A View of Postsecondary Education Research from Independent Research Centers

18 The second view of a coalition is portrayed in column two of Table I. It is concerned with influencing the vertical research delivery or guidance system described earlier in this paper. The critical addition to this model of a coalition is the proactive posture toward funding and allocation groups. A fifth goal is the direct concern with the system of funding, priority set­ ting, allocation and dissemination. It would actively seek to influence this system. In this mode it is a political interest group or lobby for research­ ers with a more official and committed pattern of membership. It would be governed by a more formal representative leadership group and would seek mem­ ber endorsement of priorities set for research. Many of the present Coali­ tion's non-university-based members would be more inclined to this model while university-based research groups might resist it. Clearly, the present Coalition is neither simply one model or the other. Each model represents a focus which university-based and non-university based groups should respect. An amalgam or reconciliation of the two models is needed. In the final analysis the responsiveness on the part of agencies in the vertical system of priority setting and funding to well-devised attempts to achieve goals through a professionally oriented coalition could bring about a reconciliation and eliminate the dilemma posed here for the Coalition of Postsecondary Research Interests. A VIEW OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION RESEARCH FROM INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CENTERS Alexander W. Astin Higher Education Research Institute and University of California, Los Angeles Postsecondary education research today is in pretty bad shape. While it is easy to lay the blame for our problems on the federal government, it is important to recognize that we all share part of the responsibility. Re­ searchers do not talk to each other very much; communication among many of us is virtually nil, even though we are presumably working on very similar prob­ lems. As for the funding agencies, they often seem to be too eager to find quick and simple-minded solutions to problems that really need much more in­ tensive, long-term analysis. An investment today in long-term systematic studies of the postsecondary system should eventually provide us with a capability to obtain much more sophisticated answers to complex policy problems on a relatively short-term basis. But at some point we have to start investing in programmatic research efforts. If we continue to spend most of our limited research funds only on what is popular or trendy, we are never going to develop this capability. In this paper I wish to focus my remarks on the funding agencies, not because I think researchers do not contribute to the generally low quality of much of the research, but rather because our panel includes representatives of two key federal agencies who are presumably here because their agencies are concerned about improving the condition of postsecondary research in the United States. One problem for the funding agencies actually originates with us re­ searchers: This is our failure to make a good case for why postsecondary ed­ ucation should have a higher priority, particularly on NIE's funding agenda. Although there is not enough time today to deal with this priority issue in any detail, let me suggest a few reasons why postsecondary education should really be a much more important area for policy research than the current funding pattern suggests. My first reason relates to one of NIE's priorities as stated by Mike Timpane: achieving greater educational equity for women, minorities, and low-income groups. Given the very large proportion of 19 students who finish high school these days, postsecondary education repre­ sents one of the most important avenues for upward social mobility for these groups. In fact, it may be the most significant avenue. What are the criti­ cal barriers to postsecondary entry for these groups? Among those who manage to gain entry, what factors interfere with successful completion? A closely related issue concerns another NIE priority attended to by Mike Timpane: improving the quality of educational practice. I assume that this priority includes the basic skills program which has gotten such a large piece of the NIE...