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Selecting a major is one of the most consequential decisions a student will make in college. Though major selection is often conceived of as a discrete choice made at a particular point in time, many students change their majors at least once during college. This article examines the process of changing majors as a key education transition. Drawing from 38 interviews with college students at a public university in the USA who changed their declared major, this study explores the ways they make meaning of transitions between fields of study. Specifically, I ask: How do students describe their experiences navigating the process of switching college majors? Six themes emerged in relation to three phases of transition: endings, neutral zones, and new beginnings. These themes provide new understandings of students' meaning making about their experiences moving between majors. In doing so, this study (1) demonstrates the value of studying major change as an important educational transition and (2) sheds light on the potential for employing theories of transition to understand non-normative and non-linear transitions in higher education. Implications for higher education research and practice are discussed.

Contribution: A roadmap is provided for building a quantum engineering education program to satisfy U.S. national and international workforce needs. Background: The rapidly growing quantum information science and engineering (QISE) industry will require both quantum-aware and quantum-proficient engineers at the bachelor's level. Research Question: What is the best way to provide a flexible framework that can be tailored for the full academic ecosystem? Methodology: A workshop of 480 QISE researchers from across academia, government, industry, and national laboratories was convened to draw on best practices; representative authors developed this roadmap. Findings: 1) For quantum-aware engineers, design of a first quantum engineering course, accessible to all STEM students, is described; 2) for the education and training of quantum-proficient engineers, both a quantum engineering minor accessible to all STEM majors, and a quantum track directly integrated into individual engineering majors are detailed, requiring only three to four newly developed courses complementing existing STEM classes; 3) a conceptual QISE course for implementation at any postsecondary institution, including community colleges and military schools, is delineated; 4) QISE presents extraordinary opportunities to work toward rectifying issues of inclusivity and equity that continue to be pervasive within engineering. A plan to do so is presented, as well as how quantum engineering education offers an excellent set of education research opportunities; and 5) a hands-on training plan on quantum hardware is outlined, a key component of any quantum engineering program, with a variety of technologies, including optics, atoms and ions, cryogenic and solid-state technologies, nanofabrication, and control and readout electronics.

Research documents persistent gender inequality in the educational experiences of second-generation immigrant (SGI) students whose parents immigrated to the United States. This qualitative study draws from 27 in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of SGI women as they navigate the senior-year transition in conversation with their parents. Findings show how beliefs regarding gender inform the contours of parental expectations for soon-to-be graduates. SGI women confronted a series of gendered expectations for (a) family life and marriage, (b) future careers and further education, and (c) geographic mobility. These dynamics became especially salient for women participants with brothers who were not subjected to the same expectations. SGI women described these expectations as manifestations of gendered double standards. Findings have implications for how higher education can address gender inequality and support SGI women in the senior-year transition.

As literature on the senior-year transition expands, scholars have explored the experiences of seniors from a range of sociodemographic groups. However, the senior-year transitions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) college students have yet to be examined. This neglect is surprising, given that prior studies suggest LGBQ students face unique constraints in the first-year transition and within the transition to adulthood more broadly. Analyzing data from 20 in-depth interviews, we aimed to understand the concerns of LGBQ-identified college seniors. A thematic analysis revealed four distinct concerns that were linked to students' identities as they looked toward life after graduation: (1) wariness about entering the workforce; (2) ambivalence about leaving the university; (3) concerns about navigating the coming-out process post-college; and (4) concerns about locating support. These findings have implications for research on college student transitions and student affairs practice.

This qualitative study explores how second-generation immigrant (SGI) college seniors experience and navigate their final year of college. Drawing on Schlossberg's theory of transitions, we analyze in-depth interviews with 34 SGI seniors. Emergent themes include: (a) perceptions of the senior-year transition, (b) challenges finding and using university resources, (c) tensions between sense of self and parental expectations, (d) discrepancies between sources of support, and (e) strategies promoting resilience. Implications for research and practice are explored.

This ethnographic study relies on a combination of participant observation and 43 in-depth interviews to explore how first-year college women construct identities in cocurricular settings. Findings indicate that students relied primarily on two gendered identity strategies to engage with peers in cocurricular groups. Some women presented as nurturing caregivers while others presented as amicable nice girls. Although these strategies facilitated a degree of inclusion, they also carried significant social and emotional costs. Efforts to police these gendered identities restricted college women to narrow styles of self-presentation. As peers demanded consistent performance of femininity, women were pushed to the margins of cocurricular groups.

Drawing from 34 in-depth interviews, we examined the senior-year transitions of second-generation immigrant (SGI) college students, who are members of the first generation in their families to grow up in the US. We considered the ways SGI college seniors made meaning of parental involvement and negotiated relationships with parents during this transition, finding that students' interpretations of parental involvement shaped their strategies for engaging with parents as they approached graduation. Three types of perceptions corresponded with 3 distinct strategies, ranging from prioritizing independence to prioritizing familial expectations.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) at the University of Virginia was designed to prepare students from underrepresented racial and socioeconomic groups--including Students of Color, low-income, and first-generation college students--for graduate study in education research by developing confidence with skills and academic practices to support their transition to graduate school. SURP originated in 2008 as a part of the Virginia Education Science Training program, funded by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences. Similar programs have been developed elsewhere (e.g., North Carolina Central University, New York University, Florida State University, and University of Texas--San Antonio). Despite the presence of such programs, there are few evaluations of the extent to which they generate cultural capital that can be leveraged in the pursuit of graduate education. This article offers insights from pretest and posttest surveys taken before and after completing SURP by interns who participated from 2010 to 2017. Specifically, the authors focus on one aspect of cultural capital by considering whether participation increased interns' perceived confidence in research skills. Findings indicate that SURP interns perceived greater familiarity with research skills and academic practices upon completion of the program. By becoming comfortable and familiar with these skills, students acquired an important facet of cultural capital that can facilitate access to and success in graduate school. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED608333.]

How do students engage with the multitude of services and resources offered by their institutions? Our findings, based on interviews with 62 college seniors, indicate that in the context of ample opportunities and limited guidance, students rarely make use of institutional resources.Instead, continuing-generation students turn to family resources, while first-generation students rely primarily on self-directed research and planning. Reliance on personal as opposed to institutional resources is an important, yet often ignored, consequence of the increasing individualization and marketization of higher education, and a notable contributor to social inequality.

Institutions have developed diverse approaches that vary in effectiveness and cost to improve student performance in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. We developed a low-cost, graduate student-led, metacognition-based study skills course taught in conjunction with the introductory biology series at Miami University. Our approach aimed to improve performance for underachieving students by combining an existing framework for the process of learning (the study cycle) with concrete tools (outlines and concept maps) that have been shown to encourage deep understanding. To assess the effectiveness of our efforts, we asked (1) how effective our voluntary recruitment model was at enrolling the target cohort; (2) how the course impacted performance on lecture exams; (3) how the course impacted study habits and techniques; and (4) whether there are particular study habits or techniques that are associated with large improvements on exam scores. Voluntary recruitment attracted only 11-17% of our target cohort. While focal students improved on lecture exams relative to their peers who did not enroll, gains were relatively modest, and not all students improved. Further, although students across both semesters of our study reported improved study habits (based on pre and post surveys) and on outlines and concept maps (based on retrospectively scored assignments), gains were more dramatic in the Fall semester. Multivariate models revealed that, while changes in study habits and in the quality of outlines and concept maps were weakly associated with change in performance on lecture exams, relationships were only significant in the Fall semester and were sometimes counterintuitive. Although benefits of the course were offset somewhat by the inefficiency of voluntary recruitment, we demonstrate the effectiveness our course, which is inexpensive to implement and has advantage of providing pedagogical experience to future educators.

Relying on interviews with 62 college seniors, this study explores students' experiences with uncertainty and responsibility as they approach graduation. Notable differences between first-generation and continuing-generation students emerged in relation to: (a) how seniors experienced responsibility and commitment as they approached graduation, and (b) how disparities in parental resources and information shaped uncertainty. The findings also highlight important racial variation that was found within these groups. Implications for research and student affairs practice are discussed.

Colleges and universities have attempted to deal with the risks posed by off-campus parties with various efforts, including policies restricting the party environment, efforts to build community coalitions, as well as the creation of targeted education and training programs for students. Perhaps one of the most well-known efforts to address issues of injury, violence, and sexual assault at colleges and universities is peer and bystander intervention training. This article seeks to examine students' willingness to engage in a variety of methods of intervention at off-campus parties. Silver and Jakeman hypothesize that party hosts will be more willing to intervene in dangerous or problematic situations than party guests, given that they likely own or inhabit the party location and are more likely than guests to know the other attendees. The findings of this study speak to the importance of status--party guest or host--in impacting willingness to engage in peer or bystander intervention. These findings have implications for theory and practice in higher education. Regardless of which forms of intervention are considered, the results indicate that hosts are more likely to report willingness to intervene than guests.

Colleges and universities have taken a variety of approaches to combat alcohol and other drug misuse among students. This descriptive quantitative study aims to investigate the behaviors of students who host off-campus parties and how these behaviors shape party environments. Undergraduate students (N = 2,146) completed an online survey to capture the perceptions of off-campus party participants about party events and student behaviors. Results indicate that White students, male students and students 21 and older were more likely to host off-campus parties than students of color, female students and students under 21. Party hosts (N = 501) took few precautionary measures to ensure a safer party environment and were unlikely to intervene to protect guests, including intervening with intoxicated guests or taking responsibility to prevent drunk driving.

A college mathematics placement test with 25 basic algebra items and 15 calculus readiness items was administered to 1572 high school seniors, and first college mathematics course grades were obtained for 319 of these students. Test results indicated that more than two thirds of the high school graduates were not college ready, and the test results were reasonably consistent with the ACT Math benchmark score of 22 for college readiness. Analysis of ACT Math scores, basic algebra scores, calculus readiness scores, and course grades indicated that basic algebra scores are reasonable predictors of grades in College Algebra, whether traditional or modeling-based.

The need to understand the settings in which students drink represents an ongoing challenge for universities. Undergraduate students (N = 2,146) completed an online multicampus survey to capture the perceptions of off-campus party guests regarding common party behaviors and events. Results indicate that students frequently attend off-campus parties, with males, students under 21, and students living on-campus attending at higher rates than females, students 21 and older, and off-campus students. Students attend off-campus parties for social reasons; strict on-campus policies do not appear to push parties to off-campus settings. Students hold high expectations that risky forms of alcohol consumption will occur at off-campus parties. These findings confirm that off-campus parties are high-risk settings and offer insight for institutional policies and education strategies.

This qualitative study of 20 student affairs master's students explored their career plans and perceptions of the field. Five themes emerged from interviews with participants who considered leaving student affairs to pursue other careers: (a) distance from the institutional mission, (b) student affairs as devalued work, (c) lack of fulfillment, (d) emotional burdens, and (e) financial concerns. Implications relate to improving master's students' experiences in order to proactively address attrition from the student affairs profession.