Young people pursuing graduate study often ask me how I developed my research agenda. They wonder how one carves out an area of research. For those of you who read this blog often, you know that the majority of my work focuses on historically Black colleges and universities and students of color. Recently, I was asked to talk about developing a research agenda at the annual Association for the Study of Higher Education conference and I thought I’d share my comments with Diverse readers.
These are just a few ideas that I pass on to my doctoral students and that I use to guide my own research. I hope they are helpful and encourage you to pursue research that interests you. If you have questions and you don’t see others answering these questions, consider pursuing research and answering them yourself.
An associate professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Gasman is the author of “Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) and lead editor of “Understanding Minority Serving Institutions” (SUNY Press, 2008).
