Session Submission Summary

PDC21: Studying Higher Education Access and Attainment Worldwide—Organized by the World Education Research Association (WERA)

Sat, April 9, 1:00 to 5:00pm, Convention Center, Floor: Level One, Room 151 B

Session Type: Professional Development Course

Abstract

Nations across the world are seeking to expand higher education access and attainment in order to compete internationally in today’s global, technologically-driven economy. Although the configuration and governance of higher education systems varies dramatically across and within nations, policymakers and educational leaders are facing a similar set of questions about this expansion. Such questions include: Who gets access to what types of postsecondary education opportunities? What are the ideal roles of different providers of higher education? What are the implications for students and society of different approaches to financing the costs of higher education? What policies and practices effectively increase overall attainment and reduce gaps across groups in higher education outcomes? This course is designed to promote comparative and international research on higher education access and attainment and create a network of higher education researchers with shared interests who are located in different nations. The course will include presentations by course instructors, discussion, and small group work. Participants will consider: fruitful research questions; exemplars of and guidelines for high-quality research, effective approaches for incorporating relevant contextual characteristics, promising theoretical perspectives and frameworks, and productive methodological approaches and sources of data. Prior to the course, participants will submit: 1) an overview of a current or recent research project that examines some aspect of higher education access and attainment (one page); and 2) a statement of learning goals and expectations for the course (one paragraph).

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