Taking it to the Streets with Laura Perna

Like many others, I have dedicated my career to trying to improve equity and advance social change.  I am especially interested in identifying ways to ensure that all people – regardless of demographic background or place of residence – have the opportunity to enroll in and benefit from high-quality higher education.  Like other academics, I have conducted research studies, using a range of methodological approaches and theoretical lenses, to examine and shed light on multiple dimensions of this topic. I have published the results in books, journal articles, and other outlets targeted toward scholarly audiences. I also engage in efforts intended to connect the results of academic research to the federal and state policymakers, educational leaders and administrators, and others who can create needed changes.

In this era of “fake news,” the politicization of science, and what Tom Nichols calls “the death of expertise,” I have become increasingly curious about how other scholars understand the connections among research, advocacy, and policy. Of particular interest is understanding how colleagues consider such questions as:  What is the role of research in informing policymakers and practitioners about the need for policies and practices that advance equity, inclusiveness, and social change? Do academic researchers differentiate themselves from advocates? How, why, and when should scholars be public intellectuals? 

To improve understanding of the answers to these questions, I asked other scholars to share their views.  In addition to my framing introduction, this volume includes thoughtful and compelling reflections from 16 nationally and internationally recognized scholars. Each of these individuals brings great passion and deep commitment to advancing equity, inclusiveness, and social change in higher education.  Each has also made considerable contributions to these issues over the course of their careers. Each has also pursued different professional pathways and has employed different theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches to advancing these goals.

Taken as a collective, the essays demonstrate that there are multiple right answers to these questions. They also offer tangible examples of how research can be used in policymaking processes. They illustrate how understandings of the connections among research, advocacy, and policy vary based on the roles we hold and our personal motivations for doing the work. They offer frameworks for making decisions about the work we do, as well as suggestions for how to improve connections among research, advocacy, and policy. 

I am grateful to Ann E. Austin, Estela Mara Bensimon, Anthony A. Berryman, Mitchell J. Chang, Cheryl Crazy Bull, Adam Gamoran, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Shaun R. Harper, Donald E. Heller, Adrianna Kezar, Simon Marginson, James T. Minor, Jeannie Oakes, Gary Rhoades, Daniel Solorzano, Christine Stanley, and William G. Tierney for sharing their views and perspectives. I learned a great deal from how these individuals think about the connections among research, advocacy, and policy. I hope that the reflections in this volume are helpful to early career scholars who are beginning to contemplate how they will connect research, advocacy, and policy, as well as to more seasoned scholars who are reflecting on the choices made to date and the choices to be made in the months and years ahead. While identifying contributions that academic researchers have made to advancing equity, inclusiveness, and social change in higher education, these essays underscore the need for continued engagement and effort. There is clearly more work to be done.   

Laura W. Perna is the James S. Riepe Professor and the executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a coauthor of The Attainment Agenda: State Policy Leadership for Higher Education and the coeditor of The State of College Access and Completion: Improving College Success for Students from Underrepresented Groups. Shr is also the author of Taking it to the Streets: The Role of Scholarship in Advocacy and Advocacy in Scholarship​