Does Striving for Prestige Impede Equity? Socioeconomic Diversity in Master's Comprehensive Colleges and Universities

• In Event: Organizational conditions and diversity outcomes in higher education

Abstract

Institutional striving refers to colleges and universities pursuing prestige within the academic hierarchy. Historically, low-income students rely on lower-tier institutions such as master’s comprehensive colleges and universities for access because of barriers to more stratified sectors. Some of these striving institutions have experienced reductions in socioeconomic diversity, while others have improved. Which striving behaviors, then, are associated with an institution’s enrollment of low-income undergraduates? Longitudinal analyses presented here suggest that, all else equal, an increase in admissions standards, expenditures on research, and Carnegie classification (“upward drift”) decreases socioeconomic diversity. Meanwhile, commitments to diverse student populations, expansion of staff, and tuition-discounting are associated with gains in equity. Results vary by public or private status, suggesting widening stratification within the Master’s sector.

Authors

• Jarrett B. Warshaw, Florida Atlantic University

• Jon McNaughtan, Texas Tech University

• Matt DeMonbrun, University of Michigan