Social class disparities in higher education between working-class students (i.e., students who are low income and/or do not have parents with four-year college degrees) and middle-class students (i.e., students who are high income and/or have at least one parent with a four year-degree) are on the rise. There is an urgent need for interventions, or changes to universities' ideas and practices, to increase working-class students' access to and performance in higher education. The current article identifies key factors that characterize successful interventions aimed at reducing social class disparities, and proposes additional interventions that have the potential to improve working-class students' chances of college success. As we propose in the article, effective interventions must first address key individual and structural factors that can create barriers to students' college success. At the same time, interventions should also fortify school-relevant selves, or increase students' sense that the pursuit of a college degree is central to "who I am." When students experience this strong connection between their selves and what it means to attend and perform well in college, they will gain a sense that
Regardless of cultural or religious background, the residents endorsed the curriculum as a worthwhile experience and increased their appreciation of the place of spirituality in the holistic care of patients with psychiatric conditions.
Transcending disciplinary boundaries is becoming increasingly important for devising solutions to the world’s most pressing issues, such as climate change and food insecurity. Institutions of higher education often present challenges to teaching students how to work and innovate on transdisciplinary teams. We first define transdisciplinarity and like concepts, using these to review databases of three major funding agencies (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC) for awards given to inter- and transdisciplinary programs across ten fiscal years beginning 2005-2006 and ending 2014-2015 to identify trends in funding as an indicator of skill need. We then search for programs offering transdisciplinary learning opportunities at Canadian universities accounting for 71% of all students. Though the proportion of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary funded research grants has risen considerably, we found only a few examples of interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students in post-secondary education programs. Generally, while students were able to take a range of courses, instruction remained discipline-specific. Specifically, Canadian undergraduates lack an in-program, experiential, transdisciplinary learning opportunity. We propose a framework (ICON) as a solution to fill this gap. Using senior independent study courses, which often have built-in curricular flexibility, students can participate with ICON while still obtaining credit towards their degrees. We conclude that transdisciplinary education opportunities are an essential part of the undergraduate experience and should be recognized across degree programs.
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