Education Commons^™

The Relationship Between Role Models, Socioeconomic Mobility Beliefs, And Academic Outcomes, Christian Koeu, Marisol Espinoza Garcia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Objective: This study aims to provide insights into the relationships between role models, socioeconomic mobility beliefs and the education outcomes of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. While previous studies highlight the positive influence of role models on academic and career aspirations, the specific relationship between role models and socioeconomic beliefs remains unexplored. Our study addresses this gap by examining whether the presence of role models relates with more optimistic socioeconomic beliefs and how these beliefs, in turn, affect academic outcomes (academic engagement, academic intentions, and grade point average [GPA]). Additionally, we investigate the influence of role model characteristics to …

Take A Closer Look: Combating Ageism Through The Use Of Children's Literature, Janice Buehrer

Honors Projects

This project was completed as my final honors project for Bowling Green State University in the spring of 2024. I wrote and illustrated the children's book, "Take a Closer Look," designed for kindergarten through second-grade children. The goal of the book is to be used as a value-socialization device to instill positive perspectives on aging within younger generations. The book itself is meant to be an intergenerational tool as adults read the book about older adults to children, reaching the entire lifespan.

Examining The Influence Of Adult Mentors On Fostering Prosocial Behaviors Among Teens, John H. Weaver Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addressed a critical public health concern stemming from the prevalence of antisocial behavior among U.S. teenagers. The study specifically tackled the lack of information regarding the components of an effective risk-reduction mentoring program for teens. The primary aim was to explore how young adult alums of a central Florida mentoring program articulated the influence of mentoring relationships that have shaped their attitudes and perceptions concerning prosocial behavior during adolescence. As a bounded qualitative case study, this research employed semistructured interviews with 11 young adult mentees from a mentoring program. Additionally, a focus group of five adult mentors who …

Place Matters: The Role Of Public Libraries As Change Agents In Central Appalachia, Jasmyne R. Lewis

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The role of public libraries is changing in response to a multitude of influences and trends. The exponential growth of technology as the primary method of information access, funding challenges, changing demographics, and other mitigating factors have forced public libraries to become more than book repositories. Community library leaders and governing board members are faced with challenges such as decreased funding, community division regarding library services, and soaring costs for library materials and services, as they develop and adopt policies and practices to navigate this ever-changing environment.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to collect data from the public …

Transforming Land And Home Ownership: Emergent Strategy And Community Cultural Wealth In Developing Community Land Trusts, Ahmed Naguib

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the transformative potential of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in reimagining land and homeownership within the context of capitalist real estate markets. Utilizing a qualitative research framework that combines narrative inquiry with Emergent Strategy and Community Cultural Wealth theories, this study explores the intricacies of developing CLTs as a counter-narrative to traditional models of property ownership. Through extensive narrative analysis of four distinct CLTs in California, this research highlights the complex challenges and innovative strategies employed to scale CLTs in competitive urban markets. The findings reveal how CLTs leverage emergent strategy and community cultural wealth to navigate and …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Do Fishery Meeting Attendees Represent The Fishing Industries?, Dominique Seibert

LSU Master's Theses

Public meetings are a highly utilized tool for disseminating important or useful information. Many agencies rely on them to reach various stakeholders and community representation at these meetings is important. A substantial amount of research has been conducted on various aspects of public meetings including different techniques, factors impacting attendance, and representativeness, that is attendees’ opinions representing the opinions at-large. A noticeable gap in the research includes information on public fishery meetings, commercial fishing industries, and their members’ participation. With the U.S. commercial fishing industries supporting more than a million jobs and providing more than a 200-billion-dollar economic impact annually, …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Creating Systemic Support: Cross-Sector Partnerships As A Catalyst To Institutional Transformation For Southeast Asian Student Support, Brianna Lourdes Edoria Pascua

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper investigates the potential impact of cross-sector partnerships between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and universities on the educational attainment of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, particularly those from disenfranchised or nontraditional backgrounds. Guided by the research question, "Can cross-sector partnerships between NPOs and universities contribute to increased educational attainment among SEAA students?", the study seeks to comprehensively explore SEAA student experiences, challenge the Model Minority Stereotype, enrich SEAA higher educational achievement literature, underline the significance of disaggregated data and cross-sector collaborations, and create an adaptable framework for other communities. By adopting an Asian Critical Race Theory (AsianCrit) lens, the research …

Beyond Carceral "Solutions": Using Transformative Human Rights Education In Domestic Violence Prevention, Alli E. Rios

Master's Projects and Capstones

Domestic violence is a choice a person makes to gain and exert absolute power and control over another person. Unfortunately, the predominant structure for addressing domestic violence - the criminal justice system - is rife with problematic social and structural constructs, like patriarchy, white supremacy, and neoliberalism, which are themselves rooted in issues of power and control (Acheson, 2022). The influence of these factors, which are largely defined by exploitative hierarchies, helps to explain why domestic violence remains prevalent. To more effectively address and prevent domestic violence, research suggests that comprehensive policy and curricular reform are necessary on multiple levels …

Triumph After Trauma: A Phenomenological Exploration Into Women Survivor’S Perceptions Of The Influence Of Trauma On Their Leadership, Natalya R. Bannister Roby

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most research around trauma is focused on negative life consequences. Although limited, there is research that explores the influence of resilience and how some survivors may experience growth after trauma (Kirschman, 2004). Furthermore, research is limited on how trauma influences the leadership style and career trajectories of women who have overcome trauma. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used as the methodological framework to explore the perspectives of women leaders who identify as survivors or overcomers of trauma. The study participants are women leaders in middle management positions to senior-level executives in educational organizations serving middle and high school students.

In-depth …

Mentoring: The Factors That Contribute To Persistence To Graduation For African American Males In Predominantly White Institutions In Missouri, Paula Miller

Dissertations

Due to several decisions by the United States Supreme Court in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, African Americans were granted access to PWI’s of higher education. However, African Americans still face challenges in obtaining post-secondary education. For example, in 2019 – 2020, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2021), 13.1% of African Americans graduated with master’s degrees. Additionally, in 2020, 19% of African Americans attained a post-secondary degree in Missouri (Towncharts.com, 2021).

Despite access, the number of African Americans obtaining degrees remains low. And, when the lens is focused on African American males, the numbers are …

Effects Of Social Distance And Stigma On Reduction In Loneliness: A Social Discounting Pricedure, Abby J. Lemaster

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Abby J. LeMaster on September 30, 2022.

Blaqueer And Here: Black Queer And Trans Students’ Path To Thriving, Marvens Pierre

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

In this study, I have investigated the ways in which Black queer and trans students have (or have not) fostered community, lived authentically, and benefitted from support of their identity development. I explored what support (or lack thereof) and identity development that exists within the realm of predominantly White higher educational institutions as well as San Diego community resources at large. This study approach consisted of conducting strategic outreach to universities in San Diego, California, and building community circles to facilitate processes of qualitative narrative analysis. This led to an intentional focus group dialogue space that allowed the participants to …

Intergroup Dialogue: Affecting Real Change, Lauryn Hulett

Honors Projects

Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) is a course adapted from The University of Michigan. In this Honors Project, a systematic literature review is done from eleven sources in hopes to theorize best practices and areas of improvement amongst applications of Intergroup Dialogue.

Social Justice And The Us Food System: A Critical Course On The Human Dimensions Of Food, Ali Brooks

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

Our world is made up of overlapping political, environmental, and economic spheres that engender social injustice and inequality. Though separate societal issues can seem divergent and unconnected, they are all linked together by one universal necessity: food. Because everyone eats, everyone is connected to—and dependent on—food and the systems that govern it. However, the impacts of our industrial food system are not felt equally among people who hold different positions of power within it.

Today’s industrial food complex operates on the capitalist principle of profit accumulation through exploitation, commodification, and extraction. This set of relations is not defined by scale …

Healing Racial Injustice With Mindfulness Research, Training, & Practice, Danielle "Danae" Laura

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This thesis offers a collection of authors and studies in support of improved research, training, and practice connecting mindfulness with racial justice through intergroup applications. The paper identifies barriers at work (e.g., colorblindness, spiritual bypass, white fragility, and implicit bias) in contemplative science, Western Buddhist communities, and secular mindfulness centers, which block the sizeable contributions possible in studying the intergroup application of mindfulness practice—specifically Lovingkindness Meditation, among others—when used as an intervention with anti-racist aims. Through secondary qualitative research, I reviewed six key works from Black authors on mindfulness and race, as well as six sample studies on the prosocial …

Honor Thyself, Alonzo O. Williams

Dance (MFA) Theses

The black male experience and identity in America are filled with complexity. We struggle to know ourselves. We work to see the way of love and the peace of an unviolated free spirit. We want to engage with ourselves with the highest degree of freedom and comfort, not to continue to question our identity in a life-threatening white patriarchal masculinity ideal. Honoring oneself from the lenses of the Reconstruction era of the United States is essential. Reconceptualizing this history explores the significance of emphasizing Reconstruction in my life as a black male to go through a process of self-discovery and …

Facultas Marginem: Assessing Disability Data And Public Aau Universities’ Affirmative Action Plans For Systemic Barriers Facing Faculty With Disabilities, Joseph Carlton Barry

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation contributes to education equity scholarship produced by academics seeking to develop understandings of disability, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and how both are situated amongst faculty in institutions of higher education. As such, this dissertation centers on a study of public US universities belonging to the Association of American Universities (AAU). This study looks for institutional level associations between respective rates by which college and university faculty with disabilities (FWD) are employed, certain aspects of disability policy drawn from each institution’s 2020 Affirmative Action Plans (AAP), and various other instances of empirical disability data (EDD).

While this study contributes …

An Exploration Of Black Church Leaders' Intentions To Develop Critical Consciousness Among African-American Students, Taheesha Quarells

Dissertations

African-American students experience human capital opportunity and achievement gaps. Researchers have called for culturally relevant strategies to help close the gaps. The historic Black Church, a part of many African-American students’ culture and community, is a historic and current source of social capital for positive human capital development outcomes. Critical consciousness develops positive human capital outcomes, such as academic achievement, in African-American and other minority students. Much of the literature on critical consciousness is quantitative in nature and therefore does not include the intentions or the willingness of organizations to develop critical consciousness. Therefore, there is a need to understand …

Understanding The Relationship Between Resources In Institutional Characteristics And Student Mobilization In Higher Education Institutions, Michael R. Carhart

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In 2015, a national student organization called the Black Liberation Collective, composed of local student organizations at multiple institutions, initiated, led protests, and issued demands to institutions across the United States. The student organizations that mobilized occurred at institutions with more resources including higher endowments, tuition, and faculty wages. This study used cross-sectional data on 4-year public and private not-for-profit institutions from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to investigate the institutional characteristics that predict student organizations that protested. Evidence indicates that institutions that are more selective and have larger enrollment sizes with higher percentages of undergraduate Black students and …

Religious Leadership: Agents Of Social Change, Jacqueline Carter

Dissertations

Historically, churches in the United States acquired respect as institutions that cultivated spiritual maturity and advocated for social equality in Black communities. Religious leaders represent the voice of reason for communities facing complex social problems, then and today. How educational attainment influences religious leaders’ social action strategies and decisions to engage or disengage in social activism is under explored. Additionally, it is unclear what strategies religious leaders use for social advocacy in their communities. Using andragogy and social cognitive theory as theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the educational experiences of religious leaders to understand …

Spirits In The Dark: Black Community Education And The Light It Bears, Sydoni A. Ellwood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Spirits in the Dark” is a digital space dedicated to the efforts of Black community education. It memorializes the commitment and strategies of spirits, light bearers like Mary McLeod Bethune and Huey Newton – people who devoted their lives to the fortification of their communities via education. This project also presents a variety of answers to one specific question: What lessons can school leaders and educators incorporate from community-controlled education programs to make learning spaces affirming and engaging for Black students? In totality, the digital space contributes to conversations in urban education and sociology, specifically the ones being held around …

Job Satisfaction And Stressors: The Direct Support Professional's Experience, Saralynn Emery

Master's Theses

The current service system for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is provided in the form of community-based support. This support is carried out by Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who provide one-on-one services to individuals in their homes, workplaces, and communities. The current system is undergoing a turnover crisis and there is an enormous need for a quality and reliable workforce of DSPs to continue to carry out services. Previous research has explored factors that contribute to DSP burnout and ultimately turnover. By researching the DSP role from the DSP experience directly, this study examines other factors that contribute to …

Youth Character Building Programs: Why They’Re Important, Celeste Arroyo

Criminology Student Work

No abstract provided.

Adult Education For Japanese Immigrant Community: Social Bonding To Social Bridging, Naomi Nakamura

Community Engagement Student Work

Many Japanese who have been living in the U.S. for more than decades identify themselves as Japanese, not U.S. citizens. This so called transnational identity has an impact on how they assimilate or integrate to American social life. The purpose of this project is to explore the better learning environment and the effects of education for Japanese adult immigrants who may not actively participate in local communities. A workshop was held with Japanese residents in the Boston area to explore microaggressions and how people can think about their engagement with their communities. Workshop evaluation findings suggested that there is a …

Educating For Democracy: Policy Recommendations For The Revitalization Of Civic Learning In The United States, Meghan E. O'Brien

Community Engagement Student Work

The recent decades have brought upon a dramatic shift in the United States’ political and social climate. Increases in ideological polarization and extremism have taken hold as individual trust, knowledge, and participation in democratic processes has declined (Gould et al., 2011). These trends have contributed to the rising severity of social issues facing the United States - climate change, income inequality, systemic racism - as well as an inability to collectively address these issues. The need for a solution to these trends has never been greater as the nation struggles to perfect a democratic structure in which citizens are equitably …

The Policy Of Substance Abuse In Liberia: Analysis And Recommendations, Yamah Dolo

Community Engagement Student Work

Countries all over the globe are affected by substance abuse. Substance abuse is a traumatic issue that people around the world battle. Substance use has occurred for many years and seems to keep increasing. According to Parekh, “Substance use disorder (SUD) is complex a condition in which there is uncontrolled use of a substance despite harmful consequence.” (Parekh, 2017). Substance abuse has a significant effect on health, an individual’s well-being, families, relationships, and the post-war community. However, with the information on Liberia, little is known about the substance abuse cases. Liberia is a country that has no health, and there …

Complicating Homelessness: A Workshop For Students And Volunteers, Madeline Wadley

Community Engagement Student Work

Homelessness effects 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States, and approximately 22 out of every 10,000 people in the city of Asheville, NC. Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina (HBWNC) is a nonprofit organization working to prevent and end homelessness in Asheville through low-barrier services and Housing First practices. HBWNC relies on volunteers from the community and higher education institutions for support in running its programs. While most volunteer training focuses on the day-to-day tasks, boundaries, and procedures related to volunteering with HBWNC, this project focuses on the importance of giving volunteers a solid understanding of homelessness …

Incorporating Environmental Justice Into Youth Education, Morgan F. Prittie

Community Engagement Student Work

Social Justice is a concept which is often glossed over or excluded from student education, particularly the issues associated with Environmental Justice. Discrimination, oppression, and poor environmental practices all coalesce into dangerously impactful issues, which can be combated by further education and exposure. This project seeks to spread awareness of Environmental Justice issues, provide educators with the tools to implement social justice education, and express the importance of such exposure to students. This interdisciplinary project utilizes the facilitation of a workshop with lessons, activities, and opportunities for participants to engage in discussions. The goal of the workshop was to describe …