[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-587840-105":59,"doc-detail-587840-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","studying-beneficial-uses-of-research-evidence-in-higher-education","Studying Beneficial Uses of Research Evidence in Higher Education","","Higher education policies and practices can improve learning experiences and long-term student success by leveraging research evidence. The text focuses on how decision-makers—including leaders, administrators, state actors, regulators, and advocates—use research alongside institutional data, professional experience, and student input. Despite existing research, routine and meaningful use remains difficult due to political pressure, alumni interests, student needs, legal constraints, and financial limitations, indicating a need for targeted studies.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/studying-beneficial-uses-of-research-evidence-in-higher-education/587840/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/studying-beneficial-uses-of-research-evidence-in-higher-education/587840.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Melati","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-22","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the text emphasize using research evidence in higher education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Because it can inform policies and practice that promote richer learning experiences and long-term success for students.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What makes meaningful use of research evidence difficult for decision-makers?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Use unfolds amid political pressure, alumni interests, student needs, legal pressures, and financial constraints.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What research directions does the essay propose?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It calls for studies that improve both conceptual use (shifting understanding and assumptions) and instrumental use (applying theory and findings to solve problems and make decisions), and it outlines three considerations for researchers.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},587840,1792165478,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962085570644,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Studying Beneficial Uses of Research Evidence in Higher Education  \nKim DuMont  \nWilliam T. Grant Foundation  \nStudying Beneficial Uses of Research Evidence in Higher Education  \nSuggested Citation:  \nDuMont, K. (2025) . Studying beneficial uses of research evidence in higher education. William T. Grant Foundation. [https://wtgrantfoundation.org/digest/](https://wtgrantfoundation.org/digest/)[ ](https://wtgrantfoundation.org/digest/)[studying-beneficial-uses-of-research-evidence-in-](studying-beneficial-uses-of-research-evidence-in-)[higher-education](higher-education)  \nDUMONT • 2025  \nC olleges and universities offer students  \nopportunities to learn, develop skills, make  \nfriends, and connect to work—yet not all students realize these benefits (Ives & Castillo-Montoya, 2020; Rosenbaum et al., 2015) . For example, firstgeneration students constitute roughly one-third of the students enrolled at post-secondary schools, but they continue to experience challenges accessing postsecondary education (Ives & Castillo-Montoya, 2020) . They also have rates of progression and completion that lag when compared to students who have a parent that graduated from college (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018) . First-generation students report having had teachers who hold low expectations and experiencing sizable disconnects between home and school (Buffy Stoll, 2013; Ives & Castillo-Montoya, 2020) .  \nUsing research evidence1 to guide higher education policies and practice may help to promote rich learning experiences and long-term success for all students. Post-secondary leaders, administrators, state agency leaders, regulators, and advocates—a group that I will refer to in this essay as decision-makers—are grappling with how to best support student experiences and outcomes. Decision-makers routinely navigate pressing questions and new mandates around transitioning students from high school to college, promoting student well-being, and delivering high-quality instruction to diverse sets of learners (Ness et al., 2021; Steil & Swan, 2024). To address these questions, decision-makers draw on various sources of knowledge to inform their understanding and action plans, including data and research from within their institution, professional experience, and student input (Hollands & Escueta, 2020) . Research evidence, which can mirror the knowledge needs of decision-makers, is also available  \nto inform policy formation and implementation and can offer clues about improving student experiences and outcomes.  \nYet, we know little about how to improve the use of research evidence by decision-makers in higher education settings as they design and implement policies and programs with the potential to consistently benefit most students (Finnigan, 2021; Hollands & Escueta, 2020; Kirkland, 2019) . Even though research exists to guide efforts to improve higher education student experiences and outcomes, routine and meaningful use of that research evidence remains challenging. Accessing, making sense of, and using knowledge  \nfrom research unfolds amid political pressure, alumni interests, student needs, legal pressures, and financial constraints (Horn et al., 2020; Scott & Jabbar, 2014; Tseng, 2012) . While findings from research on the use of research evidence suggest that more intentional approaches are required that leverage relationships, affect, tools, and routines (Chorpita et al., 2025; DuMont, 2024; Yanovitzky et al., 2024), studies are needed to design and test specific approaches that improve decision-makers’ use of research evidence to promote student well-being and success in higher education.  \nThe William T. Grant Foundation welcomes proposals that study strategies to improve the use of research evidence in higher education institutions to support, educate, and promote student well-being. Studies can examine strategies that promote the conceptual use of research evidence to add nuance to decision-makers’understanding, shift ","cbCailvJZKzxdUUT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailvJZKzxdUUT","pdf",504227,15,"English","# Context and challenge\n## Benefits and barriers for decision-makers\n# Proposed research directions\n## Conceptual use of research evidence\n## Instrumental use of research evidence\n# Three considerations for researchers\n## Study decision-makers and strategies\n## Evaluate conditions and interventions\n## Examine consequences for student experiences","[{\"question\":\"Why does the text emphasize using research evidence in higher education?\",\"answer\":\"Because it can inform policies and practice that promote richer learning experiences and long-term success for students.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes meaningful use of research evidence difficult for decision-makers?\",\"answer\":\"Use unfolds amid political pressure, alumni interests, student needs, legal pressures, and financial constraints.\"},{\"question\":\"What research directions does the essay propose?\",\"answer\":\"It calls for studies that improve both conceptual use (shifting understanding and assumptions) and instrumental use (applying theory and findings to solve problems and make decisions), and it outlines three considerations for researchers.\"}]","Studying Beneficial Uses of Research Evidence in Higher Education | PDF",1792063288,38]