Qualitative Inquiry for Equity in Higher Education

Join the dialogue on the future of qualitative inquiry for equity in higher education.Beginning with the premise that equity is of paramount concern in the study of higher education, this text explores the promise and pitfalls of qualitative inquiry with respect to addressing issues of in/equity and fostering social change at micro, meso, and macro levels. Building upon contemporary qualitative higher education scholarship, the authors advance a critique of the reductive and generic conceptions of qualitative research that dominate the field and call upon scholars to examine the transformative potential embedded within critical qualitative inquiry.In addition to exploring the opportunities and tensions associated with engaging in critical qualitative inquiry, this monograph issues a call to action through intervention, describing strategies for challenging and resisting oppressive research norms that undermine the equity aims of higher education research.This is Volume 37 Issue 6 of the Jossey-Bass publication ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

Executive Summary viiForeword xiAcknowledgments xvQualitative Inquiry for Equity in Higher Education 1On Equity 6On Dangers 11Responding to Dangers 12Outline of the Monograph 13Challenge to the Reader 15Confronting Qualitative Inquiry in Higher Education 17Brief Notes on Qualitative Research in Higher Education Scholarship 19Beyond Method: Matters of Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology, and Methodology 21Paradigms and Worldviews 24The Promise and Hope of Critical Qualitative Inquiry 27Innovation as Research Revolutions 29Concluding Thoughts 45Critical Concerns for Qualitative Inquiry in Higher Education 47Critical Qualitative Higher Education Research in the Era of Methodological Conservatism 49What Is at Stake in the Era of Methodological Conservatism? 61Opportunities for Resisting Methodological Conservatism: A Call to Action 75Reflexivity as Intervention 76Institutional and Organizational Intervention 79Intervention Through the Socialization of New Educational Researchers 81Intervention Through Working and Speaking with Multiple Educational Research Constituencies 85Conclusion 88Notes 91References 93Name Index 109Subject Index 114About the Authors 121