Provides a detailed, on-the-ground examination of the difficult paths - curricular, interpersonal, and institutional - that students must chart through community college. The book follows 1,670 two-year college students over four years as they begin STEM programs and documents their educational and life experiences.
On My Own provides a detailed, on-the-ground examination of the difficult paths--curricular, interpersonal, and institutional--that students must chart through community college. The book follows 1,670 two-year college STEM students and documents their educational and life experiences as they moved toward, or away from, transfer to a four-year institution. Their stories reveal how the current state of transfer acts as a mechanism that perpetuates and worsens inequities in educational outcomes.
As Xueli Wang argues, to cultivate an equitable STEM transfer pathway, culturally relevant and responsive supports that are accessible, welcoming, and validating must be put in place at the institutional level and appeal to the talent, motivation, and unique needs of historically marginalized students.
"In this remarkably rich analysis, Xueli Wang shows that community college students are highly motivated to work hard and earn degrees, but their momentum is thwarted by friction they encounter in and outside of the classroom. Using stories from students, Wang provides insight into steps colleges can take to propel students on a path to success."
--Davis Jenkins, senior research scholar, Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
"
On My Own illustrates the tenacity of first-generation, low income, and students of color traversing higher learning in spite of structural stratification and inconsistent supports. This book is full of incredibly rich and deeply moving findings. It offers a sage call to action to those of us who want to enact transformative change and equitable student outcomes. All told, Wang has written a must-read primer for improving and diversifying STEM pathways."
--Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, professor of Higher Education/Community College Leadership and director of the Office for Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"Xueli Wang weaves a masterful story about the lives and journeys of transfer students based on rigorous, longitudinal data. The students' voices draw you in, and you are rooting for their success. Wang issues a compelling call to action to support
all students."
--Pamela L. Eddy, professor of higher education, William & Mary, School of Education
Xueli Wang is a professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
