Karly S Ford
Biographic Data
| ID | 332932 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Karly S Ford |
| GIVEN NAMES | Karly S |
| FAMILY NAME | Ford |
| SIGNATURE | FORD K S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2781-7761 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 94 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Contesting Racial Categories: Variability and Complexity in University Student Ethnoracial Self-Identifications
In scholarly research, racial categories are typically taken for granted. However, race categories vary over time and geography and reflect the social beliefs of the people who use them. Informed by quantitative critical race theory analysis, we interrogate how race categories align (or not) with 24,000 U.S. higher education students’ responses to ethnoracial identification questions. Students provide a wide range of ethnoracial categorizations w…
A Latent Class Analysis of Racial Terminology in Education Research: Patterns of Racial Classifications in Aera Journals
Education research commonly uses racial terminology but with little understanding of racial classification patterns across the field. In this study, we surface the use of racial terminology using a census of original research published in American Educational Research Association journals between 2009 and 2019. We do so as an ethical quantification exercise, seeking to further social justice goals by encouraging scholarship on racial terminology …
The Shape of the Sieve: Which Components of the Admissions Application Matter Most in Particular Institutional Contexts
Admission to selective colleges has grown more competitive, yielding student bodies that are unrepresentative of the U.S. population. Admission officers report using sorting (e.g., GPA, standardized tests) and concertedly cultivated (e.g., extracurricular activities) and ascriptive status (e.g., whether an applicant identifies as a member of a racially minoritized group) criteria to make decisions. Using latent class analysis, we identified three…
A product of prestige: “Race unknown” and competitive admissions in the United States
Policy researchers have difficulty understanding stratification in enrollment in US higher education when race and ethnicity data are plagued by missing values. Students who decline to ethnoracially self-identify become part of a “race unknown” reporting category. In undergraduate enrollment, “race unknown” students are not randomly distributed and are highest among the most selective universities. In this “Policy Research Note,” we investigate t…
Consolidation of Class Advantages in the Wake of the Great Recession: University Enrollments, Educational Opportunity and Stratification
Toward Gender-Inclusive Postsecondary Data Collection
Many postsecondary datasets collect gender data in ways that are not inclusive of all students. Many trans* students, those who identify as trans women, trans men, genderqueer, among other gender identities, are excluded when surveys collect gender data using only two categories. The American Bar Association recently became the first sector of higher education to collect and report enrollment data using three gender categories for all U.S. law sc…
The discursive construction of international students in the USA: Prestige, diversity, and economic gain
A Symbiosis of Access: Proliferating STEM PhD Training in the U.S. from 1920–2010
What Do We Know About “Race Unknown”
One ethnoracial reporting category perplexes higher education researchers: “race and ethnicity unknown.” Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we constructed a 28-year panel of 4,401 institutions. We find that the for-profit sector ranges from 5% to 18% “race unknown” students. In addition, almost 10% of students attending the most selective institutions were reported as “race unknown” in 2009 before dropping off preci…
The Role of Selective College Admissions Criteria in Interrupting or Reproducing Racial and Economic Inequities
Selective colleges have increasingly considered a variety of factors, such as academic rigor, extracurriculars, essays, interviews, recommendations, and background characteristics, alongside traditional academic factors in determining who is admitted. These efforts have been hailed as a strategy to expand access to selective higher education for talented students from racially and economically marginalized backgrounds. But such efforts introduce …
Legitimating Prestige through Diversity: How Higher Education Institutions Represent Ethno-Racial Diversity across Levels of Selectivity
Elite higher education institutions work hard to secure diverse classes, and students seek out these institutions in part because they believe that diversity will enhance their own educational experiences. Institutional theories would predict that practices set by the elite institutions in the field would isomorphically trickle down, however, case studies of individual institutions indicate that higher education structures and cultures vary signi…
Marrying Within the Alma Mater: Understanding the Role of Same-University Marriages in Educational Homogamy
Most prior work on educational homogamy does not distinguish between college attendees who marry someone who attended the same university (same-university marriages) and those who marry someone who attended a different university (different-university marriages). This article estimates the prevalence of partnering between individuals who attended the same university in the United States. Using rich data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PS…
Monoracial normativity in university websites: Systematic erasure and selective reclassification of multiracial students
Digital formations of racial understandings: How university websites are contributing to the ‘Two or More Races’ conversation
Since the time race has been an applied concept in the United States there have been those who identify with two or more racial categories. However, the 2000 Census was the first time individuals could ‘officially’ identify belonging to more than one racial category. Governmentally regulated racial naming of individuals has long been a contested issue. This tradition continues as higher education institutions have been federally mandated since 20…
Observer-Identification: A Potential Threat to the Validity of Self-Identified Race and Ethnicity
The federal government mandates that school personnel select race and ethnicity identifiers for students who do not provide that information. This process is called “observer identification,” and it poses a potential threat to the validity of self-identified race/ethnicity data because (a) evidence from other fields suggests that about 40% of the time, observer identification does not match self-identification of some of the fastest growing racia…
Pell Grant Versus Income Data in Postsecondary Research
Given growing disparities in college enrollment by household income, policymakers and researchers often are interested in understanding whether policies expand access for low-income students. In this brief, we highlight the limitations of a commonly available measure of low-income status—whether students receive a federal Pell grant—and compare it to new data on enrollment by income quintile to evaluate a recent policy effort within elite college…
Cosmetic diversity”: University websites and the transformation of race categories
Persisting gaps: Labor Market outcomes and numeracy skill levels of first-generation and multi-generation College graduates in the United States
Inherited prestige: Intergenerational access to selective universities in the United States
Legitimating Prestige through Diversity: How Higher Education Institutions Represent Ethno-Racial Diversity across Levels of Selectivity
Elite higher education institutions work hard to secure diverse classes, and students seek out these institutions in part because they believe that diversity will enhance their own educational experiences. Institutional theories would predict that practices set by the elite institutions in the field would isomorphically trickle down, however, case studies of individual institutions indicate that higher education structures and cultures vary signi…
The Role of Selective College Admissions Criteria in Interrupting or Reproducing Racial and Economic Inequities
Selective colleges have increasingly considered a variety of factors, such as academic rigor, extracurriculars, essays, interviews, recommendations, and background characteristics, alongside traditional academic factors in determining who is admitted. These efforts have been hailed as a strategy to expand access to selective higher education for talented students from racially and economically marginalized backgrounds. But such efforts introduce …
Cosmetic diversity”: University websites and the transformation of race categories
Inherited prestige: Intergenerational access to selective universities in the United States
Monoracial normativity in university websites: Systematic erasure and selective reclassification of multiracial students
The Shape of the Sieve: Which Components of the Admissions Application Matter Most in Particular Institutional Contexts
Admission to selective colleges has grown more competitive, yielding student bodies that are unrepresentative of the U.S. population. Admission officers report using sorting (e.g., GPA, standardized tests) and concertedly cultivated (e.g., extracurricular activities) and ascriptive status (e.g., whether an applicant identifies as a member of a racially minoritized group) criteria to make decisions. Using latent class analysis, we identified three…
What Do We Know About “Race Unknown”
One ethnoracial reporting category perplexes higher education researchers: “race and ethnicity unknown.” Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we constructed a 28-year panel of 4,401 institutions. We find that the for-profit sector ranges from 5% to 18% “race unknown” students. In addition, almost 10% of students attending the most selective institutions were reported as “race unknown” in 2009 before dropping off preci…
Marrying Within the Alma Mater: Understanding the Role of Same-University Marriages in Educational Homogamy
Most prior work on educational homogamy does not distinguish between college attendees who marry someone who attended the same university (same-university marriages) and those who marry someone who attended a different university (different-university marriages). This article estimates the prevalence of partnering between individuals who attended the same university in the United States. Using rich data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PS…
Persisting gaps: Labor Market outcomes and numeracy skill levels of first-generation and multi-generation College graduates in the United States
Toward Gender-Inclusive Postsecondary Data Collection
Many postsecondary datasets collect gender data in ways that are not inclusive of all students. Many trans* students, those who identify as trans women, trans men, genderqueer, among other gender identities, are excluded when surveys collect gender data using only two categories. The American Bar Association recently became the first sector of higher education to collect and report enrollment data using three gender categories for all U.S. law sc…
A Symbiosis of Access: Proliferating STEM PhD Training in the U.S. from 1920–2010
Digital formations of racial understandings: How university websites are contributing to the ‘Two or More Races’ conversation
Since the time race has been an applied concept in the United States there have been those who identify with two or more racial categories. However, the 2000 Census was the first time individuals could ‘officially’ identify belonging to more than one racial category. Governmentally regulated racial naming of individuals has long been a contested issue. This tradition continues as higher education institutions have been federally mandated since 20…
Observer-Identification: A Potential Threat to the Validity of Self-Identified Race and Ethnicity
The federal government mandates that school personnel select race and ethnicity identifiers for students who do not provide that information. This process is called “observer identification,” and it poses a potential threat to the validity of self-identified race/ethnicity data because (a) evidence from other fields suggests that about 40% of the time, observer identification does not match self-identification of some of the fastest growing racia…
Pell Grant Versus Income Data in Postsecondary Research
Given growing disparities in college enrollment by household income, policymakers and researchers often are interested in understanding whether policies expand access for low-income students. In this brief, we highlight the limitations of a commonly available measure of low-income status—whether students receive a federal Pell grant—and compare it to new data on enrollment by income quintile to evaluate a recent policy effort within elite college…
Contesting Racial Categories: Variability and Complexity in University Student Ethnoracial Self-Identifications
In scholarly research, racial categories are typically taken for granted. However, race categories vary over time and geography and reflect the social beliefs of the people who use them. Informed by quantitative critical race theory analysis, we interrogate how race categories align (or not) with 24,000 U.S. higher education students’ responses to ethnoracial identification questions. Students provide a wide range of ethnoracial categorizations w…
Inherited prestige: Intergenerational access to selective universities in the United States
Cosmetic diversity”: University websites and the transformation of race categories
Persisting gaps: Labor Market outcomes and numeracy skill levels of first-generation and multi-generation College graduates in the United States
Monoracial normativity in university websites: Systematic erasure and selective reclassification of multiracial students
Digital formations of racial understandings: How university websites are contributing to the ‘Two or More Races’ conversation
Since the time race has been an applied concept in the United States there have been those who identify with two or more racial categories. However, the 2000 Census was the first time individuals could ‘officially’ identify belonging to more than one racial category. Governmentally regulated racial naming of individuals has long been a contested issue. This tradition continues as higher education institutions have been federally mandated since 20…
Observer-Identification: A Potential Threat to the Validity of Self-Identified Race and Ethnicity
The federal government mandates that school personnel select race and ethnicity identifiers for students who do not provide that information. This process is called “observer identification,” and it poses a potential threat to the validity of self-identified race/ethnicity data because (a) evidence from other fields suggests that about 40% of the time, observer identification does not match self-identification of some of the fastest growing racia…
Pell Grant Versus Income Data in Postsecondary Research
Given growing disparities in college enrollment by household income, policymakers and researchers often are interested in understanding whether policies expand access for low-income students. In this brief, we highlight the limitations of a commonly available measure of low-income status—whether students receive a federal Pell grant—and compare it to new data on enrollment by income quintile to evaluate a recent policy effort within elite college…
The discursive construction of international students in the USA: Prestige, diversity, and economic gain
A Symbiosis of Access: Proliferating STEM PhD Training in the U.S. from 1920–2010
What Do We Know About “Race Unknown”
One ethnoracial reporting category perplexes higher education researchers: “race and ethnicity unknown.” Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we constructed a 28-year panel of 4,401 institutions. We find that the for-profit sector ranges from 5% to 18% “race unknown” students. In addition, almost 10% of students attending the most selective institutions were reported as “race unknown” in 2009 before dropping off preci…
The Role of Selective College Admissions Criteria in Interrupting or Reproducing Racial and Economic Inequities
Selective colleges have increasingly considered a variety of factors, such as academic rigor, extracurriculars, essays, interviews, recommendations, and background characteristics, alongside traditional academic factors in determining who is admitted. These efforts have been hailed as a strategy to expand access to selective higher education for talented students from racially and economically marginalized backgrounds. But such efforts introduce …
Legitimating Prestige through Diversity: How Higher Education Institutions Represent Ethno-Racial Diversity across Levels of Selectivity
Elite higher education institutions work hard to secure diverse classes, and students seek out these institutions in part because they believe that diversity will enhance their own educational experiences. Institutional theories would predict that practices set by the elite institutions in the field would isomorphically trickle down, however, case studies of individual institutions indicate that higher education structures and cultures vary signi…
Marrying Within the Alma Mater: Understanding the Role of Same-University Marriages in Educational Homogamy
Most prior work on educational homogamy does not distinguish between college attendees who marry someone who attended the same university (same-university marriages) and those who marry someone who attended a different university (different-university marriages). This article estimates the prevalence of partnering between individuals who attended the same university in the United States. Using rich data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PS…
Consolidation of Class Advantages in the Wake of the Great Recession: University Enrollments, Educational Opportunity and Stratification
Toward Gender-Inclusive Postsecondary Data Collection
Many postsecondary datasets collect gender data in ways that are not inclusive of all students. Many trans* students, those who identify as trans women, trans men, genderqueer, among other gender identities, are excluded when surveys collect gender data using only two categories. The American Bar Association recently became the first sector of higher education to collect and report enrollment data using three gender categories for all U.S. law sc…
A product of prestige: “Race unknown” and competitive admissions in the United States
Policy researchers have difficulty understanding stratification in enrollment in US higher education when race and ethnicity data are plagued by missing values. Students who decline to ethnoracially self-identify become part of a “race unknown” reporting category. In undergraduate enrollment, “race unknown” students are not randomly distributed and are highest among the most selective universities. In this “Policy Research Note,” we investigate t…
A Latent Class Analysis of Racial Terminology in Education Research: Patterns of Racial Classifications in Aera Journals
Education research commonly uses racial terminology but with little understanding of racial classification patterns across the field. In this study, we surface the use of racial terminology using a census of original research published in American Educational Research Association journals between 2009 and 2019. We do so as an ethical quantification exercise, seeking to further social justice goals by encouraging scholarship on racial terminology …
The Shape of the Sieve: Which Components of the Admissions Application Matter Most in Particular Institutional Contexts
Admission to selective colleges has grown more competitive, yielding student bodies that are unrepresentative of the U.S. population. Admission officers report using sorting (e.g., GPA, standardized tests) and concertedly cultivated (e.g., extracurricular activities) and ascriptive status (e.g., whether an applicant identifies as a member of a racially minoritized group) criteria to make decisions. Using latent class analysis, we identified three…
Contesting Racial Categories: Variability and Complexity in University Student Ethnoracial Self-Identifications
In scholarly research, racial categories are typically taken for granted. However, race categories vary over time and geography and reflect the social beliefs of the people who use them. Informed by quantitative critical race theory analysis, we interrogate how race categories align (or not) with 24,000 U.S. higher education students’ responses to ethnoracial identification questions. Students provide a wide range of ethnoracial categorizations w…
Political science (16 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Higher education (13 works) · Law (9 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Higher Education Research Studies (8 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Demographic economics (6 works) · Economics (6 works)