Elizabeth J. Allan

Chilly Classrooms for Female Undergraduate Students: A Question of Method?

The researchers explored whether divergent claims about chilly classroom climates are based largely on data collection methods. Survey data from female undergraduates suggested chilly climates were rare while focus group data indicated chilly climates were not uncommon. The authors highlight how conceptual frameworks can influence claims about gender and classroom climate.

College Student Hazing Experiences, Attitudes, and Perceptions: Implications for Prevention

This investigation reports findings from survey data collected from 5,880 students enrolled at seven U.S. research universities. Building on previous studies, this investigation found that hazing occurred across a range of student groups and included high-risk drinking, social isolation, personal servitude, and humiliation. Although students tended to have pro-social attitudes and did not believe hazing was beneficial to their organizations, some reported positive outcomes. Research-informed recommendations for campus hazing prevention are provided.

Transforming the Culture of Hazing: A Research-Based Hazing Prevention Framework

Hazing impinges on campus safety, leadership development, and the missions of postsecondary institutions. There is limited research on hazing prevention and a need for a research-informed framework to guide prevention efforts. Based on findings from a research-to-practice initiative to develop comprehensive approaches to hazing prevention, this article describes a data-driven framework for campus hazing prevention with implications for practice.

Higher Education Policy: Disrupting the Structures that Bind Us

Iverson and Allan describe how feminist poststructural perspectives, and policy discourse analysis in particular, serve as tools for uncovering gendered assumptions embedded in policy and practice in US postsecondary education. Policy discourse analysis exposes how some policy assumptions, and dominant discourses framing those assumptions, can serve to undercut intended outcomes of the policy. This finding is particularly troubling when policies are implemented to promote equity and advance social justice. Through analysis of university policies on sexual violence, these authors illustrate how policy discourse analysis can provide researchers and practitioners with a lens for “unthinking” and thinking differently about research questions, analyses, and interpretations of data.