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The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of multiple campus teams as they engaged in the assessment of their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) mentoring ecosystems within a peer assessment dialogue exercise.

This project utilized a qualitative multicase study method involving six campus teams, drawing upon completed inventory and visual mapping artefacts, session observations and debriefing interviews. The campuses included research universities, small colleges and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) across the United States of America. The authors analysed which features of the peer assessment dialogue exercise scaffolded participants' learning about ecosystem synergies and threats.

The results illustrated the benefit of instructor modelling, intra-team process time and multiple rounds of peer assessment. Participants gained new insights into their own campuses and an increased sense of possibility by dialoguing with peer campuses.

This project involved teams from a small set of institutions, relying on observational and self-reported debriefing data. Future research could centre perspectives of institutional leaders.

The authors recommend dedicating time to the institutional assessment of mentoring ecosystems. Investing in a campus-wide mentoring infrastructure could align with campus equity goals.

In contrast to studies that have focussed solely on programmatic outcomes of mentoring, this study explored strategies to strengthen institutional mentoring ecosystems in higher education, with a focus on peer assessment, dialogue and learning exercises.

Given the proliferation of the credit card industry in today’s US households, and the aggressive promotional tactics employed to get college students to sign on as customers, this exploratory study takes a look at the credit card activity of college students at one Midwestern campus. The majority of students surveyed did not report knowledge of their credit card interest rate, although approximately half did report knowing their credit balance and credit limit. Students appear to have a realistic attitude toward the use of credit cards.

In this study, the authors investigated the academic and social experiences of first-generation undergraduate Latinx students who participated in a Latinx student-focused organization at a large, research-intensive, Predominately White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest. Our results revealed three major themes. First, participants considered the Latinx student organization to be a significant resource for their social integration into the university; however, it was less significant as an academic resource. Second, the participants recognized that while the university “tries” to promote diversity, they felt that the university could do more in promoting ethnic student groups and their interests across campus. Third, participants perceived that the university treats all Latinx students as one homogenous group, ignoring the diversity that exists between different Latinx groups. These themes suggest that efforts to make PWIs more diverse and inclusive may benefit from the formation and maintenance of minoritized ethnic student organizations. PWIs would also benefit by incorporating the diverse Latinx student perspectives into institutional diversity policy, and prioritizing higher-quality initiatives for greater visibility of Latinx student issues across campus. Moreover, programming that does not aggregate or homogenize Latinx identity, but embraces and values the multifaceted Latinx identities, would also benefit PWIs.

The purpose of this study is to assess environmental concern at a Midwest university, analyze trends in concern over time and determine the effect of the development of a campus sustainability office.

A multi-question survey was administered through peer-to-peer recruitment from an undergraduate environmental science class each fall from 2010–2017. This exercise was originally developed as a pedagogical exercise on the scientific method.

Over eight years, incoming freshmen have expressed more concern that humans are harming the environment and students also express greater concern as they progress through college.

The first year of the survey (2010) and the year that the lead PI was on sabbatical (2014) saw reduced response rates (∼1%–3% of the student population) compared to 6%–9% of the student population in other years.

Responses to all of the questions in the survey provide guidance for university administrations and sustainability offices about the concerns of the campus community, awareness about campus efforts and support for sustainability activities on campus.

Few studies have been published on students’ perspectives on environmental concern and sustainability activities on university campuses. These data provide an overview of environmental concern, perceived government action and empowerment to action over an eight-year period. This approach is recommended as a technique to teach the scientific method in introductory classes and as a means to collect data about student perspectives on sustainability.

The purpose of this study is to focus on the difference between perceptions of single and married international students. Four aspects are discussed to explain this issue: comfort level of international students in a host environment, their cultural representation, language competence/barrier and major challenges related to the host community. Then their attachment process was discussed.

The study deployed a qualitative research methodology with purposeful sampling to gain a closer insight into the trails, experiences, feelings and perceptions of international students.

The findings in this qualitative research underscore the importance of the individual’s will to adjust to the host society, at the same time to preserve the valuable sense of ethnic and personal identity for each foreign student. The focus group interviews reveal that domestic students, are not necessarily hostile towards international students, but simply do not know how to approach them without intruding in and violating the privacy and cultural norms of international students.

This qualitative study had only eight participants, which may hinder generalizability of findings. Future studies with survey methods to look into international students’ perceptions can be supplementary to the authors’ study.

Quantitative studies with a significant number of international students’ perceptions rather than standardized scores or administrative records can provide an important layer in the literature body. This way, future research can unpack individual differences regarding social alienation with more nuances.

The research does not generalize the students’ experiences by classifying them into ethnic groups or representatives. However, it could be informative to look into same country population reflections, too.

This study is focused on the students’ marital status seeking to understand a pattern that may differentiate the sociocultural acclamation or alienation processes, exploring their socializations within academic (e.g. classmates and professors) or nonacademic contexts (e.g. on or off-campus social/affinity groups), racial–ethnic sensitivity and perceived pressure and stereotypes among foreign students.

To study college students' attitudes toward and behavioral intention of shopping online for apparel products by using the theory of reasoned action.

Focus group interviews and a literature review identified specific items of interest related to the desirability of shopping online for apparel products. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to two groups of respondents: college students who lived in rural and urban areas.

The students, in general, had positive attitudes toward shopping online for apparel products. ANOVA results showed that the students who intended to shop online for apparel products had more positive attitudes than those who did not have the intention. The GLM results showed that internet usage, employment status, and car access had significant influence on students' attitudes toward online shopping for apparel products.

The samples for this study were randomly chosen from two universities in the United States. This limited sampling frame may affect the generalization of findings.

Both local retailers in rural college towns and online retailers can benefit from the findings of this study.

This research contributes to the literature by studying college students attitudes toward online shopping for apparel products.

The use of film as a teaching methodology in an undergraduate personal leadership development course helped students apply strengths-based leadership concepts. The film Temple Grandin was utilized to illustrate key concepts from Buckingham and Clifton’s (2001) text, Now, Discover Your Strengths. After completing the Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder^® assessment, students viewed the film Temple Grandin and identified Dr. Grandin’s perceived top five strengths in relation to scenes from the film. Several lessons were devoted to the exploration and development of students’ strengths. This practice paper describes the teaching methodologies employed and provides recommendations for leadership educators seeking to implement the use of film in their courses.

The purpose of this paper is to explore apparel-related issues experienced by plus-size female teens around the functional, expressive, and aesthetic consumer needs model. The goal was to uncover any issues which have interfered with or restricted apparel purchases.

A mixed methods research design was employed to collect body measurements with the use of a 3D body scanner and conduct in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 30 plus-size females aged 12-17 years and their families.

The current US sizing system does not fully meet the measurement needs of this study group. Functional fit requirements often dictate the apparel purchased by plus-size female teens. Expressive and aesthetic desires often go unfulfilled by the apparel that satisfied their functional needs. Confusion over apparel size designations interfered with brand and store loyalty and resulted in fewer purchases from both physical and online stores.

Plus-sizes are the fastest growing segment of apparel and offer brands and retailers substantial opportunity for market growth. Plus-size female teens desire to increase their apparel purchases, but have been hindered by certain product development and merchandising practices. Participants made suggestions for brands and retailers to increase sales in the plus-size female teen market.

This study is unique by uncovering previously unknown issues regarding apparel fit and purchase behaviors of the plus-size female teens as well as relating participant’s advice to the apparel industry on this target market.