Ecological models in higher education research: Overview and synthesis

Abstract

In this chapter we provide an overview of campus ecology and ecological systems theory as applied to the study of higher education, most often to research on college students. We describe Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecological model and its application of it to the study of college students. We then discuss affordances and limitations of this approach, including criticism of its lack of attention to systems of privilege and oppression in the higher education environment. We present a number of innovative approaches to using the Bronfenbrenner model that address these limitations, as well as adaptations to the model that incorporate critical theory, queer theory, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Practical Takeaways: Ecological systems theory offers a powerful framework for understanding college students and organizational studies in postsecondary education. Despite the utility of ecological models, they fail fully to take into account systemic forces like racism, homophobia, and transphobia that work at every level from the individual to the macro-level, rendering them less powerful than they could be. Innovative applications of ecological models provide new insights into higher education. Researchers have developed new adaptations of ecological models that incorporate critical lenses (e.g., queer theory, critical race theory, decolonial theory), enabling richer analysis of higher education.