Debunking the Grit Narrative in Higher Education examines pressing structural issues currently impacting African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Native American students accessing college and succeeding in U.S. postsecondary environments. Drawing from asset-based work of critical race education scholars such as Yosso, Ladson-Billings, and contributing author Solórzano, the authors interrogate how systems and structures shape definitions of academic merit and grit, how these systems constrain opportunities to attain access and equitable educational outcomes, and challenge widely held beliefs that students of color need grit to succeed in college. Dominant narratives of educational success and failure tend to focus mostly on individual student effort. Contributing authors explore the myriad ways that institutional structures can support students of color utilizing their strengths through critical perspectives, asset-based, anti-deficit perspectives to access postsecondary environments and experience success. Scholars, scholar-practitioners, students affairs professionals, and educational leaders will benefit from this timely edited volume as they work to transform postsecondary institutions into entities that meet the needs of students and communities of color.

Debunking the Grit Narrative in Higher Education examines pressing structural issues currently impacting African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Native American students accessing college and succeeding in U.S. postsecondary environments. Drawing from asset-based work of critical race education scholars such as Yosso, Ladson-Billings, and contributing author Solórzano, the authors interrogate how systems and structures shape definitions of academic merit and grit, how these systems constrain opportunities to attain access and equitable educational outcomes, and challenge widely held beliefs that Students of Color need grit to succeed in college. Dominant narratives of educational success and failure tend to focus mostly on individual student effort. Contributing authors explore the myriad ways that institutional structures can support Students of Color utilizing their strengths through critical perspectives, asset-based, anti-deficit perspectives to access postsecondary environments and experience success. Scholars, scholar-practitioners, students affairs professionals, and educational leaders will benefit from this timely edited book as they work to transform postsecondary institutions into entities that meet the needs of Students and Communities of Color.

Using an anti-deficit approach, Black Men in the Academy explores narratives of resiliency, success, and achievement for black men in the academy. This book is an important text for scholars interested in promoting success in education for underrepresented minorities.

Moving beyond critique, Alternative Solutions to Higher Education’s Challenges uses an appreciative approach to highlight what is working in colleges and universities and offers an examination of how institutions can improve practice. Drawing on examples and cases from real higher education institutions, this book offers a solution-focused framework that challenges the negative assumptions that have plagued higher education. Chapters explore how current narratives have perpetuated and maintained systematic flaws in our education system and have hindered reform. This invaluable resource breaks from the substantial literature that only highlights the many problems facing higher education today, and instead provides alternative strategies and essential recommendations for moving higher education institutions forward.

In this instant New York Times bestseller, Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent, but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.” “Inspiration for non-geniuses everywhere” (People). The daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Angela Duckworth is now a celebrated researcher and professor. It was her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience that led to her hypothesis about what really drives success: not genius, but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance. In Grit, she takes us into the field to visit cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, teachers working in some of the toughest schools, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers—from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. “Duckworth’s ideas about the cultivation of tenacity have clearly changed some lives for the better” (The New York Times Book Review). Among Grit’s most valuable insights: any effort you make ultimately counts twice toward your goal; grit can be learned, regardless of IQ or circumstances; when it comes to child-rearing, neither a warm embrace nor high standards will work by themselves; how to trigger lifelong interest; the magic of the Hard Thing Rule; and so much more. Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that—not talent or luck—makes all the difference. This is “a fascinating tour of the psychological research on success” (The Wall Street Journal).

Interrupting Class Inequality in Higher Education explores why socioeconomic inequality persists in higher education despite widespread knowledge of the problem. Through a critical analysis of the current leadership practices and policy narratives that perpetuate socioeconomic inequality, this book outlines the trends that negatively impact low- and middle-income students and offers effective tools for creating a more equitable future for higher education. By taking a solution-focused approach, this book will help higher education students, leaders, and policy makers move from despair and inertia to hope and action.

2020 Critics' Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association (AESA) In Race on Campus, Julie J. Park argues that there are surprisingly pervasive and stubborn myths about diversity on college and university campuses, and that these myths obscure the notable significance and admirable effects that diversity has had on campus life. Based on her analysis of extensive research and data about contemporary students and campuses, Park counters these myths and explores their problematic origins. Among the major myths that she addresses are charges of pervasive self-segregation, arguments that affirmative action in college admissions has run its course and become counterproductive, related arguments that Asian Americans are poorly served by affirmative action policies, and suggestions that programs and policies meant to promote diversity have failed to address class-based disadvantages. In the course of responding to these myths, Park presents a far more positive and nuanced portrait of diversity and its place on American college campuses. At a time when diversity has become a central theme and goal of colleges and universities throughout the United States, Race on Campus offers a contemporary, research-based exploration of racial dynamics on today’s college campuses.