Matt Mayhew

No image available

William Ray & Marie Admsn Flsh, Department of Educational Studies

Program Area: Higher Education and Student Affairs

(614) 292-2387
mayhew.65@osu.edu

Personal Website

Biography

Matthew J. Mayhew (he/his) is the William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration with a focus on Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University. He received his BA from Wheaton College, Illinois; his master’s degree from Brandeis University; and his PhD from the University of Michigan.

He has focused his research on examining the relationship between college and its influence on student learning and democratic outcomes. To support the study of college and its impact on student development and learning, he has been awarded more than $25 million in funding from sources including but not limited to the United States Department of Education; the National Science Foundation; and the Templeton Religious Trust.  He has been on the editorial boards of the Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and the Journal of College Student Development, He was recently named a 2025 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow.

Education

  • PhD, Higher Education Administration: Research, Evaluation, and Assessment, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2004
  • MA, Developmental/Social Psychology, Brandeis University, 1999
  • BA, Psychology and Theology, Wheaton College, 1996

Research Summary

For more details about these research projects and to stay up to date on resources, visit the College Impact Laboratory (CoIL) website.

BATTERI: Bridging Academic Training Through Experiential Research and Innovation

The BATTERI program at the Ohio State University is a multi- year grant from the National Science Foundation. This project uses mixed methods to evaluate the experiences and learning outcomes of students and professionals enrolled in a clean-tech battery program. Through a 10-week program, participants gain technical skills, industry insights, and entrepreneurial experience while working on real-world projects in state-of-the-art battery labs. The program offers mentorship, access to cutting-edge technology, and valuable industry connections, preparing students for careers in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing. BATTERI plays a key role in advancing clean energy innovation.

Drive to Thrive: Student Success in Career & Technical STEM Education

Funded by ECMC Foundation, Drive to Thrive is a multi-year study designed to enhance diverse student recruitment, retention, graduation, and entry in the automotive technical workforce. Through unique collaborations with Ford ASSET community colleges, Ford/Lincoln dealerships, and the Ford Motor Company, the project will offer key insights on: (i) AT students’ overall wellness and financial literacy, (ii) how financial literacy curriculum relates to Ford ASSET students’ wellness and financial knowledge, and (iii) ways to improve student retention, degree completion, and workforce entry for Ford ASSET students.

Including Faculty on Religious, Spiritual, & Secular Mattering (InFORM)

InFORM seeks to capture information on faculty religious, spiritual, and secular (RSS) identification patterns and examine how the expression of RSS beliefs of faculty working in American colleges and universities shape their teaching, research, and service. This project is funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.

Interfaith, Spiritual, Religious, and Secular Campus Climate Index (INSPIRES)

The INSPIRES Campus Climate Index project is a collaboration between researchers at The Ohio State University and North Carolina State University, inspired by data gathered through the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) The project is funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts.

Selected Grants

2025  

  • Principal Investigator
  • Arthur Vining Davis Foundation
  • Advancing Interfaith Innovations: Leveraging the Welcoming Worldview Climate Index to Address the Ever-changing Interfaith Landscape
  • $120,000

2025

  • Principal Investigator
  • Pew Charitable Trusts
  • Advancing Interfaith Innovations: Leveraging the Welcoming Worldview Climate Index to Address the Ever-changing Interfaith Landscape
  • $120,000

2024  

  • Co-principal investigator (with Jay Sayre, Jeffrey M. Bielicki, Caroline         
  • Chisafulli, Lenroy Jones)
  • NSF-ExLENT  
  • Bridging Academic Training Through Experiential Research and Innovation          
  • (BATTERI)   
  • $999,887

2024  

  • Principal Investigator
  • Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) Foundation
  • EDiCTS 2.0: Drive to Thrive (Enhancing Diversity in Career & Technical STEM)
  • $975,054

2023  

  • Principal Investigator
  • Templeton Religion Trust (TRT)
  • The National Study of Faculty Religious, Spiritual, and Secular Affiliation and Practice
  • $1,122,401

2022

  • Principal Investigator
  • Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) Foundation
  • EDiCTS: Enhancing Diversity in Career and Technical STEM
  • $499,912

Selected Publications

Books

  • Mayhew, M. J., Rockenbach, A.B., Seifert, T.A., Bowman, N.A., & Wolniak, G.C. (2016). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Bryant, A. N., & Mayhew, M. J. (2013). Spirituality Enacted in Higher Education: Translating Research into Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Book Chapters

  • Mayhew, M. J. & McChesney, E. T. (2023). Examining the effects of first-year high-impact practices on student outcomes. In Kahu, E. & Biak, C. (Eds.), Research handbook on the student experience in higher education, (pp. 268-283). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204193
  • Dahl, L. S., Youngerman, E., Stipeck, C. J., & Mayhew, M. J. (2023). Elevating Equity in Living–Learning Communities: Faculty Strategies for Engaging “New Majority” Students. In J. Eidum, & L. Lomicka (Eds.), The faculty factor: A vision for developing faculty engagement with living learning communities (pp. 19-33). Routledge.
  • Núñez, A. M., Mayhew, M. J., Shaheen, M., & McChesney, E. (2023). Critical quantitative intersectionality: Maximizing integrity in expanding tools and applications. In Handbook of Critical Education Research (pp. 430-451). Routledge.

Selected Articles

  • Mayhew, M. J., & Winkler, C. E. (2026). Complicating student pathways through the interfaith learning and development framework. Journal of College Student Development, 67(2), 202-223. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2026.a986510
  • McChesney, E. T., Weng, Y-H., Winkler, C. E., Selznick, B., & Mayhew, M. J. (2025). The effect of interdisciplinary training on cultivating graduate student innovation capacities. Innovative Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-025-09848-3
  • McChesney, E. T., Weng, Y., Selznick, B., & Mayhew, M. J. (2025). Unleashing innovation: The impact of interdisciplinary training on graduate team scientists' innovation capacities. Innovative Higher Education.
  • Mayhew, M., & Winkler, C. E. (2024). Impact without randomization: Lessons from a national, longitudinal evaluation. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss135948
  • Rockenbach, A.N., & Mayhew, M. J. (2024). Pathways to Religious Pluralism in College: A Critical Analysis of Identity, Campus Contexts, and Engagement. The Review of Higher Education 47(4), 401-435. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2024.a930105

Selected Presentations

  • Townsend, S., Creamer, E. T., & Mayhew, M. J. (2026, April). The Road Less Traveled: Women’s Internship Experiences in College Automotive Technology Programs. [Conference presentation].  Association for Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA. [Recipient of the Distinguished Paper Award 2025 for Mid-Western Educational Research Association, Milwaukee, WI, November 5-7, 2025]
  • Creamer, E., McChesney, E., Townsend, S., DeRoche, C., & Mayhew, M.J. (2026, April). Drive to Thrive: A Financial Literacy Intervention in Automotive Technology  [Conference presentation]. CSCC 2026 Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
  • Creamer, E., Townsend, S., & Mayhew, M.J. (2026, April). Aligning the Axles: Exploring Financial and Mental Well-being Among Automotive Technician Students at Community Colleges [Conference presentation]. CSCC 2026 Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
  • Gill-Morris, A., Weng, Y., Mayhew, M.J. (March 2026). Advancing Equity in International Education: Improving global campus climate and challenging homogenous classifications. General interest session submitted to the International Symposium of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, Kansas City, MO.
  • Weng, Y., Creamer, E. T., Bielicki, J, & Mayhew, M.J. (2025, June). The role of need for cognition in enhancing innovation capacities among interdisciplinary graduate students: An equity-focused approach. Presenting at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
  • Gill-Morris. A, Weng, Y. & Mayhew M. J. (2025, November). Students Career readiness: Experiences in a STEM experiential innovation training program. Paper Presentation presented at the annual Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Denver, CO, United States.

Selected Popular Media