Opportunity Structures for Student Activism, Diversity, and Institutional Change

Abstract

College students across the United States are engaging in protests, sit-ins, and walk-outs, but when do these political acts result in tangible institutional policy changes? This paper draws on qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with 502 participants across the United States to examine when and why college student political behaviors influence institutional changes on college campuses. Findings from this study suggest that higher education institutions present different political opportunity structures for students to engage in activism. These political opportunity structures provide policy windows at the institutional level to affect campus wide change. To the extent that these changes promote diversity, equity, and inclusion though also depends on these varying structures. In this paper, a typology of these structures is presented to explain when student activism shapes institutional change and for whom.