Engaging Community Colleges in Rural Development: A Meta-Synthesis of Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: This project analyzed recent doctoral dissertations addressing the role of community colleges in rural development for the purpose of identifying themes in the reported results and offering recommendations for future research. Methods: A meta-synthesis approach was utilized with 20 doctoral dissertations from the time period 2009 to 2020 investigating the role of community colleges in rural community development, rural economic development, rural workforce development, and collaboration with other entities relative to rural development. Results: Themes derived from the analysis and synthesis are presented, with discussion of the representative studies for each. Building on the results of the thematic analysis, the review offers recommendations for practical steps that rural community colleges can take to contribute to the communities they serve. Additionally, we offer suggestions for a research agenda to produce further insights and understandings that can strengthen and enhance the roles of community colleges in rural development across America. Contributions: Collectively, the reported themes and suggested research agenda speak to both the important role that rural community colleges can play in rural development and to the need for ongoing work in this area of the literature.