Qualitative Inquiry for Equity in Higher Education: Methodological Innovations, Implications, and Interventions

Book excerpt: Join the dialogue on the future of qualitative inquiry for equity in higher education. Beginning with the premise that equity is of paramount concern in the study of higher education, this text explores the promise and pitfalls of qualitative inquiry with respect to addressing issues of in/equity and fostering social change at micro, meso, and macro levels. Building upon contemporary qualitative higher education scholarship, the authors advance a critique of the reductive and generic conceptions of qualitative research that dominate the field and call upon scholars to examine the transformative potential embedded within critical qualitative inquiry. In addition to exploring the opportunities and tensions associated with engaging in critical qualitative inquiry, this monograph issues a call to action through intervention, describing strategies for challenging and resisting oppressive research norms that undermine the equity aims of higher education research. This is Volume 37 Issue 6 of the Jossey-Bass publication ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.