2011 - Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Collegiate Cognitive Gains: A Multilevel Analysis of Institutional Influences on Learning and its Equitable Distribution

Attribution: Kugelmass, Heather, & Ready, Douglas D.
Researchers: Douglas D. ReadyHeather Kugelmass
University Affiliation: Council for Aid to Education; Columbia University
Email: hkugelmass@cae.org; ddr2111@columbia.edu
Research Question:
Addresses whether racial/ethnic inequalities in academic performance that are present at college entry are moderated, exacerbated, or maintained during college and whether institutional attributes are associated with student learning.
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Research in Higher Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 52, Pp. 323-348
Year: 2011
Findings:
  • 8% of variability in academic development lies across institutions.
  • The initial African American/white achievement gap widens somewhat during the course of undergraduate study.
  • Females make somewhat larger academic gains than males (after controlling for other student-level characteristics).
  • The African American/white inequalities in student learning are somewhat smaller at colleges that enroll larger proportions of African Americans.
  • This benefit is amplified in institutions that enroll higher-achieving students and reduced in colleges with academically weaker students.
  • African American students benefit somewhat more from additional budgetary outlays compared to white students attending the same institution.
  • Hispanic and white students gain academic skills at comparable rates.
Keywords: Achievement GapAfrican AmericanCollegeHispanicsRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeAnalysis Methods: Multilevel Models Sampling Frame:American college students in four-year institution
Sampling Types: RandomData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • Data come from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and institution-level variables were obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
  • Sample includes 35,323 students in 1,390 fields in 245 colleges and universities.
  • – DV: Scores on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (open-ended test aiming to assess students’ critical thinking skills)
  • – IV: Student level- initial academic ability (SAT score); race/ethnicity; gender; language status (non-native versus native English speaker); whether students had transferred to their current college from another four-year institution. Field of study level- students’ primary major (collapsed into one of six fields: social science, natural science and engineering and mathematics [STEM], humanities and language, business, helping/service, and other). Institutional level- institution setting (size, urbanicity, and residential status); institution classification (sector; HBCU status); student body composition (proportion of enrollment that is African American, proportion of enrollment that is Hispanic, student body socioeconomic status [per student Pell Grant funding], school selectivity [median incoming SAT score], gender composition); and school fiscal expenditures (total dollars spent per full-time student, student-related expenses [spending on instruction, academic support, and student services])
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts