Guiding Research Questions:

• How does university prestige and reputation (manifested by ranking system) influence the policies and practices of the university?
• How does the recognition of world-class status and global rankings change the way that universities find or exchange resources with other universities (e.g., trained faculty and students, research collaborations, dual programs)?
• How do college selectivity and academic major shape postgraduate outcomes such as occupational attainment and graduate degree attainment?

Current Projects:

Dr. Kim is researching how different college ranking systems, including the U.S. News & World Report rankings, influence the managerial behaviors and organizational structures within universities. In particular, she analyzed changes in tuition and fees, admission practices, resource allocation across the academic departments, and activities in relation to the institutional and departmental rankings, and is beginning to consider the various impacts or contributions these policies and practices will have on the makeup and trajectories of the student body at each institution.

In another project, Dr. Kim and her colleague are examining the iron triangle of access, cost, and quality in higher education. In particular, the project examines how universities manage the different dimensions , whether they are balanced or if one or two factors are emphasizedover the other.  Then institutional characteristics that are associated with different patterns of institutional practices will be identified.

Dr. Kim is also engaged in research designed to unpack student college choice and academic major selections and their influence on occupational outcomes. She is interested in following cohorts of students in similar degree programs from various institutions to better understand how factors such as university status or reputation, academic rigor, employment projections, combined with students familial background, influence their occupational trajectories after their college graduation.