Research in Higher Education

Research in Higher Education

I manage a higher education program. I work in North America. Half of our students reside in sub-Saharan Africa. Figuring out what is actually happening in our program half a world away is very tricky, not just because of the physical distance, but because of the distance between context and cultural expectations. Add to that the complexity of running a program that spans 150 counties, and watch the difficulties pile up. I often find myself wishing I could access better data, both quantitative and qualitative. In my organization, we do our very best to collect data virtually. We travel a fair amount too to get an in-person perspective. But sometimes we question–how are these judgment calls we are making every day playing out in the field in real time? Are we making the right decisions? Are we the only ones struggling with this? Turns out, no. Our specific global reach aside, higher education research in general is under-studied, especially in contrast to K12 education research (Finnigan, K. (2025). Research Use. Live Handbook of Education Policy Research. Association for Education Finance and Policy.). 

But it’s not just the challenge of accessing the right data to help you manage programs in the best possible way to develop the right products, processes, and policies; it’s also about embracing the best data and research that you do have access to. Petrilli points out that research is not utilized well in education and the profession could do much better at determining and embracing evidence-based practices (Petrilli, M. J. (2018, December 12). Identifying “what works” is still a work in progress. Thomas B. Fordham Institute.). Turns out practice, or implementation, eats products, processes, and policies for lunch.

Further, as Leonhardt points out, even when you are able to access robust research, you still need to have difficult and honest conversations about tradeoffs (Leonhardt, D. (2022, February 11). Why “follow the science” fails to answer many questions. The New York Times). There is no one answer, no silver bullet, and every decision is a mixed bag of various pros and cons. I am not sure any of us spend enough time openly talking about tradeoffs.

I love my job and I believe in the impact my organization is making around the world, but please, pretty please, let’s fund more higher education research, let’s embrace that research and put it into practice, and let’s have honest conversations about the tradeoffs we are making. Let’s truly support and implement data-driven decisions with our eyes wide open to tradeoffs in higher education.