Doctoral Dissertation Research: Evaluating the Efficacy of Broadening Participation Efforts Beyond University Settings

Diversity promotion projects and equity programs aim to make a positive impact on student and university life. While there is substantial data in the science of broadening participation on the efficacy of these programs in STEM educational settings, less is known about the afterlives of these programs when students transition out of the university. This doctoral dissertation project examines the social and economic dynamics of diversity programs among marginalized youth in the U.S. as they transition outside of university settings. In addition to supporting the ethnographic training of a graduate student in anthropological analysis and rigorous data collection, the project has the potential to document the long-term effects of university equity programs, and its impact on these youth after graduation. The findings of this study will enhance the public's understanding of the social and economic dynamics of diversity recruitment in institutional settings, the impact of equity programs in higher education.

This project examines the long-term effects of university diversity and equity training programs through 12-months of ethnographic research in a racially diverse U.S. city that is also home to a major research university. The researchers will follow a sample of students from two different historically underrepresented groups as they encounter diversity programs both in the university setting and after graduation. Following students out of the university as they enter civilian life provides a much needed longitudinal dimension in understanding the effects of the university's efforts to broaden participation among underrepresented groups. This project will generate data deriving from ethnographic fieldwork using a mixed-methods approach: ethnographic interviews, oral/migration family histories, participant observation, surveys, and archival work. The findings from this project have the potential to advance understanding what factors enable and inhibit underrepresented populations' access to universities and economic opportunities. The findings will inform scientific debates on higher education and the long-term effects of diversity programs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.