Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2024
DOI:
[PDF]
Assessing and Improving Graduate Programming DEI and ROI
Boyd L. Bradbury
ABSTRACT:
The USA is becoming an increasingly diverse nation both racially and socioeconomically, but overall enrollment in higher education has declined, especially at the undergraduate level. Higher education institutions have turned to graduate programs to offset revenue losses from a decreasing undergraduate population, but graduate programming has become more competitive due to increased availability and accessibility. With increased choice and competition, graduate programs must address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and return on investment (ROI) as an increasingly savvy and diverse pool of graduate students seeks graduate programming that fits both diversity and affordability needs. At one Midwestern university in the USA, current and former students were surveyed regarding perceived program success and necessary changes associated with master’s and doctoral degrees within the context of DEI and ROI. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of approximately 200 completed survey responses generated findings and recommendations for Department of Leadership and Learning graduate programming.
keywords: higher education; DEI; ROI; graduate programming; survey research