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Important Aspects To Women’S Re-Integration: Positive Influences On Women’S Reentry Experience After Being Released From Prison, Sarah A. Benson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Researchers can analyze statistics of recidivism rates and decipher that they are at an alarming rate—specifically regarding women convicts. The population of women in prison has drastically increased, and with that, so have their recidivism rates. Analyzing statistical data of incarceration and recidivism can show us the numbers, but what is the reason? Why do some women struggle to stay out of prison? I argued that one reason is because women who are released from prison are severely underprepared to reintegrate back into society and, are therefore, set up for failure. Previous studies suggest that reentry programs, education programs, relationships …

“I Save Me”: Gender, Agency, And Power In Better Call Saul, Stephanie Kocer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Historically, women on television have been portrayed in wife and mother roles, making them a foil to their husbands, but never the main focal point of the show. These characters stay on the sidelines, without being given truly original storylines where they are allowed to drive their own narratives. During the first season of Better Call Saul, Kim Wexler is a supporting character, without any storylines that aren’t linked to Jimmy McGill. Jimmy often treats Kim as a damsel in distress. He thinks it’s his job to save her, and usually from the chaos that he’s created. In this thesis …

Coaching Women On The Impact Of Alcohol Intake On Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review, Amy Maloney

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Alcohol intake among women has increased in recent years. Women’s bodies metabolize alcohol differently when compared to men and are at increased risk for adverse effects, both physically and mentally. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to explore the evidence related to the impact of coaching in primary care on drinking behaviors and over-all well-being of women. Four databases including PsycInfo, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Plus with full text, and Gender Studies Database were searched using a variety of key words. Studies were included if they focused on female alcohol use and abuse, interventions specific to female alcohol …

Engagement And Stem Degree Completion: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Time-To-Completion And Engagement And Pre-College Variables, Karina (Harstad) Clennon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative analysis explored measures influencing time to STEM-degree-completion in a correlational, non-experimental analysis of archival data (N = 745). FGCS represent a significant portion of individuals pursuing a post-secondary degree in the United States however, FGCS are less likely to persist to graduation as compared to their continuing-generation peers. FGCS are entering colleges and universities declaring STEM majors yet, are changing their major and or leaving college without a four-year degree (Chen, 2013). FGCS, who identify as female, face additional barriers, whether perceived or actual, in the pursuit of earning a STEM degree. FGCS choose to pursue STEM majors, …

The Directing Of Melanie Marnich's These Shining Lives, Kristin Fox

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of Master of the Fine Arts degree in theatre. It is a detailed account of author Kristin N. Fox's directorial process in directing the play These Shining Lives in the fall of 2017. This thesis chronicles the director's process from pre-production through performance in five chapters: a pre-production analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a rehearsal and performance journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

The Harsh Reality: A Feminist Perspective On The Experiences Of Women Coaching Male Athletes, Emilee Shearer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study, using a qualitative approach, examines the impact of patriarchy on females who coach a male-dominated sports team. The purpose of the study is to identify and examine the experiences of females who coach a male-dominated sports team in order to have a better understanding of the impact of the gender binary and patriarchy in the sport field. A qualitative approach was used in this study to gain an understanding of the individual and commonality of the experiences of women coaches. There were five female coaches interviewed; one was a high school basketball coach, two were high school football …

Women’S Choice In College Stem Majors: Impact Of Ability Tilt On Women Students’ Educational Choice, Audie Jane Willis

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative study explored the impact of ability and ability tilt on the choice of an academic program in STEM majors for female college students who have not been identified as profoundly or highly gifted. A math tilt would be an ability tilt slanting toward math. The career development theory that provided a framework for this study was the Theory of Work Adjustment. Three bodies of literature were reviewed, (a) Self-efficacy as a variable in college major or career choice, (b) life-style preference, and (c) ability tilt and ability. A Chi Square Test of Independence determined that significantly more women …

A Labor Of Love: Women's Perspectives On Gender And Identity In Informal Caregiving, Kirby O'Hara Hurd

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The elderly population (adults 65 and over) is larger than at any time in history, thanks to improved access to healthcare, advances in medical technology, and health services focused on addressing the needs of aging adults. However, support for this growing population remains insufficient; the costs of in-home and residential care are high, and consequently, family members often become providers of informal, unpaid care. Presently, there is inadequate literature regarding the academic study of family members providing informal caregiving, especially from a perspective that emphasizes sociological principles and theories. Existing studies of the family caregiver phenomenon show that middle-aged adult …

Are They Listening?: Revisiting Male Privilege And Defensive Learning In A Feminist Classroom, Cameron A. Tyrrell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Privileged students, particularly male-identified students, in women’s studies classrooms have been a population of study previously. Many feminist educators have encountered resistance from a male-identified student in their classroom. Scholarship has been done that analyzes the discourses around how male privilege is invoked by men in women’s studies classrooms. This study defined defensive learning with specific acts of disengagement that hinder privileged students, particularly male-identified students in Gender and Women’s Studies, from taking classes that are considered “feminist,” and from learning about systems of privilege. A series of semi-structured interviews with six male-identified students who were enrolled in women’s studies …

Directing A Piece Of My Heart, Matthew L. Caron

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Masters of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts at Minnesota State University, Mankato. It is a detailed account of Matthew Caron's directorial process for A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro. The play was produced in the Andreas Theatre and ran from September 17 to 23, 2014. The thesis chronicles the director's artistic process from pre-production through performance in five chapters: a pre-production analysis, an historical and critical perspective, a rehearsal and performance journal, a post-production analysis and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included.

Feminist Identities: Career Choices And Experiences Of College-Educated Women, Kerry Diekmann

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explored how feminism as a social identity impacts how women interpret their career and life experiences. The overarching research question that guided the study was: How do feminist-identified women make sense of their feminist identity, life experiences, and career path? The theoretical framework that provided the lens for the study included feminist, multicultural, intersectionality, and career development theories. Two distinct bodies of literature were reviewed to provide a foundation for the study: (a) women's career development, in particular, the supports and barriers experienced, and (b) feminist identity, including influences to adopting the feminist label and factors associated …

How Women Of Color Are Portrayed On The Cover Of Magazines: A Content Analysis On The Images Of Black/African, Latina, Asian And Native American (Balana), Connie Johnson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Historically, women of color with little knowledge can blindly imitate the images of themselves as portrayed in mass media, which can be harmful to their self-esteem, contradictions of self-identification, and daily interactions with majority people. Media literacy is important in understanding how images of minority women are distorted to fit the dominant group's ideals and cultural relevance, which affect the identity of minority women. The researcher through the use of BALANA and content analysis examined some attributes of how women of color (WOC) are portrayed on the cover of eight selected magazines, for example, 1) Good Housekeeping, 2) Cosmopolitan, 3) …

A Grounded Theory Of Women's Leadership Experiences In Higher Education: Navigating From The Director Level, Laura Ann Maki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In higher education leadership, the proportion of women in senior-level positions has grown very modestly. This stagnation is present in representation in leadership as well as in wage equality. Although institutions and organizations have policies and practices aimed at improving diversity and equity, ongoing underrepresentation indicates that barriers, lack of interest, or other unidentified factors influence women's opportunities for achieving senior-level leadership positions. To help address the ongoing underrepresentation of women in senior-level leadership in higher education, I have focused this dissertation on women's experiences in mid-level leadership positions. In this study, I use grounded theory to examine women's leadership …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of Counseling For Women With Addictions, Jennifer Karin Londgren

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores the experience of counseling for women with addiction issues. Six women with varying ethnic and racial backgrounds between the ages of 24-44 years old participated in the study. Each woman was diagnosed with a substance use disorder and had to have participated in at least five counseling sessions to be included in the study. The study utilized a phenomenological methodology, which seeks to understand the core essence of the phenomenon of counseling itself. Each woman was interviewed once for at least 45 minutes and two women were interviewed twice. These interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and …

Physical Environment And Women's Physical Activity Behaviors, Beth Ann Brisky

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study was developed using the Ecological Model (Stokols, 1992). The purpose of this study was to determine women's perceptions of the physical environment and the relationship between perceptions and physical activity behaviors. The study also analyzed women's non-motorized transportation behaviors, including walking and cycling to get from place to place. An email was sent to 526 female Minnesota State University, Mankato employees to ask them to participate in an electronic survey. The survey was developed using two of Sallis's (2013a, 2013b) instruments, Neighborhood Quality of Life Study survey and Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Confirmatory Factor Analysis survey. The survey consisted …

Moved To Move: Socially Contextualizing Women's Exercise Motivations, Dusti Rae Werner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Using qualitative data from 11 interviews with women who exercise regularly, this research explores women's motivations to exercise, how they make social comparisons and how they self-evaluate their bodies through the social context of gender, socio-economic status and race. Women with intrinsic motivations to exercise find more positive, long term outcomes than those with extrinsic motivations. Women compare themselves to similar others, such as their peers to form self-evaluations more readily than they do media images. Respondents also indicated the importance of relationships in beginning and maintaining exercise regimes.

The Emotionally Supportive Sister-Soldier: How The United States Military Values Normative Femininity And Devalues Nonconformist Servicewomen, Kristal Marie Gray

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Women need to be vigilant about the rights and strides they have gained to be sure they are not circling back to feed an oppressive system. Women may be serving in the military but they are filling specific roles as the feminine presence within the ranks. Women are gendered and sexualized from the day they swear in. My research gives valuable insight into the world of the military and how much emphasis is placed on conforming. I explain how servicewomen are expected to act and then interview eleven servicewomen to see if they are behaving according to the military (and …

Aemilia Lanyer's Use Of The Garden In Salve Deus Rex Judæorum, Anna Brovold

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Aemilia Lanyer used her collection of poetry, Salve Deus Rex Judæorum to redefine the way that women should look at themselves in the eyes of God. She began her collection with poems dedicated to women that she had deemed virtuous and worthy of individual attention. Her dedicatees were then presented to her readers as the true Disciples of Christ; an honor due to women because of their empathy for Christ's situation. Lanyer rewrote the biblical Passion story in order to include a feminized version of Christ, the rightful female Disciples of Christ and an additional trial presented to Pontius Pilate …

Study Of International Students' Definations Of, And Perceptions About, Domestic Violence Against Women, Sarbinaz Zamirovna Bekmuratova

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare definitions of, and perceptions about, domestic violence of international students enrolled in spring semester, 2012 at Minnesota State University, Mankato. These definitions and perceptions were compared according to the presence of domestic violence policies in the international students’ countries of origin as well as their gender and the length of residence in the United States. A quantitative cross-sectional online survey was conducted to collect data regarding participants’ definitions of different types of domestic violence, appropriateness of hitting and yelling in the relationship, and their perceptions about domestic violence. International students …

"I Have Not Learned Anything About Native American Women In Minnesota": An Educational Workshop About Indigenous Women Of Minnesota, Amy Anderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The historical and contemporary experience of Native cultures is an integral component of the history of Minnesota; however, the significance of these Nations is often overlooked in formal education, as well as culturally ignored. I have witnessed a lack of knowledge regarding Native lived experiences from both resident and non-resident college students in Minnesota. Comprehension of topics ranging from the various Nations in Minnesota to the United States-Dakota War of 1862 is absent. Furthermore, any recognition or familiarity with Native women's position is basically nonexistent. Formal education has failed to transmit the history and the cultures of this population, so …

Deviant Desires: Gender Resistance In Romantic Friendships Between Women During The Late-Eighteenth And Early-Nineteenth Centuries In Britain, Sophie Jade Slater

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Romantic friendships between women in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries were common in British society. Young women were drawn to each other, often in romantic ways, in part because of the way in which the society was ordered. In this period, females generally socialized only with other females, from birth until marriage. Even after marriage the majority of women spent most of their time with other women. This deep intimacy between women was encouraged and accepted and is visible in correspondence between female friends. Although there is scholarly literature surrounding romantic friendships during this period, the way in which these …

Effective Trauma Assessment Tools For Women With Severe Mental Illness, Heather A. Bangu

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Minnesota Security Hospital (MSH) serves individuals under civil commitment as Mentally Ill and Dangerous by the State of Minnesota. MSH is evaluating its practices to ensure the treatment environment encompasses a recovery oriented, person-centered, and trauma-informed program. Understanding and assessing trauma will assist clinicians in providing patients with the most effective and efficient treatment (Carlson, 1997). Long term negative outcomes exists for individuals with severe mental illness who have experienced trauma including more severe psychiatric symptoms, substance abuse, and homelessness (Mueser, Salyers, Rosenberg, Ford, Fox, & Carty, 2001). The purpose of this Capstone project was to identify and recommend evidence-based …

Evaluation Of The Sageplus Steps Program To Promote Physical Activity And Decrease Cardiovascular Risk In Low-Income Women, Callie Anne Avis

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is little known about the effectiveness of the Steps Program specifically used in the SagePlus program in Minnesota to promote physical activity and reduce cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the SagePlus Steps Program for low-income middle-aged women ages 40 to 64 to meet a daily physical activity goal of 10,000 steps and reduce their cardiovascular disease risk, measured by their Framingham Risk Score. A nonexperimental, descriptive correlational design was used to guide data collection for this study. Demographic data, step counts after weeks 1, 4, 12, and 24, activity level at …

The Life Of Spanish Noblewomen In The Secular World And Their One Alternative: The Role Of The Convent In María De Zayas' Desengaños Amorosos, Maria Middleton

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the literary works of María de Zayas y Sotomayor called the Desengaños amorosos (1647) and the message these works suggest about life choices for women in sixteenth and seventeenth century Spain. In these novellas, María de Zayas makes a connection to the actual life of noblewomen both in the convent and outside of it. Her writing suggests through virtual and narrated experience that life in the convent allows for greater self actualization than life as a married woman. For the female characters in Desengaños amorosos, María de Zayas often utilized the convent as the superior alternative to …

Funding Of Women's Programs By Minnesota Foundations, Suzanne E. Runte

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this thesis was to determine how much money Minnesota foundations contributed to programs for women. The study examined the grants awarded by a representative sample of 12 Minnesota foundations over a four year period (1980-1983). Data was collected from foundations' annual reports or 990 tax forms. The amount of funding each foundation contributed to women's programs and the type of services founded were recorded.

Results from the study indicated that programs for women do not received much of the total amount of funding given by these Minnesota foundations. The four year average percentage of funding to women …