Equity and Critical Policy Analysis in Higher Education: A Bridge Still Too Far

Abstract

This article examines the continuing gap between institutional practice and pedagogy, research and scholarship, and policy formation and analysis of equity and diversity in higher education. The article also provides brief summaries of the four major contributions of higher education scholars to this edition concerned with exploring different facets of, and approaches to, analyzing equity from a critical policy perspective. The article concludes with an impassioned call for researchers and scholars to become more insurgent and engaged in policy formation and analyses in an effort to not only inform but also to shape a sustainable equity agenda in higher education.

Critical Quantitative Inquiry in Context

“…As such, these scholars have rejected the labels of positivist and postpositivist, and have turned their quantitative skills toward work on equity goals and outcomes. Encouragement of a critical quantitative perspective since the 2007 publication is also evident based on the existence of the ASHE Institutes on Equity and Critical Policy Analysis, one of which was titled “Research Methods for Critical Analysis of Quantitative Data.” These institutes concluded with a special issue of Review of Higher Education where the observation was made, “the gap between critical policy studies and analysis and the development of a sustaining equity and access agenda remains large indeed” (Anderson, , p. 135). The purpose of this volume is to extend the discussion of critical quantitative work, partially as it relates to the newly conceptualized third task, and to highlight recent higher education scholarship that employs the approach across a range of topics.…”

Planning as strategy for improving Black and Latinx student equity: Lessons from nine California community colleges

“…These approaches to studying policy have focused on elements such as compliance, fidelity, impact, and outcomes (Sabatier & Weible, 2014). Scholars using more critical theories, such as Critical Policy Analysis (CPA), have critiqued the inability of educational research using rational theories to comprehensively understand policy problems in schools given an overreliance on objectivity, rationality, and ahistoricism (Anderson, 2012;Iverson, 2007;Parker & Villalpando, 2007). In contrast to rational theories, critical theories attempt to explore the silence in policy narratives, highlight social context, and acknowledge the role of structural racism in how policy is crafted and implemented in schools (Martínez- Alemán, Pusser, & Bensimon, 2015).…”

Using Ethnography to Understand How Policy Reform Influences the Transfer Process at One Community College

“…The impact of these efforts has been mixed, with some research pointing to slight gains in degree attainment and transfer rates (Campaign for College Opportunity, 2017), whereas others have found no benefits related to the transfer reform (Anderson, 2012;LaSota & Zumeta, 2016). Recent data suggest the modest success of SB-1440, as the number of students transferring with ADTs and graduating with four-year degrees appears to be larger than students transferring via traditional pathways (Taylor, 2015;Moore & Shulock, 2014).…”