White students visit college advisers the least but experience the highest academic benefits, according to a new study that explores the disparities in academic advising among different student demographics.
White students visit academic advisers the least but gain the most academically in terms of GPA and graduation rates, a new study published in the journal Educational Researcher finds.
In higher education, significant disparities exist between white and nonwhite students, with white students generally graduating faster and earning higher grades. While prior research indicates nonwhite students engage less frequently with faculty, data on interactions with academic advisers has been sparse.
“Academics, practitioners and policymakers alike have purported that academic advising is a powerful mechanism to close some of these gaps and that marginalized students attend advising meetings the least. In many ways, we find the opposite of these arguments,” lead author Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, an associate professor of international education at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, said in a news release.
The study, utilizing data from 2017-2021 at a large U.S. university, examined student achievements such as grades and graduation rates, demographic factors including race/ethnicity, income, international status, and whether students were the first in their family to attend college.
Cherng and his co-authors analyzed the frequency and impact of advising appointments on these demographics.
The findings reveal that nonwhite and international students (excluding those identifying their race as “other”) met with advisers more frequently than white students. Despite this increased engagement, these groups garnered fewer academic benefits.
White students who had a single advising meeting saw their GPA rise by approximately 0.05 points relative to their peers who had no meetings, a trend not observed among Latino students.
Increased graduation rates similarly were exclusive to white students.
Furthermore, first-generation students were 7% less likely to meet advisers and also faced lower graduation rates compared to their peers whose parents had attended college.
Income level, however, did not significantly impact advising outcomes.
“Our study highlights the importance of advising: it does have an impact, but the question now should be for whom,” Cherng added. “Efforts should be paid to the substance of advising and how advisors work with different groups of students. Only in this way can advising fulfill its purpose as an equalizing force.”
Co-authored by Junhow Wei, an assistant dean for studies at Princeton University, and Martha Moreno, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University, the research underscores the need for nuanced and targeted academic advising strategies to bridge these gaps.
Source: New York University