Deported Veterans: The Unintended Consequences Of “Good Moral Character”, Jonathan Deras

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to argue that U.S. immigration policy, specifically the 1996 IIRIRA (also known as IIRAIRA), needs to change regarding the legal treatment of immigrant U.S. military veteran deportees due to the following concepts. The first concept is to articulate how the criminalization of immigration, and how the military system intersects to facilitate the Deportation of U.S veterans. A key concept in this analysis is the standard of “good moral character” set by the U.S. government that enlistees need to meet to be accepted into the military; this standard is also used against immigrant veterans during …

Taking Up Space: A Phenomenological Study Of The Shared Experiences Of Black Women In Stem Graduate Programs At Predominantly White Institutions, Ebony C. Blackwell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., marginalized populations are underrepresented in STEM. Specifically, there is a disparity in the number of Black women attaining STEM graduate degrees and entering the STEM workforce. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the essence of the shared experiences of Black women currently enrolled in STEM graduate programs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs), in order to increase retention of Black women through STEM graduate programs and into careers; as well as to use participant’s experiences to expose any barriers they encountered related to their educational pursuits, and examine how they were able to navigate …

Multiple Minority Stress, Problematic Drinking, And Intimate Partner Violence In Sexual Minorities Of Color, Kevin Moino

Psychology Theses

The Minority Stress model (Meyer, 2003) posits that minorities experience stressors related to their marginalized identity that lead to health disparities. The current study addressed limitations in the literature by employing both intersectional and additive approaches to study the combined effects of racial and sexual minority stress on problematic drinking and IPV. 349 cisgender sexual minorities of color were recruited through an online panel service. Participants completed an online survey that assessed multiple minority stressors, problematic drinking, and IPV. Results supported a two-factor (external and internal minority stress) model that included intersectional constructs of both racial and sexual minority stressors. …

Intersectional Social Inequalities And Cognitive Functioning Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults In England: A Decomposition Analysis Of The Mediating Role Of Loneliness, Chantel Walwyn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Normative cognitive decline is an emerging public health issue for older adult populations. It is necessary that we take an intersectional approach to examining heterogeneity in cognitive health outcomes. Using complex longitudinal survey data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), multiple linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between intersectional group membership based on age, education, and sex, and change in cognitive functioning domains (memory function, and executive function) over an 8-year period. Three-way decomposition analysis was also used to examine the mediating effect of loneliness on the association between intersectional group membership and the change …

Supports Used By Black Women Faculty For Career Advancement At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Andrea Delpriore

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study investigated the supports utilized by Black women in their career advancement as faculty members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Although there is an abundance of scholarship about the challenges presented to Black women faculty at Predominantly White Institutions, the career advancement of Black women faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities has gone largely unstudied. Considering Historically Black Colleges and Universities are where Black women faculty achieve tenure in the highest percentages, this study took a non-deficit perspective and investigated what supports are used by Black women faculty internal to the institution, external to the institution, as …

The Impact Of Concurrent Racial And Religious Discrimination On The Mental Health And Well-Being Of Muslim Young Adults, Zahra Murtaza

Psychology Dissertations

Muslim Americans comprise a diverse ethnic and racial minority group in the U.S. Since September 11^th, 2001, Muslim Americans have reported increased levels of discrimination (Peek, 2011). However, given their multiple minority identities, it is unclear whether these experiences of discrimination are based upon their racial identity, religious identity or a combination of these identities. Informed by theories of multiple minority stress, intersectionality and resilience, the current study investigated if and how different types of perceived discrimination (racial and religious) affect the mental health and well-being of Muslim American young adults. Furthermore, the study addressed gaps in the …

Cardiac Electrophysiology: Exploring Racial And Gender Outcomes Of Treatment Of Paroxysmal And Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Using Sotalol And Dofetilide, Nicole Lanette Bradford-Love

Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the association between gender and racial lines in the conversion and sustainment of normal sinus rhythm (NSR) from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and persistent atrial fibrillation using the anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) sotalol and dofetilide.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was performed to assess the relationships of the independent and dependent variables listed above. Using SPSS v. 24 descriptive statistics were obtained and initially evaluated for accuracy with histograms. A cross-tabulation frequency table was produced to determine the number of variables that fell into each dependent category. Following this, the frequencies were …

The Importance Of Play: Identification With Video Game Characters' Intersectional Effects On Bias, Marie A. Jarrell

All Dissertations

Video games are steadily becoming one of the largest and most influential forms of media in history. Today, video games are so popular that the Nintendo mascot Mario from the Mario Brothers video game series is more recognized than Disney's Mickey Mouse. The reach and influence of video games is cause for celebration and concern. After all, just like other forms of media video games can influence audiences far beyond their play sessions. Media can influence everything from how individuals treat others, to governmental policies. With such a large scope of influence over who they reach and how they affect …

External Homophobia And Outness In Gay Men., Thomas Charles Isaak Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior studies regarding outness among gay men have often focused on internalized homophobia as a barrier to coming out for gay men, while less emphasis has been placed on external homophobia. Drawing upon social construction theory and Connell’s hierarchy of masculinity, I utilize data from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality Project to complete an ordinary least square regression to examine the impact of external homophobia on the level of outness among the 987 gay men in this study. In this study, I find that gay men who were exposed to external homophobia reported decreased levels of outness. Further, I find …

Counseling While Black: A Critical Inquiry Exploring The Experiences Of Black Master’S Level Counselors In Non-Academic, Predominantly White, Mental Health Settings, Brandon C. Jones

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

As the counseling profession has evolved to embrace multiculturalism, scant research has focused on examining how Black counselors in predominantly White settings navigate the social injustices of white supremacy and patriarchy. This dissertation project is a critical, dialogue-based study of Black, Master's level counselors' race and gender-related challenges in predominantly White, non-academic, mental health settings. It offers two primary contributions to existing empirical literature: a meta-theoretical understanding and a critical qualitative inquiry based on a methodological integration.

The meta-theoretical understanding offered in this dissertation is grounded in a theoretical reconstruction of Critical Race Theory (Bell, 1980; Crenshaw, 1989; Delgado, 1984; …

U.S. Higher Education In The Construction Of “Good” And “Bad” Immigrants: Foreign-Born Faculty’S Tales Of Sexism, Racism, And Xenophobia At Work, Debaleena Ghosh

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explore the experiences of immigrant (i.e. foreign-born) faculty in the U.S. academy, especially during a trying period of time—Donald Trump’s presidency—when anti-immigrant sentiments and rhetoric have heightened in America. Specifically, I explore how in the Trump era, gender, race, ethnic (national) origin, cultural background, and foreign-born status intersect to shape immigrant faculty’s experiences at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational level, including the privileges they enjoy and/or the penalties they pay based on their multiple social locations and ethnic culture—a group occasionally studied. Finally, I explore how the organizational and departmental culture of diversity enables the faculty …

Deverne Calloway: “I Am A Teacher---I Will Teach”, Holly Hick

Dissertations

In 1962, DeVerne Calloway was the first Black woman elected to the Missouri General Assembly and the first Black woman elected to any public office in the state of Missouri. A political activist and educator by nature, a legislator by trade, DeVerne has decades of historically documented critical work within the intersections of race, gender, and class. Her work, though well documented, remains undertheorized. This study seeks to explore DeVerne’s life and work through Black feminist theory and Critical Race Theory’s tenets of intersectionality and interest convergence, ultimately tracing her actions as a public intellectual. Written as an educational biography, …

Centering Black Women's Ways Of Knowing: A Review Of Critical Literacies Research And A Black Feminist Analysis Of Black Women Educators’ Extraordinary Literacies, Francheska Denise Starks

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Dissertations

This dissertation follows in the footsteps of numerous scholars who have called for the explicit and intentional integration of Black women’s experiences, knowledge, and wisdom into academic research and more specifically into research that aims to dismantle educational inequities. Grounded in Black feminist theories and methodologies as well my own positionality as a Black woman, this dissertation aims to broaden the ways that a historically praxis-oriented body of research in elementary education, critical literacies research, is theorized and enacted by integrating more thoroughly Black women's ways of knowing. My goal is not to essentialize Black women as a monolithic group; …

Maternal-Fetal Relationship In Pregnancy After Perinatal Loss Among African American Women, Jeri M. Antilla

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Explore perceptions of chronic stressors of African American women before, during and after a perinatal loss and during a subsequent pregnancy to a loss. Explore the perceptions of stress and loss and its association with establishing a positive maternal-fetal relationship early in subsequent pregnancies to a perinatal loss.

Design: Qualitative study using thematic analysis was conducted.

Setting: Participants were recruited from clinics where women receive care, perinatal loss support groups, community centers, churches, hair salons, and social media throughout the United States.

Participants: African American women (n=22), who reported a history of pregnancy loss at >14 weeks gestation or …

In Defense Of Black Women: Black Women Advocacy And The National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People, 1945–1995, Crystal Mederies Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

In the period following World War II, the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP) served as the longest standing and most experienced organization

serving African Americans. It was during this postwar period, from 1945 to 1995, that its

membership boomed at the regional and local levels and the organization worked to ensure

federal anti-discrimination policies benefited black Americans through their various branches. In

this dissertation, which draws on research from the NAACP archives, I argue that from 1945 to

1995 the NAACP addressed the needs of black women by advocating for them in housing

struggles, employment litigation, …

Becoming A Mom: Intersectionality And Fashion Consumption For Millennial Latinas And The Role Of Social Media Influencers, Leslie M. Cuevas

Doctoral Dissertations

When it comes to motherhood for women of color, the topic of women empowerment is scarce, and the media mostly portrays Latinas through traditional ethnic stereotypes. The advent of social media has presented women the opportunity to engage in identity formation as they exercise empowerment in choices and self-monitoring online. A good example of this transition in power involves fashion influencers who use their personal influence to change the meaning of motherhood, making it more accessible and realistic to women in general. However, a lack of diversity remains within the influencer industry as white women are the majority. Drawing upon …

Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis Of Black Characters And Racial Discourses In Obama-Era Films., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes how black characters across twenty movies released in the years 2006-2018 inspire, coach, “save,” or “rescue” other characters. Studies on “savior” characters in film tend to focus on white savior characters who seek to “save” people of color from harm. When comparing black characters and white saviors, I find that black characters use three specific strategies—revolution, vigilantism, and altruism —to help other characters. The characters who use the revolution and vigilantism strategies seem to be what I call “black saviors” who work to fight against institutional and systemic racism to save the black diaspora. Altruistic characters seem …

African Refugee Women In Egypt: Lacunae In International Refugee Law And The Erasure Of Disadvantaged Groups, Wigdan Mohamad

Theses and Dissertations

Migration is not a recent phenomenon. From the first humans, to people all around the globe today, leave their homes in search of a better life. Since February 2020, Egypt, an attractive destination due to its strategic geolocation, homes the “fifth largest urban refugee population in the world ”. Persecution, political instability, climate degradation, protracted conflicts, unrest, and new wars throughout Africa and Middle Eastern region has caused a dramatic rise of refugees, many of whom make their way to Egypt with the hopes of finding refuge. Egypt hosts a diverse community of refugees, asylum-seekers, and failed asylum-seekers from 58 …

On Love And Treason: Critical White Feminist Thought For Social Justice Praxis, Amanda Joyce Parker

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This dissertation is a theoretical piece that examines the positionality of white women in upholding white supremacy and a framework for critical white feminist thought that will move white women toward a self-reflexive and self-implicating praxis. A white matriarchy (Parker, 2018) is fully conceptualized as part of a powerful subsystem that operates under white supremacy. Concepts, such as a race-gender bribe and white women’s negative solidarity (Combahee River Collective, 1977), are exposed and discussed as part of the workings of white matriarchy. White emotionality (Matias, 2015), intergenerational whiteness, and antiracist parenting are also analyzed. I also suggest possibilities for resistance …

(In)Visible Lives: Exploring Lesbian Migrant Spaces Of Belonging In South Africa, Kayla Baumgartner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores how and where lesbian migrant women living in South Africa feel a sense of belonging. Despite South Africa having legal and constitutional protections for sexual minorities and refugees, both groups of individuals face high amounts of homophobic and xenophobically motivated persecution. Little work has explored the unique challenges that migrants who are also sexual minorities can face as a result of their intersecting identities, and this is particularly true for work that looks at the lives of lesbian migrants.

With principles of narrative inquiry serving as methodological guidelines, this study uses interviews and solicited sketch maps from …

Microaggressions: The Lived Experiences Of Lgbt Graduate Students At A Southern University, Amy Broadwater

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Established microaggression research highlights the internalized effects of microaggressive experiences. Microaggressions have been linked to PTSD, identity development difficulties, depression, low-self-esteem, anxiety, and relationship difficulties. Research regarding members of the LGBT community suggests LGBT students face adversity in systems of higher education. In fact, existing literature iterates that among marginalized and underrepresented groups, that college climates are least accepting of people who are LGBT. Further research establishes that perceived negative campus climates can affect how well LGBT students do in the academic arena and could affect attrition if not dealt with by administration. Previous studies have highlighted LGBT undergraduate students’ …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And First-Generation Latinx Student Sense Of Belonging, Rachel Abel

Dissertations

This qualitative research study assessed the impact of culturally relevant pedagogy on first-generation Latinx student sense of belonging at an emerging Hispanic serving institution (HSI). This study adds to current literature around culturally relevant pedagogy, which focused on the close, meaningful relationships between faculty and students in the classroom (Ladson-Billings, Gay, Wlodkowski, & Ginsberg, Stembridge, et al.). The link to sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) demonstrated the importance of academic and non-academic setting connections that led to other social and academic outcomes, which include student satisfaction, motivation to study, and perseverance in completion of a post-secondary. A transformative …

Minor Subjects: Power And Inequity In Children's And Adolescent Literature, Wesley Jacques

Theses and Dissertations

In this project, I examine theoretical parameters of what has historically been considered American children’s and adolescent literature to further complicate its subject matter. The importance of reconsidering subjects is upheld here as key to challenging longstanding cultural and political inequities in the reading and teaching of literature broadly. Nonetheless, as this project contends, children’s and adolescent literature as a discipline is uniquely positioned to examine political power and challenge major power structures, not in spite of its presumed minor position in academic and literary discourse, but largely because of it. Thus, what follows is an inquiry into contemporary theories …

Black Women In Higher Education Leadership: Examining Their Lived Experiences Utilizing Cross-Race And Cross-Gender Mentorship, Jerica C. Nickerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Literature has suggested that mentorship is one of the most crucial and influential components for career advancement. However, Black women leaders in higher education are faced with a difficult task of selecting a mentor based on similar characteristics, which leads Black women who are seeking mentoring opportunities to select a mentor of a different race or gender. This phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to understand and describe the lived experiences of cross-race and cross-gender mentorship for a select group of Black women leaders in higher education, using Black feminist thought and intersectionality as the theoretical framework. A purposive sample of …

Politically And Historically Bound: Examining Whiteness And Intersectionality Among Self-Identified Feminists, Olivia M. Mclaughlin

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the perspectives and beliefs of 23 self-identified feminists who are White. Specifically, it explored whether—and if so, to what extent—Whites have adopted intersectionality. Intersectional feminism refers to the activism and scholarship that recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of power and privilege and stands in contrast to the white-centered feminism that has dominated most feminist spaces since the suffrage movement. Since Kimberlé Crenshaw’s seminal article where the concept of intersectionality was formally introduced to the academy, feminist scholars have characterized the most recent wave of feminism as the intersectional wave. This third, intersectional wave of feminist movement is believed …

Black Students At-Risk: The Problem Of Overrepresentation In The Student Success Program At Fss, Ekwutosi Onyedimma Odozor

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

In Farmside Secondary School (FSS), Black students are disproportionately identified as "at-risk" and are overrepresented on the student success teacher list. The school climate survey, supported by literature, indicates that racialized students feel targeted, excluded and marginalized in their classrooms. In FSS, social stressors such as systemic oppression, deficit interpretations, non-inclusive learning environments, and inadequate access to supportive structures create gaps. Given the threats these social stressors pose to Black student success, this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) frames the problem within the context of FSS and provides transformative approaches to the problem. While this OIP creates awareness of the …

Subverting The Narrative: Addressing Gaps In The Medical Model Of Mental Health Through Expressive Arts And Critical Race Feminism Paradigms, Sofiya Kostareva

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper discusses the problematic theoretical underpinnings of the medical model of mental health, first examining the historical development of the mental health field. Reviewing literature on the paradigms of expressive arts therapy, critical race feminism, and the medical model of mental health, the author argues how systemic oppression in such forms as racism, classism and ableism contribute to the issues of mental health accessibility for individuals who possess historically marginalized identities in the United States. The paper concludes with a claim around expressive arts therapy’s capacity toward addressing the theoretical challenges in providing meaningful intersectional care toward diverse populations …

Being Counted: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of The Power Of Black Women's Giving At Historically White Institutions, Chandra Jada Harris-Mccray

Doctoral Dissertations

Philanthropy has shaped American higher education. Historically, colleges and universities were created for White men, and philanthropy has fallen into the same pattern of privilege. Often seen as invisible, African American alumnae and their giving motivations, influences, and capabilities are untapped and unrecognized at historically White institutions (HWIs). Led by the fundamental research question of what factors facilitate or impede giving behaviors of African American alumnae to HWIs, the purpose of this two-phase, transformative exploratory, sequential mixed methods research study was to understand how the attitudes, motivations, and behaviors of African American alumnae, in consideration of the intersections of race …

Unsolicited Narratives: The Experiences Of Afro-Caribbean Women As Mathematics Learners And As Mathematics Educators In U.S. Institutions Of Higher Education, Dihema R. Longman, Dihema R. Longman

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

Afro-Caribbean immigrant women are part of the brilliant makeup of Black excellence in the United States. Nevertheless, the experiences of Afro-Caribbean women as mathematics learners and as mathematics educators in U.S. institutions of higher education have yet to gain interest among researchers. These experiences are too often absent in the literature or are more times than not buried within categories such as women, foreign-born, or “Other” (Alfred & Swaminathan, 2004; Lather, 1991). When the experiences of Afro-Caribbean women are the focus of research, that inquiry rarely extends into the discipline of mathematics (Beck, 2010; King Miller, 2013) and is nearly …

Yes, We Like Math Too! - African American Women Mathematics Educators? Stories Of Success, Katrina E. Stanfield

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

For centuries, stories of the successes of African American women in mathematics have been somewhat invisible from history books. Their accomplishments, research, and inventions have been buried, stolen, omitted, and overlooked—in a word, hidden (Shetterly, 2016). The purpose of this study is to bring these accomplishments to the forefront by exploring the narratives of African American women mathematics educators. Considering the United States’ tumultuous history of racial and gender oppression and inequality, the plight and contributions of African American women mathematicians has often gone unrecorded and uncelebrated.

Womanism (A. Walker, 1984), therefore, was used as a frame of analysis to …