Critical considerations for enacting student success

Abstract

Higher education institutions and the actors therein are still grappling with disparities in student outcomes and disparate student experiences. Although diligent efforts have been made, institutions have yet to transform in any substantial way to overcome these issues. Rather than offering new student success practices, the focus of this chapter is on how to support those who work to support students. To support the enactment of collective and specific student success commitments, I provide four critical considerations for senior leaders and student success decision‐makers, focused on the necessary institutional conditions for those carrying out student success work. The perspectives presented are largely shaped by discussions of the gaps between research knowledge and theories generated related to student success, perspectives on what happens in practice, the complexities of institutional environments and how they change, and how these constitute, relate to, and mitigate one another.