The Access and Opportunity research area is focused on the complex relationship between the social construction of race and ethnicity, the stratification of college opportunity, and the social mobility of racial and ethnic minorities in American society. Recent work in this area has examined the educational experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander students, Black students in suburban communities, and the relationship between access and opportunity in post-affirmative action California. This research area is directed by Dr. Robert Teranishi, associate professor of higher education in the Department of Administration, Leadership and Technology.
Ongoing Research
Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education
The project on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education seeks to identify and examine the key issues affecting Asian Americans in higher education. The project maintains as a primary goal the practice of providing needed new data and intellectual capital to inform educational policies and practices in order to transcend the assumptions and stereotypes that have been pervasive in the treatment of the AAPI population in social and institutional policies.
The project has received generous funding from the College Board in 2004, to create and sustain the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE). Guided by a National Commission of researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, and community advocates, CARE has, and continues to collect and disseminate crucial data and information about the educational needs of the AAPI community.
Race, Education and Opportunity: Towards a New Research Paradigm
This research area examines the experiences of students of color in higher education. Witha focus on access to and success in postsecondary institutions, this project uses critical theoretical frameworks to document and bring attention to the issues that face Black and Latino low-income students and families along the educational pipeline. At present, areas of particular interest include Black, low-incomestudents in suburban communities, racial and ethnic stratification in the University of California system, and the policies and practices that facilitate and/or undermine postsecondary degree attainment for underrepresented minority students.
Recent Publications
Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education
Teranishi, R.T. (forthcoming). Asians in the Ivory Tower: A Study of Race, Social Mobility, and America's Equity Agenda. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Park, J. & Teranishi, R.T. (2008). Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions: Historical Perspectives and Future Prospects. In M. Gasman, B. Baez & C.S. Turner (eds)., Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding Minority Serving Institutions. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Teranishi, R.T. (2007). Asian American and Pacific Islander activism. In G. Anderson & K. Herr (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (pp. 198-199). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Race, Education and Opportunity: Toward a New Research Agenda
Teranishi, R. T., & Behringer, L. (2008). Higher education: Stratification and mobility. In T. L. Good (ed.), 21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Allen W. R., Bonous-Hammarth, M., & Teranishi, R. T. (2006). Higher Education in a Global Society: Achieving Diversity, Equity, and Excellence. Oxford: Elsevier Publishers.
Teranishi, R. T. (2006). State policy and the quest for equity in higher education: Implications for a global society. In W. Allen, M. Bonous-Hammarth, & R. Teranishi (eds.), Higher Education in a Global Society: Achieving Diversity, Equity, and Excellence. Oxford: Elsevier Publishers.
Teranishi, R. T. (2005). Black Residential Migration in California: Implications for Higher Education Policy. Oakland, CA: University of California Office of the President.
In the News
Professor Robert Teranishi is one of the nation's top 25 "up-and-coming" leaders, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education. In an article published in June 2009, Diverse Issues highlighted Dr. Teranishi's recent work on Asian American and Pacific Islander students and his highly publicized study, Facts Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight, among his recent accomplishments when the magazine named him to the list of 25 academicians and advocates committed to diversity and social justice.