Purdue University Global academics edit book about online higher education

INDIANAPOLIS — Three Purdue University Global academics from the School of Business and Information Technology have edited a new book about differences between traditional and online higher education with respect to diversity and equity issues, particularly related to nontraditional students.

Tina Burton, IT associate dean; Kristina Setzekorn, IT academic department chair; and Nainika Patnayakuni, graduate IT adjunct instructor, proposed, developed and edited “Socioeconomics, Diversity, and the Politics of Online Education,” published this month by IGI Global.

Purdue Global faculty authored 10 of the book’s 14 chapters, and Carolyn Nordstrom, vice president for faculty and academic resources and interim provost, wrote the foreword.

The book is well-timed as traditional universities migrated to online outlets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We could not have anticipated how relevant this book would become,” Burton said. “With the current pandemic and most of higher education moving online, this book presents some of the benefits and complications that occur in the online learning environment.”

The book is a cutting-edge research publication that explores the political, diversity, equity and socioeconomic impacts from online education’s disruption of traditional higher education.

“The idea for the book was triggered by a series of articles explaining how traditional higher education, rather than promoting equal opportunity and social mobility, now actually exacerbates wealth, income and opportunity inequality,” Setzekorn said. “We, thus, set out to explore online education’s socioeconomic and diversity impacts.”

Additionally, chapters on education access and diversity are pertinent to the ongoing demonstrations taking place across the country.

“The protests following George Floyd’s death call attention to long-simmering issues of social and economic injustice evidenced by, and following from, unequal education opportunities,” Setzekorn said.

The book is designed for academicians, administrators, researchers, students, teachers and policymakers interested in promoting social mobility and democracy through accessible public higher education. It strives to highlight online education’s ability to customize offerings and their delivery for nontraditional students.

“A one-size fits all model of online education does not serve the varied needs of our students, and this book uncovers what works and does not work when it comes to the challenges faced by a diverse student population and how online education could be geared toward meeting some of these challenges,” Patnayakuni said.

Burton and Setzekorn also wrote a chapter for the book, as did the following Purdue Global faculty members: Joyce Boone, Desiree L. DePriest, Susan Shepherd Ferebee, Catherine Flynn, Tamara Fudge, Jessica D.K. Love, Kathleen Scarpena, Lynne Williams, Maggie Broderick and Crystal Lewis.

About Purdue University Global

Purdue University Global is the extreme personalization online university, providing students the competitive edge to advance in their chosen careers. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations – no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves more than 31,000 students (as of March 2020), most of whom earn their degree online. It also operates several regional locations nationwide. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue University’s flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest, Indiana, as well as serving close to 6,000 science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, please visit purdueglobal.edu 

Media Contact: Tom Schott, 765-494-9318, tschott@purdue.edu

Sources: Tina Burton, TBurton@purdueglobal.edu

Kristina Setzekorn, KSetzekorn@purdueglobal.edu

Nainika Patnayakuni, nainika.patnayakuni@purdueglobal.edu  

Note to Journalists: Photos of Tina Burton, Kristina Setzekorn and Nainika Patnayakuni, as well as the book cover image are available on Google Drive.