Books | Richard Arum — Higher Education, School Discipline, and Sociology of Education

Richard Arum’s books examine higher education, undergraduate learning, college-to-career transitions, school discipline, social inequality, self-employment, and the sociology of education. His authored and edited volumes include Academically Adrift, Aspiring Adults Adrift, Judging School Discipline, Stratification in Higher Education, Improving Quality in American Higher Education, and the forthcoming The Liberal Arts Advantage.

Higher Education, Learning Outcomes, and Student Development

The Liberal Arts Advantage: Measuring the Deeper Value of College Education

Edited by Richard Arum, Paul Courant, and Allyson Flaster. University of Chicago Press, forthcoming 2026.

This edited volume examines how the value of liberal arts education can be defined, measured, and advanced amid contemporary challenges facing higher education. The book brings together conceptual and empirical work on the broader purposes of undergraduate education, including intellectual development, civic preparation, student flourishing, and long-term social value.

Topics: liberal arts education, undergraduate learning, student development, higher education measurement, civic education, educational value.

Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century

Edited by Richard Arum, Josipa Roksa, and Amanda Cook. Jossey-Bass, 2016.

This edited volume examines how colleges and universities can define, assess, and improve undergraduate learning in the 21st century. It brings together scholars and field-specific experts to consider what students should learn in college and how institutions can better measure cognitive, disciplinary, civic, and practical outcomes.

Topics: higher education quality, learning outcomes, assessment, undergraduate education, institutional improvement.

Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College Graduates

Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. University of Chicago Press, 2014.

This book follows the cohort from Academically Adrift into life after college, examining their transitions into work, relationships, civic life, and adulthood. Drawing on surveys and interviews with recent graduates, it shows how academic engagement and institutional experiences during college shape early adult outcomes and the difficult transition from college to meaningful work and independent life.

Topics: college-to-career transitions, young adulthood, higher education outcomes, employment, civic engagement, social inequality.

Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses

Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. University of Chicago Press, 2011.

This book examines whether undergraduates are learning in college and why many students show limited gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing. Drawing on survey, transcript, and Collegiate Learning Assessment data from more than 2,300 students across 24 institutions, it argues that institutional priorities and campus cultures often fail to place learning at the center of undergraduate education.

Topics: undergraduate learning, critical thinking, college quality, academic engagement, higher education assessment, educational reform.

School Discipline, Law, and Educational Authority

Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority in American Schools

Richard Arum with Irenee Beattie, Richard Pitt, Jennifer Thompson, and Sandra Way. Harvard University Press, 2003; paperback 2005.

This book examines how law, litigation, and changing norms of authority have reshaped school discipline in the United States. Drawing on court cases and long-term school data, it argues that the weakening of educators’ moral authority has made classroom order more difficult and has important consequences for student achievement, school climate, and educational inequality.

Topics: school discipline, student rights, legal mobilization, classroom authority, K–12 education, law and society.

Improving Learning Environments: School Discipline and Student Achievement in Comparative Perspective

Edited by Richard Arum and Melissa Velez. Stanford University Press, 2012.

This edited volume examines how disciplinary climates shape student achievement and social outcomes across national contexts. Through comparative case studies, it shows that effective school discipline depends not only on managing student behavior but also on sustaining legitimate authority, supportive relationships, and institutional conditions that promote learning.

Topics: school discipline, comparative education, student achievement, educational inequality, institutional authority.

Comparative Education, Stratification, and Work

Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study

Edited by Yossi Shavit, Richard Arum, and Adam Gamoran. Stanford University Press, 2007; paperback 2010.

This comparative volume examines how the expansion of higher education has affected social inequality across 15 countries. Rather than assuming that expansion necessarily worsens stratification, the book shows how institutional structures, diversification, privatization, and national contexts shape who gains access to different types of higher education and with what consequences.

Topics: higher education stratification, comparative education, social inequality, access, expansion, international education.

The Reemergence of Self-Employment: A Comparative Study of Self-Employment Dynamics and Social Inequality

Edited by Richard Arum and Walter Müller. Princeton University Press, 2004.

This book examines the reemergence of self-employment across advanced economies and its implications for social inequality. It shows how self-employment includes both professional opportunity and labor-market marginality, and how social background, education, gender, family status, and labor-market institutions shape entry into and persistence in self-employment.

Topics: self-employment, labor markets, social stratification, inequality, comparative sociology, work.

Instructional Resources

The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education

Edited by Richard Arum, Irenee Beattie, and Karly Ford. Sage/Pine Forge Press, 4th ed., 2020.

This reader introduces students to central debates in the sociology of education, including inequality, school organization, curriculum, stratification, and educational policy. It is designed for courses in sociology of education, education policy, and related fields.

Topics: sociology of education, teaching, schooling, inequality, education policy.

The Sociology Project: Introducing the Sociological Imagination 

Edited by Jeff Manza, Richard Arum, and Lynne Haney. Pearson, 2012; 2nd ed., 2015.

This introductory sociology text presents core sociological concepts, research traditions, and empirical examples for undergraduate students. It can be listed in a separate “Instructional Resources” section so it does not distract from the research monographs and edited volumes.