Perspectives on Diverse Student Identities in Higher Education

Jaimie Hoffman is a higher education leader with expertise and experience in student affairs, technology, and university teaching. She is the Director of Student Affairs at Noodle Partners, and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, USA.Patrick Blessinger is the Founder, Executive Director, and Chief Research Scientist of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) an adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Education at St. John's University, USA, and an inclusive policy expert with UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab.Mandla Makhanya is the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa (UNISA) and President of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL).

With diversity and exclusion of people increasing worldwide, meaningful transformation of students occur when they are taught to critically think about the assumptions, beliefs, and worldviews in which they operate. In this sense, identity can be viewed as one’s own personal histories of becoming and belonging and the negotiation of meanings between them. University group communities can definitely help increase our understanding of ourselves through our social interactions. This book emphasizes the importance of social settings and social interactions in the learning process of equity and inclusion of university students. Well done!

• Introduction to Perspectives on Diverse Student Identities in Higher Education; Patrick Blessinger,Jaimie Hoffman, and Mandla MakhanyaAccessibility and Acceptance for University Students with Diverse Abilities; Naomi Jeffery Petersenand Sandra J. GrubergAssisting Student-Veterans with Hidden Wounds: Evaluating Student Support in U.S. Higher Education; Christopher LinskiThe United States Military Veteran: A Look at Their College Experience and Equitable and Inclusionary Practices; Catherine Ward"They Say They Value Diversity, But I Don't See It": Academic and Social Experiences of First Generation Latinx Students at a Predominantly White Midwestern Institution; Carla Gonzalez, JessicaGraber, Diana Galvez, and Leslie Ann LockeThe Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Perceptions of Persistence among African American Students at Major United States Universities; Shakoor Ward and KeithB. WilsonA Proposed Framework: EYES Theory on Racialization and Racial Identity Developments for International Students of Color in U.S. Higher Institutions; HyeJin Tina Yeo,William Trent, and Malaika McKeeFailure Can Lead to Success When Remediation Builds Resiliency: How Struggling International Medical Students Gain Entry into U.S. Graduate Medical Education Programs; Pamela O’Callaghan,Maureen P. M. Hall, Laura N. Cobb, and Melanie JacobsonThe End of Lifelong Learning –Where Have All the Mature Undergraduate Students Gone? A Literature Review and Practical Recommendations from a Case Study in England; Anke Twigg-FlesnerFrom Planning to Realization: Who Goes? Who Stops? What Matters? Rashim Wadhwa