Summer (Research) Break

Winter, 2008, Volume 30, Number 1

Grace Noboa (seated) talks with Keenya Hofmaier about her project.

What kind of college student would want to study universities during summer break? Grace Noboa did. The sophomore jumped at a chance to conduct research on trends in higher education as an IPR summer undergraduate research assistant.

Noboa, who is majoring in economics, was one of 21 undergraduates paired with professors on projects this past summer ranging from studies of health and longevity to political Web campaigns. For 10 years, the Institute’s summer undergraduate research program has opened the door for Northwestern students to conduct research with IPR faculty.

Recognizing the difficulty of finding hands-on undergraduate research opportunities, Noboa said she appreciated conducting analyses with real data for the first time. “I hadn’t been exposed to that in my classes,” she said.

And this hands-on experience is the greatest benefit of the program, noted IPR Faculty Fellow Emma Adam, who has worked with several undergraduates in the past and will direct this summer’s program.

“My IPR summer assistants have made valuable contributions to my research and gained important research skills that they carried with them into the working world or graduate programs,” said Adam, associate professor of human development and social policy. “It’s a win-win situation for students and faculty.”

Noboa, who worked with IPR Faculty Fellow Burton Weisbrod, John Evans Professor of Economics, said she compared the investments of nonprofit, public, and for-profit universities for Weisbrod’s forthcoming book, Mission and Money: Understanding the University. For example, she found that each sector is investing in distance education to attract more adults pursuing higher degrees.

Keenya Hofmaier, a sophomore in social policy and legal studies, worked with IPR Faculty Associate Mary Pattillo on research involving school choice in Chicago Public Schools. Pattillo, professor of sociology and African American studies, sent Hofmaier to visit two schools on Chicago’s low-income South Side. She interviewed parents of incoming freshmen about the process of choosing a district high school.

Most surprising to Hofmaier was how much parental involvement in a child’s education plays a crucial role in their success, yet how little the parents seemed to know about the workings of the Chicago public school system.

For more information on IPR’s Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants’ program, please visit us online at www.northwestern.edu/ipr/ugradresearch.html.