Lucy A. LePeau

Exploring the Possibilities and Limitations of Service-Learning: A Critical Analysis of College Student Narratives About HIV/AIDS

This article reports the results of a study that explored the possibilities and limitations of service-learning by deconstructing the narratives about HIV/AIDS that emerged from five college students who participated in an alternative spring break program. Employing a critical (Rhoads, 1997) and anti-foundational (Butin, 2010) approach to inquiry, results suggest that perspective transformation and analysis of root causes will not occur automatically for most students. This article reports the results of a study that explored the possibilities and limitations of service-learning by deconstructing the narratives about HIV/AIDS that emerged from five college students who participated in an alternative spring break program. Employing a critical (Rhoads, 1997) and anti-foundational (Butin, 2010) approach to inquiry, results suggest that perspective transformation and analysis of root causes will not occur automatically for most students.

Gender Influences on Students’ Study Abroad Participation and Intercultural Competence

The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of gender in study abroad participation rates and intercultural competence. The researchers aimed to identify the differences in intercultural competence between men and women and those who have and have not studied abroad. A mixed methods survey indicated there are significant differences between men and women’s intercultural competence intersecting with study abroad and important implications for men’s development of intercultural competence.

A Grounded Theory of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Partnerships for Diversity and Inclusion Aims

This study explored how 18 participants at four institutions formed Academic Affairs and Student Affairs partnerships for diversity initiatives. These participants were also involved in a national Project launched by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in the 1990s. Using grounded theory methods, a conceptual model emerged, the Cycle of Making Lifelong Commitments to Diversity and Inclusion, that identifies and explains three distinct types of partnerships: complementary, coordinated, and pervasive. The findings offer implications for researchers and practitioners regarding partnerships to achieve diversity and inclusion goals.

Examining the Experiences and Characteristics of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Leaders Identifying as Social Gadflies.

In a larger study about academic affairs and student affairs partnerships for diversity and inclusion aims, participants were characterized as social gadflies (LePeau, 2015). These participants effectively pushed the status quo in their respective campus environments by unearthing inequities and working collaboratively to infuse diversity and inclusion initiatives in the curriculum and cocurriculum. The purpose of the current study was to examine the experiences and characteristics of the social gadflies. Findings reveal how participants’ experiences growing up in the Civil Rights Era, teaching in alternative K−12 education, and studying diversity and equity issues in graduate education influenced how they experimented with job roles and collaborated in their work to enact diversity and equity initiatives in their campus environments.

Institutionalizing Diversity Agendas: Presidents’ Councils for Diversity As Mechanisms for Strategic Change

Researchers examined the potential of Presidents’ Councils on Diversity (PCDs) to position advancing diversity and inclusion agendas at 11 higher education institutions. Researchers investigated strategies and the degree that PCDs set up agendas through the mobilization (i.e., creating vision and setting priorities), implementation (i.e., creating systems to support change), and institutionalization (i.e., embedding initiatives in the culture and practices of the institution) phases as outlined by Kezar’s Phased Leadership Strategies for Institutionalizing Diversity Agendas.

Becoming a scholar: a duoethnography of transformative learning spaces

Abstract Researchers have examined learning partnerships from one-dimensional perspectives, exploring the voices of faculty or the voices of students. This duoethnographic study explored the learning partnership between a faculty member and graduate student on a research team. The authors situated this study employing a tripartite conceptual framework that included Freirean liberatory pedagogy, the learning partnerships model, and duoethnography. The researchers used personal narrative essays and transcripts from two interviews as the basis for this duoethnography. This work revealed key strategies for navigating dissonance including: validating, being vulnerable, and engaging the material. This study has implications for faculty members striving to enhance critical reflection strategies for facilitating transformative learning experiences for graduate students as well as graduate students aiming to build efficacy as scholars.