Pasque joins the college’s Data Access and Analysis Core

Penny A. Pasque, one of the newest professors in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program, was recently named co-director of the college’s Data Access and Analysis Core, Office of Research, Innovation and Collaboration, as well as director of qualitative methods.

The Data Core office provides assistance with research methods to faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students.

Pasque’s mission, as envisioned by the dean, is to support Ohio State in becoming the premier destination for those who are interested in honing and sharing their expertise in qualitative research.

“Working with many of our current faculty, Dr. Pasque will elevate our expertise locally and nationally,” said Dean Don Pope-Davis. “She is increasing our excellence and seeking ways to share it with those within the college, at the university and in the field.”

Pasque shared her experience and vision for the college as they relate to qualitative research.

Q: What will you offer in your new role to benefit the college?

A: I'm passionate about qualitative research, and I want to highlight the strength of all the faculty currently doing qualitative research. They’ve been doing it for years, so I want to heighten understanding of their work and knowledge.

For instance, I have the greatest respect for the qualitative work of David Bloome, Susan Jones, Leslie Moore and Tim San Pedro, to name a few. And I know there are more faculty who use qualitative methods and can’t wait to have some quality time with everyone.

From there, we can ask what else we can offer to help faculty create curricular pathways for students to use qualitative research methods most effectively.

I’ve also been connecting with college faculty about their research designs, grant applications, potential grant proposals and more. I’ve had success helping teams apply for foundation funding. For instance, when I was with the Access to Democracy research team, we received a $769,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation and other supporters to connect grassroots perspectives on the topic of “who college is for?”

If you state your intent in a way that makes sense to the funding source, and speak about how qualitative research will show the impact, I think that really helps.

In addition, our graduate research associate does one-to-one consulting about qualitative methods. And many probably already know that Sandy Reed consults on quantitative research methods and coordinates all the consulting effort in the Data Core.

In addition to this, I don’t know how it happened, but faculty members from across campus are asking for consulting from me. I’ve also appreciated connecting with our faculty who work with those in other colleges on interdisciplinary grants.

When it comes to mentorship, I am intentional about it; it's a two-way relationship. I am still in touch with students at my former university. In fact, I recently had a virtual conversation with a woman about her dissertation and another former advisee is now sending her students to OSU recruitment events.

If graduate students want to engage in research related to educational equity and social justice, I hope they will take my classes or come to a weekly QUAL-LAB lunch.

Q. Does the Data Access and Analysis Core offer any regular gatherings to discuss qualitative research?

A. Yes, I designed a number of QUAL-LAB brown bag lunch gatherings offered every other week for faculty, postdocs and graduate students. First, a postdoctoral scholar shares their research. Then the graduate students workshop their own research. This is where you bring your project and talk about it, especially if you have questions, struggles, but also if you want feedback on your approach.

On the opposing week, we have presentations. Recently, I organized a webinar about how to use NVivo, a software program for analyzing unstructured qualitative data, such as text, video, images and more.

I’ve been invited to present a workshop on congruent data analysis at the national Association for the Study of Higher Education conference and will present it again for EHE the following week. If you’ll be there, please stop by.

Q: What are you working on now that would attract graduate students to study with you?

A: In terms of research topics, I always try to move beyond the theoretical realm to create concrete social change. In this vein, I emphasize social justice and educational equity or inequity in higher education in several areas, one of them being organizational behavior.

I’m currently working on a national study of women in higher education and student affairs. Since 2009, I’ve looked at the experiences of women, including pay inequity, formal and informal organizational structures, women-led leadership paradigms and more.

My work on this subject has been published in various journals and books, such as the Oxford University’s Forum on Public Policy (I also presented at Oxford University), the NASPA Journal About Women in Higher Education, a book on The Obama Administration and Educational Reform and my book, Empowering Women in Higher Education.

My book, American Higher Education, Leadership, and Policy: Critical Issues and the Public Good, has been used by many. Among them, a professor at the University of Krakow in Poland used my framework from the book to address national higher education policy change in that country. And, a few months ago I virtually spoke with the deans of colleges of education across Indonesia. The group seemed excited about some of the implications for their work.

I’m also primary investigator of the Researching Educational Diversity – Decolonizing Indigenous Research Team. My colleagues and I are critically deconstructing the experiences of indigenous students on college campuses and re-imagining campus spaces with these students in mind. We expect to offer tangible action strategies for policy and practice.

I’m excited about my recent work as on epistemic justice and injustice in graduate education programs across social sciences, natural sciences and humanities. Graduate student Patti Harris at North Carolina State and I continue to work with Leslie Gonzales, my co-PI, and Dianey Leal, both at Michigan State University. The four of us are presenting at the upcoming Association for the Study of Higher Education conference this month.

Q: What types of studies lend themselves to using qualitative research?

A: Qualitative is good for analyzing small, one-of-a-kind issues, but it’s also useful in understanding big systems with larger data sets of many people. Qualitative is extremely beneficial when you’re studying something that’s not always quantifiable.

For instance, when you talk about the “MeToo” or “Black Lives Matter” movements, they seem so nebulous. Qualitative inquiry lets you dive in and make sense of what is going on for people.

You could work on content analysis or other qualitative methodological approaches about Ohio State students who have experienced or have tweeted about #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter.

You also could use timeline mapping to capture the progress of the movement – where it’s gone across the globe, how it shapes and translates and manifests itself.

These approaches are useful when you’re talking about social movements, understanding an individual’s experience, about a climate or culture, and beyond.

When you look at organizational systems, using Ohio State as an example, you can analyze the quantitative statistics, such as the budget and how many alumni there are. But qualitative lets you analyze how the organization operates, how people experience it, and how to strengthen it.

So if your audience is legislators, and you want to gather information that will help them with education in prison settings, then you must think about how to speak their language and how to translate that for your audience.

To do this, you have to know who you are and how your research is designed, and who your audience is, and how to translate the results for them.

This also applies when you’re applying for grants from funding agencies and foundations. I’ve helped with major grants, and you must deliver your idea of how you’ll use qualitative research in a way that makes sense to them.

If you speak to them about the impact of your work, the ripple effect, and how it will make a difference, I think that really helps.

The power of qualitative is that it can guide change in ways that can be transformative.