Younger children showed higher heritage language proficiency, highlighting the importance of early language acquisition. Active Turkish usage among siblings also positively impacted proficiency, while passive exposure through media did not. These findings suggest that immigrant parents' cultural integration attitudes shape their language management strategies, influencing their children's heritage language retention. The study advocates for modifying immigrant parents' acculturation attitudes to enhance heritage language maintenance, proposing targeted bilingual interventions to promote effective language management in immigrant families (Halsted, 2015), with implications for improving bilingual education strategies for immigrant students.

LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York is known for its leadership in assessment practices aimed at improving teaching and learning. Its practices to improve student outcomes include remedial math and composition pathways reforms and establishing signature general education core competencies and communication abilities. Combined together, such practices have helped double the graduation rate over a decade. Until recently, however, assessment data had not been disaggregated for different student demographics. In this article, we describe how we transformed our traditional means of analyzing outcomes data toward one that utilized an equity-driven index for two cohorts of students across major racial and ethnic populations. We examined the data for representational equity and equitable performance. In a key finding, we discovered our ongoing assessment practices do not reflect our student population on both counts, especially as a designated Hispanic Serving Institution. Further, we found other under- and over-representation of racial populations in our general education assessment samples. We conclude by suggesting further areas of inquiry with equity-based assessment and note ongoing challenges to systematizing this approach.

With the rising demand for virtual learning, districts are establishing virtual schools to offer more flexible education. This study investigates K-12 virtual learner characteristics, examines trends and issues in virtual academies, and outlines opportunities and challenges faced by stakeholders in a southeastern U.S. state. The study used a mixed-method design, combining quantitative survey data and qualitative interviews with virtual academy leaders. Results reveal that virtual learners opt for this mode of schooling due to busy extracurricular schedules, a desire to avoid crowded schools or health concerns. These students include those with special needs and high-achieving individuals. Collaboration between parents and teachers plays a crucial role. Essential factors include reliable internet access, teacher tech proficiency, and diverse curriculum development approaches. However, diverse curricular methods require additional implementation support. Balancing instructional flexibility with accountability poses a significant challenge. Virtual teachers need resources, professional development, and time, especially when transitioning from traditional to digital curriculum. Effective communication and interpersonal interactions are vital. Involving home learning coaches and community partnerships enhances the educational experience. While virtual schools offer flexible and personalized support, they encounter challenges related to resource access, social isolation, and student motivation.

The rapid growth of online education, especially since the pandemic, is presenting educators with numerous challenges. Chief among these is concern about academic dishonesty, especially on unproctored online exams. Students cheating on exams is not a new phenomenon. The topic has been discussed and debated within institutions of higher learning, and significant levels of cheating have been reported in the academic literature for over sixty years. Much of this literature, however, has focused on student behavior in a classroom utilizing proctored, in-class exams. Grades on exams usually determine most of a student's final grade in a course, and GPAs are used by employers and graduate schools to indicate a student's subject matter mastery. As more conventional colleges and universities expand their online course offerings it is natural to wonder if academic dishonesty is more prevalent in online classes than in face-to-face classes. In particular, are students more likely to cheat when no one is watching (i.e., on unproctored assessment assignments) than they do when someone is watching (i.e., on proctored assessment assignments)? The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students cheat more on unproctored online exams than they do on proctored in-classroom exams, and if so, is there any pattern to their cheating behavior. Our findings are derived from careful empirical analysis of 741 undergraduate students who completed three unproctored online exams, several collaboration-encouraged assignments, and a proctored in-class comprehensive final exam in the same course with the same instructor. Additionally, we collected demographic and human capital data for every student. Using bivariate and regression analysis, we find significant evidence of more cheating on unproctored online exams than on proctored in-class exams even though students were given stern honor code violation warnings. Moreover, we discover that student cheating increased with each unproctored online exam, implying that students learn how to cheat as they become more familiar with taking online assessment assignments. Finally, we find that students with certain demographic and human capital characteristics tend to cheat more than others. This research strongly supports the use of proctoring for all evaluation assignments in online classes to ensure that grades in these classes properly reflect student aptitude as opposed to merely reflecting their ability to cheat.

English education in Japan has traditionally focused on grammar over communication, and the country has struggled to compete internationally in terms of English proficiency scores. As the country works toward the internationalization of higher education, improving English education is an important issue. One potential solution is the use of topics that elicit students' interest and make them feel like part of the international community. This paper explored the use of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a topic due to their global importance and position, along with English, as a key to furthering the global citizenship of Japan's youth. Because of the substantial number of SDGs, not all goals can be realistically addressed in a single course. Therefore, to find topics tailored to students' interests in sustainability, this study examined the relationship between student interest in sustainability, International Posture (IP), and personal connection to SDGs. A survey was given to 266 first-year university students in general education English classes. A separate multiple regression analysis was conducted for the target variable, "Topic Interest" within English class for each goal, to determine how the effects and significance of variables differed for each SDG. Results showed that the IP subscale, "Intergroup Approach Tendency," was significant for 14 and "Personal Value" was significant for 16 of the goals. For internationally minded students engaged in the study of English as a foreign language, the SDGs could be a useful motivational tool.

This article examines faculty motivation to integrate community engagement (CE) into teaching and research, in relation to faculty identity, rank and status, experience, and faith. Building upon previous research that focused on intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, our study also examined the role of an institutional definition of CE with clear criteria, as outlined by the Community Engagement Institutional Assessment (CEIA) rubric, in the motivational cycles of faculty reflection on current and aspirational aspects of CE. Surprisingly, our results illustrate that even when colleges and universities support CE across the institution, faculty may not be significantly motivated by this expressed valuing of CE. Importantly, our findings indicate that faculty would like to achieve the aspirational status on all criteria, pointing to the potential for the rubric to bridge the gap between institutional mission and individual faculty motivations. Enhancing this alignment may increase sustained and meaningful impact on the community.

This study aims to understand the effectiveness of online training for pre-service and in-service teachers by exploring any differences between pre-service and in-service teachers' satisfaction and learning following an online professional training video. Additionally, the study focused on evaluating any differences in satisfaction and learning of pre-service and in-service teachers based on age, experience, subject taught, and grade level, as well as nationality. An online 20-minute video session was shown to the participants and a survey questionnaire, based on the Kirkpatrick Model, was used to explore their reactions and learning. The study employed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with independent sample t-test and ANOVA techniques to compare the training outcomes in pre-service and in-service teachers' satisfaction and learning. The results showed that the teachers were highly satisfied with the video assessment, content, and content structure. Moreover, there was no significant difference found in satisfaction levels or learning between in-service and pre-service teachers. Furthermore, no impact of age, experience, grade taught, or subject taught was found, though nationality was found to impact satisfaction with the video. The study recommends the expansion of similar online professional development programs, considering the high levels of satisfaction among pre-service and in-service teachers alike. Personalization of content to accommodate diverse learner needs, learning preferences, and backgrounds is suggested to further enhance satisfaction and learning outcomes. Lastly, this study's findings emphasize the need to improve teacher training programs, especially in different geographic and cultural contexts, to increase teaching efficacy and address the unique challenges teachers face.

A study on the digital wisdom of primary school teachers in Penang, Malaysia was conducted with 372 participants. A research questionnaire was used to collect data, and the findings suggest that most teachers moderately practice digital wisdom in their classrooms. The study also found that digital status has a significant but weak relationship with digital wisdom, while age has a significant and moderate relationship with it. However, there is no significant relationship between school location and gender with the practice of digital wisdom. Experience has a significant and moderate relationship with digital wisdom, while education level has no relationship. Overall, the results provide insights into teachers' digital wisdom levels and how they relate to demographic profiles.

Age at autism diagnosis is associated with sex assigned at birth (hereafter, "sex"), such that girls/women are more likely to be delayed or "missed" entirely in the diagnostic process compared to boys/men. Later diagnosed individuals, especially girls/women, demonstrate increased anxious/depressive symptoms. Data on autistic youth from clinic-based (n = 1035; 22.9% assigned female) and sex-balanced research-based (n = 128; 43% assigned female) samples were probed via regression-based mediation models to understand relationships between diagnostic age, sex, and symptoms of anxiety/depression. We hypothesized diagnostic age would mediate the relationship between sex and anxious/depressive symptoms. In both samples, later diagnostic age predicted greater anxious and depressive symptoms, and sex did not directly predict anxious symptoms. In the clinic-based but not the research-based sample, individuals assigned female at birth were later diagnosed than those assigned male, and there was a significant indirect effect of sex on anxious and depressive symptoms through diagnostic age, such that those assigned female and later diagnosed experienced greater symptoms. Within the research-based sample only, sex predicted depressive symptoms. The present study provides an important impetus for further evaluating the implications of diagnostic timing, enhancing tools for recognizing autism in individuals assigned female at birth, and grounding research with real-world ascertainment strategies.

A person-centered approach identified five empirically unobserved student profiles of first-time full-time university students who shared similar academic patterns, performance measures, and demographic characteristics. "Honors" and "Flourishing" classes tended to graduate within 6 years of attempting their first-college mathematics course, earned a high grade in that course, and made continued degree progress. The "Flourishing" class had lower semester and first-college mathematics GPAs than the "Honors" class but higher GPAs than the "Tenacious" class. Placement in remedial mathematics alone did not determine class membership. The "Honors" class had an overrepresentation of White women, and an underrepresentation of Black men. Hispanic students were most prevalent in the "Flourishing" group while Black men were more prevalent in the "Tenacious" group. As a whole, men fared worse on outcomes than women.

Purpose: This study describes participant diversity in Williams syndrome (WS) intervention studies. Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify prospective treatment studies including participants with WS. Data was extracted on the reporting of and information provided on age, sex, cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. Results: Eleven eligible articles were identified. Reporting rates of demographic factors varied considerably, with the highest rates for age and sex (100%) and the lowest reporting rates for race (18%) and ethnicity (9%). Combining demographic data from the two studies that reported on race and/or ethnicity (n = 33), 88% of participants were White. The combined participant mean age was 20.9 years. Conclusion: There is a low frequency of reporting on several demographic factors including socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity in WS intervention studies. There is a need for increased representation of racial and ethnic minority groups, older participants, and more cognitively impaired patients in WS research.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the variables that may affect treatment continuation in children aged 6 to 12 years who were newly diagnosed with ADHD. Methods: A total of 132 children diagnosed with ADHD and their parents participated in the study. Sociodemographic and clinical risk factors affecting continuation of treatment were examined using logistic regression analysis. Results: Multiple model examination revealed that greater age increased the risk of treatment discontinuation 1.824 times (p = 0.003) while a lower total length of paternal education increased the risk of discontinuation (1/0.835) 1.198 times (p = 0.022). Other variables emerging as significant in the univariate model lost that significance in the multiple model. Conclusions: Understanding the variables associated with medication discontinuation in ADHD in different populations and taking these variables into account in the development of health policies, will be useful in improving the long-term devastating effects of the disorder.

To help students cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions offered students flexible grading policies that blended traditional letter grades with alternative grading options such as the pass--fail or credit--no credit options. This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the flexible grading policy at a medium-sized university in the USA. We studied the differential selection of flexible grading options by course characteristics and students' sociodemographics and academic profiles between Spring 2020 and Spring 2021. We also examined the impacts of the policy on sequential courses. Our analysis utilized administrative and transcript data for undergraduate students at the study institution and employed a combination of descriptive statistics and regression models. The analysis revealed that the flexible grading policy was utilized differently depending on course characteristics, with core courses and subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and economics having higher rates of usage. Additionally, sociodemographic and academic profile factors led to varying degrees of utilization, with males, urban students, freshmen, and non-STEM majors using the policy more frequently. Furthermore, the analysis suggested that the policy may have disadvantaged some students as they struggled in subsequent courses after using the pass option. Several implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Background: Despite historical and contemporary trauma, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN; Indigenous) communities responded with resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AIANs experienced disproportionate rates of infection, hospitalization, death, and reduced life expectancy. School closures exacerbated disparities, leading to learning loss, economic instability, and mental health challenges among AIAN youth. Methods: The Project SafeSchools cohort study employed a comprehensive longitudinal convergent mixed-methods approach, integrating community-based participatory research principles. The study enrolled Navajo Nation caregivers whose children were eligible to attend local reservation-based schools. We conducted an analysis of caregiver self-report baseline data collected between August 2021 and May 2022. Results: A total of 242 caregivers completed at least part of the baseline assessment and were included in data analysis. Caregivers were primarily female (88.7%), non-Hispanic (97%), and Indigenous (97%). Most caregivers were in their late 30s (mean age 38), with varying educational backgrounds and employment statuses. Children were evenly split between males and females and distributed across different age groups. Most children attended school at baseline in various formats, including in-person, hybrid, and online-only settings. Caregivers reported a range of psychosocial and behavioral risks, including general mental distress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety for themselves and their children. Furthermore, caregivers and children exhibited various protective factors, such as strong cultural identity, resilience, and academic self-efficacy. Conclusions: This study highlights the higher rates of mental health distress among participating caregivers and children compared to national averages. Despite these challenges, cultural protective factors remained strong and should guide future crisis response efforts.

School learning environments play important roles in students' lives. But when do these relationships form? Previous research on middle school students has identified a strong association between student socio-demographics, school characteristics, and achievement. Yet, few studies have investigated the origins of these associations. This study investigated whether associations exist in a large sample of much younger 4th and 5th grade students, typically ages 9 through 11, from a Midwest urban school district. Results show socio-demographic differences in perception, in particular race, sex, and economic status, are less pronounced at earlier ages; indicating socio-demographic associations tend to emerge in middle and high school. Special education is a notable exception. Younger students' perceptions of the learning environment are associated with achievement at this age shedding light on the origin of the links between socio-demographics and perceptions of learning environments.

Research on growth mindset, the belief that one's cognitive abilities are malleable and can be developed through dedication and practice, has received considerable media attention and influenced educational policy and practice. However, mindset theory and measurement have also drawn criticism. In the present paper, we add a cautionary note pertaining to the conceptualization and measurement of growth mindset. Through a critical reanalysis of a large-scale representative study of adolescents from the US (N = 15,362), we show that a growth (i.e., forward-keyed) and a fixed (i.e., reverse keyed) mindset item from a widely used scale are only moderately correlated (r = -0.31). Further, we demonstrate that the two items are very differently related with a range of educationally relevant criteria such as learning engagement and self-efficacy, and sociodemographic characteristics such as sex. This leads us to conclude that the growth and fixed mindset items are not mutually interchangeable (apart from keying) indicators of a unidimensional construct that has fixed and growth mindset at its opposing poles. Which items researchers choose to measure mindset (fixed, growth, or a blend thereof) may therefore have a significant impact on the findings they obtain. Our insights highlight the need for greater attention to the conceptual foundations and measurement of mindset in future studies.

Dropout is a problematic issue in education due to its high prevalence and impact on students and society. In fact, it can limit students' future options, and it involves a substantial cost for public budgets in most countries. This is not an easy problem to solve, since student dropout is a complex decisional process involving such factors as personal and contextual characteristics, educational variables, and psychosocial aspects. Very few studies have examined whether sociodemographic and psycho-educational variables affect educational dropout at different academic levels. For this reason, the present study aims to provide a better understanding of the role of several variables (age, academic results, gender, sexual orientation, academic help-seeking, academic self-efficacy, and planning as a strategy to cope with academic stress) in educational dropout thoughts in a sample of 759 students resident in Spain (age: M = 22.91, 74.0% women). Regression analyses showed that dropout thoughts were significantly predicted by academic results, planning, sexual orientation, academic self-efficacy, and academic help-seeking. Agreements and discrepancies with previous research are discussed. The results of the current study can be used by educators, policy makers and institutions to develop programmes to reduce student dropout by enhancing self-regulated learning strategies.

Dual enrollment (DE)--where students earn college credits during high school--is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of those structures remain a black box. Using statewide administrative data from Texas, we describe DE coursetaking and course characteristics for traditional Texas public high school students and examine how DE course characteristics predict students' course performance and subsequent college enrollment. Our descriptive analyses illuminate striking differences between academic and career and technical education DE, both in students' backgrounds and course structures. Our regression analyses illustrate how several malleable DE course characteristics predict student outcomes.

Adaptive survey design refers to using targeted procedures to recruit different sampled cases. This technique strives to reduce bias and variance of survey estimates by trying to recruit a larger and more balanced set of respondents. However, it is not well understood how adaptive design can improve data and survey estimates beyond the well-established post-survey adjustment. This paper reports the results of an experiment that evaluated the additional effect of adaptive design to post-survey adjustments. The experiment was conducted in the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study in 2021. We evaluated the adaptive design in five outcomes: 1) response rates, 2) demographic composition of respondents, 3) bias and variance of key survey estimates, 4) changes in significant results of regression models, and 5) costs. The most significant benefit of the adaptive design was its ability to generate more efficient survey estimates with smaller variances and smaller design effects.

In this secondary systematic review of single-case and controlled group design intervention studies conducted with transition-age autistic youth, we examined features of 48 studies with 273 participants that measured at least one "problem behavior" outcome (Prospero registration number: 231764). We searched 11 databases for relevant studies, and the final search date was November 2022. Our primary aims were to determine how problem behaviors were defined and selected for reduction, how functions were determined, and the interventions used to address them. Studies were coded and codes were tabulated and converted to percentages to answer each research question. Thirty-eight percent of studies defined problem behavior, and 88% of studies implemented behavioral strategies to reduce problem behaviors. Behaviors with low potential for harm constituted the majority of the 67 outcome variables (61%), while behaviors with high potential for harm were a minority (39%). The most common intervention target was stereotypic behavior. Fewer than half of studies: reported procedures for selecting behaviors, reported procedures to determine behavior function, or ascribed functions to behaviors. We were unable to report on some demographic features of participants (e.g. race/ethnicity) because they were rarely reported in primary studies. We conclude that problem behavior is poorly conceptualized in this research.

Autism screening questionnaires are sometimes used as a measure of "autism-associated traits" in samples drawn from the general population, even though such tools are primarily developed and designed for use in samples of children diagnosed with or being assessed for autism. Here, we explore the psychometric properties of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) current version reported at age 8 in a large population-based sample. Using data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort study (MoBa), we perform exploratory (N = 21,775) and confirmatory (N = 21,674) factor analyses on items and compare our results with previously suggested factor structure models of the SCQ. Furthermore, we test for measurement invariance across sex and registry-ascertained autism diagnostic status (N[subscript diagnosed] = 636). A 5-factor model provided best fit to the data in both children with and without autism diagnoses, though with some qualitative differences in what the factors represent across these groups. This model performed largely consistently across boys and girls in the general population. Taken together, the SCQ's measurement properties must be carefully considered when it is used in population-based samples and measurement invariance testing of other autism screening tools used in similar contexts is warranted.

This article examines the prevalence of receiving course registration sanctions (i.e., past due balance notification, stop registration hold, and cancel registration order) caused by past due financial balances. The longitudinal data set follows all first-time, first-year students at a public flagship university during their first 2 years of college. We found that course registration sanctions were common at this university, as within the first 2 years of enrollment, 67% of students received a past due balance notification, 35% received a stop registration hold, and 11% received a cancel registration order. Differential patterns in the prevalence of course registration sanctions were evident across student demographic, academic, and financial factors. Specifically, students were significantly more likely to receive a registration sanction if they were: of high financial need, Black or African American, a first-generation college student, and had a lower ACT score. Furthermore, we found that Black and African American students were more likely to receive registration sanctions even after controlling for the size of the past due balance and their financial need. The findings provide evidence of systemic inequities that require institutional intervention.

The concept and practice of experiential education is rapidly expanding as universities seek to strengthen and integrate high-impact practices under experiential education plans and centers. While this integration has the potential to create synergy across disparate experiential learning offerings and to provide the benefits of experiential learning to all enrolled students across majors and modality, scalability, assessment, and equity present challenges. Many experiential learning practices were designed to serve a subset of enrolled students and are resource-intensive in terms of faculty development and content delivery, assessment, and financial resources required. This paper presents a case study of the development and in-progress refinement of an experiential learning program at a regional comprehensive university in the Southeast. Particular attention is given to: 1) developing and refining experiential learning assessment; 2) issues of scalability and the percentage of the institution's total students served; and 3) racial and ethnic diversity of participants and alignment with institutional demographics.

Despite advancements in human research ethics and the growing significance of Research Ethics Board (REB) members, educational opportunities specifically tailored to their needs remain lacking in many countries. In response to this gap, our research aims to understand the demographics, needs, and preferences for educational opportunities of REB members in Canada. We conducted a survey that found REB demographics to be diverse and have different perceptions of their roles on topics such as the evaluation of the scientific merit of studies and responsibilities to stakeholders. We found that REB members in general prefer online tutorials and webinars for their education. Educators interested in facilitating the development of future training programs should consider the needs and preferences of REB members outlined in this publication.

A growing body of literature suggests manipulating some graphing conventions can affect visual analysis and adherence to graphing conventions varies widely in single case design publications. Yet use of graphing conventions by the wider population of behavior analysts is largely unexplored. The current study examined relations among types of graphing conventions (established versus unestablished functions), demographic variables (e.g., education level, primary job setting), and likelihood of revision ratings reported by 631 board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs, BCaBAs, and BCBA-Ds). Statistically significant differences in ratings were detected across types of conventions and demographic categories. Master's level BCBAs in clinical roles were more likely to revise conventions that affect visual analysis than conventions whose functions are unknown, whereas there were no differences between types of conventions for doctoral level BCBAs in academic roles. We discuss these findings in the context of audience control of graphing conventions.

Diversity in the United Kingdom is regularly quantified through Census data. The latest figures (2021) for England and Wales indicate that 82% of the population identifies as white, 51% are females, 17.7%-22.3% are disabled, 18.2% hold no qualifications and 51.7% of households are deprived in at least one dimension. Furthermore, the median age in England and Wales is 40. All of these figures vary significantly across local geographical areas. Diversity in Higher Education (HE) is also monitored yearly by the Office for Students. The latest figures (2020/2021) indicate that 68.4% of entrants are under 21 years old, 56.5% are females, 14.8% report a disability and 21.8% are categorized as severely deprived. Some differences were observed between these figures and those from previous years. The current study aims to highlight how diversity in HE has evolved since 2010 and how the current landscape can illustrate significant differences between courses. Furthermore, comparisons with the general population are also measured in an attempt to describe potential bias in HE, together with new avenues that should be explored to level the HE field in regard to diversity. Our results indicate that access to HE needs to be improved for males, while strong discrepancies were observed between disciplines. Ethnic diversity remains high throughout the HE sector, although subject-specific biases were noted. An increase in students from the most deprived areas has been found, although it was not the case for all subjects within the sector. Finally, reported disabilities are on the rise, especially regarding mental health, warranting additional support for affected students. These findings are discussed and put into context. To conclude, HE providers might need to collegially address subject-specific discrepancies.

This article employs quantitative critical race theory (QuantCrit), set against a historical context backdrop, to understand key aspects of Black religious engagement and post-college educational pathways. The variables selected for this study illuminate post-graduation outcomes for Black students valued by the Freedmen's Bureau and other similarly focused organizations that coalesced immediately before, during, and shortly after the American Civil War. Data from the 1979-80 National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) provides the content for an analysis herein of Black Americans engaging in the church following college graduation and their pursuit of advanced degrees. This survey conducted roughly 100 years following the Civil War, has remained influential to policymakers to the present day and allows an opportunity to reflect on today's views on Black education at this sesquicentennial juncture. So doing provides for a reconceptualization of Black post-college success as originally imagined by organizations dedicated to social and educational initiatives for freedmen and remains independent of the metrics that often obscure the landscape and perception of Black post-college success.

This study adopts an equity-driven lens to focus on how international education serves to reproduce long-standing racial and economic hierarchies through a critical exploration of which students participate in two international education experiences: at-home internationalized coursework and study abroad. Drawing from student demographic data representing a U.S. Southeast community college, results suggest differences in participation along racial/ethnic lines for both international experiences, with Black students appearing to experience the most formidable barriers to participation. Results also suggest that at-home internationalized coursework increases access to international education opportunity for students from lower-income backgrounds while excluding older students.

Digital divides mean that marginalized groups such as adults who speak English as a second or other language (ESOL) are less likely to have access to online instruction. Higher levels of English proficiency are associated with better health and employment; therefore, access to ESOL classes is essential. We investigated how sociodemographics and English proficiency relate to adult learners' preferences for, and barriers to, online instruction of ESOL during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty-one adults completed a survey on their pandemic experiences, demographics, and ESOL classes. Analyses showed nonsignificant relationships between interest in online instruction and internet access, education, income, and age. Respondents reported expecting more nondigital than digital barriers to online instruction overall. Expecting to encounter digital barriers did not constrain respondents' interest in future online instruction; however, beginner-proficiency individuals had higher interest than those with intermediate or no proficiency. Of the five specific types of remote instruction included in the survey, learning to use new technologies interested most respondents the most. Results will inform ESOL practitioners and administrations as they continue to develop online or digital literacies components for their classes.

Background: People with intellectual disability frequently have eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) and are at greater risk of premature mortality, particularly from aspiration and respiratory infections. The insertion of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), as part of a multidisciplinary management plan, may help to maintain and improve nutrition. This study included people with intellectual disability who had ever had a PEG inserted and who presented to the specialist Speech and Language Therapy team in one Greater Manchester borough between 2000 and 2022 and assessed the risk of death and sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with this. Methods: This was a cohort study using secondary data. Kaplan--Meier estimates were used to construct the probability of mortality curves. Cox proportional hazards were used to compare death rates in the different sociodemographic and clinical characteristic groups and were presented as hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Findings: Of 42 people included in the study, 18 (43%) died from the point of PEG insertion to the end of the study (December 2022). The median (interquartile range) time to death from PEG insertion was 5 (2-10) years, with four people (10%) dying in the first year. Aspiration pneumonia and unspecified pneumonia were responsible for seven (39%) deaths. No significant associations were found between sociodemographic and clinical factors and risk of death. Conclusion: In persons with intellectual disability and a PEG who were followed up between 2000 and 2022, the mortality was around 40% with deaths occurring in the first year and respiratory conditions being an important cause. The lack of association with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics may have been due to a limited sample size. Further research is needed with larger samples and more variables, including quality of life data, to help understand and improve clinical practice in this area.