Education Commons^™

The Empowerment Of Academic Women Leaders At Saudi Universities And Its Relationship To Their Administrative Creativity, Azala M. Al Ghamdi

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the influence of leaders’ sense of psychological empowerment for women leaders on those leaders’ administrative creativity in both established and emerging universities in Saudi Arabia. The five guiding research questions were used at both established and emerging Saudi universities: (1) what are both male and female leaders’ perceptions of women leaders’ psychological empowerment? (2) What are their perceptions of the administrative creativity among women leaders? (3) How do perceptions of both psychological empowerment and administrative creativity differ between male and female leaders and between established and emerging universities? (4) What other …

Factors Influencing Accessibility To American Public Higher Education, Angela Leanne Bryan

Dissertations

Since their inception in the early 1900s, community colleges have been about making higher education accessible. While their initial purpose was to overcome the geography barrier to higher education, the mission of community colleges and higher education on the whole has expanded over time to mitigate other barriers to higher education to include gender, race, religion, and socioeconomic barriers. As public support for higher education has changed over time, institutions have had to change their tuition and fee structure to make up the budget shortfall created by the decreases in public funding. How have these changes impacted accessibility to public …

The Impact Of Denominational Affiliation On Organizational Sense Of Belonging And Commitment Of Adjunct Faculty At Bible Colleges And Universities, Kimberly M. Pilieci

Dissertations

The majority of faculty in higher education, including secular and biblical institutions, are adjunct faculty. The literature suggests that adjunct faculty are less effective and satisfied, and have weaker organizational sense of belonging (OSB) and affective organizational commitment (AOC). Denominational affiliation (DA) and religious commitment (RC) might mitigate the adjunct faculty’s feelings regarding OSB and AOC, but no research has pursued this set of questions. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of denominational affiliation and religious commitment on organizational sense of belonging and affective organizational commitment among the sample population, adjunct faculty at colleges and …

From Novice To Independent Researcher: A Content Analysis Of Phd Student Blogs, Sarah J. Cox

Dissertations

The work of completing a PhD is complex, requiring a student to make sense of many uncertain processes in multiple contexts as they move toward independent scholarship. A setting that provides support in learning the tasks of PhD-related work is the informal learning environment of the Internet. Social media sites, such as blogs and wikis, supply a vast number of resources related to PhD work. Of particular interest to this study, are blog sites maintained by students who are sharing practices related to PhD work. It is possible to use a qualitative method to explore what blogs show us about …

Preparing Future Leaders: An Ethnographic Study Exploring The Culture Of Succession Planning And Leader Development In Christian Higher Education, Andrew Barton

Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore the culture of succession planning and leader development at Lipscomb University, using the 5C’s: Strategies for succession planning in the academy model. In the face of unprecedented disruption and complexity, the review of literature suggested the higher education sector in the United States is largely underprepared for the upcoming exodus and shortage of leaders. With religiously-affiliated institutions accounting for more than one in five colleges and universities in the US, there were no visible studies attending to succession planning and leader development in Christian higher education. Given the important contribution …

A Leading University With International Reach: Internationalization At Western Kentucky University, David M. Kerr

Dissertations

Internationalization has become a central feature of American universities and has continued to grow in importance as administrators, teachers, and students desire to take advantage of the multitude of benefits (academic, social/cultural, economic, and political) successful internationalization can offer. Several studies have been conducted on internationalization in higher education, but research is needed that seeks to understand internationalization on an institutional level, i.e., the commonly accepted practices used to internationalize a university, the various rationales used to justify internationalization, and the common challenges associated with internationalization.

The goal of this phenomenological study is to examine the process of implementing internationalization …

Graduate Student Retention: An Examination Of Factors Affecting Persistence Among Master's Program Students At Comprehensive Public Institutions, Scott S. Gordon

Dissertations

This study focuses on persistence efforts at the master’s level at regional comprehensive public institutions, with student interviews and document research used as data sources. The interviews are conducted with students who are currently enrolled in or have graduated from master’s programs at one of the two institutions studied, while the documents examined were texts for internal and external constituencies.

While Tinto’s Longitudinal Model of Doctoral Persistence is used as a guide for the research, a variety of student retention models are examined that encompass both undergraduate and doctoral persistence. Challenges include the lack of models specifically intended for master’s …

Profiles Of Academic Commitment, Anna Jill Womack

Dissertations

Tinto (1993) found that only 15-25% of students who dropped out of college did so due to academic failure, while the reasons for leaving among the remaining group of students who dropped out were unknown. This suggests that the majority of students who drop out of college are likely doing so for reasons other than academic struggles. Researchers have suggested that individuals who are committed to their major are more likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree (Bowling, Beehr, & Lepisto, 2006; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007; Duffy, Dik, & Steger, 2011; Goulet & Singh, 2002; Landrum & Mulcock, 2007), indicating …

The Lived Experiences Of Conditionally Admitted College Students, Ashley J. Wildman

Dissertations

College students vary in their preparedness for higher education. While low high school grades and standardized test scores are associated with poor college performance, many colleges and universities admit at least a few academically underprepared students in order to maintain a certain student body size, meet goals for ethnic or socioeconomic diversity, or recruit students with certain artistic or athletic skills (Hossler & Kalsbeek, 2009; Mapes, 2011; Parisi 2012; Zwick, 2007). In order to help academically underprepared students such as these, some institutions admit students who do not meet regular admissions standards “conditionally” and offer them specialized programs to provide …

Conceptualization, Measurement, And Effects Of Helicopter Parenting On College Students From The Millennial Generation, Baochun Z. Hind

Dissertations

The social phenomenon of helicopter parenting (HP) has been rapidly growing. Although HP is generally characterized as overly involved parents who “hover” over their college student children (Cline & Fay, 1990), and some research efforts have been made in recent years on understanding the construct of HP, an essential weakness of the majority of these studies is the inadequate conceptualization of HP, both theoretically and operationally. The aim of the current study was to develop a new scale to measure the construct of helicopter parent controlling (HPC), and three questions were used to guide this study: (1) What are the …

A Study Of The Academic And Personal Impacts Of A Literacy Intervention Course: Stories From Stakeholders, Jeremy Ray Logsdon

Dissertations

This study aims to illuminate, via the qualitative method of portraiture, the academic and personal impacts of both faculty and student stakeholders of a literacy intervention course, offered as an alternative to the traditional developmental reading model, taught at a regional southeastern United States four-year public university. Students who enrolled in the course from the semesters of fall 2012 to fall 2015 were given the opportunity to complete a survey about their experiences with the literacy intervention course. Faculty stakeholders were interviewed for their perspective on course creation, implementation, and delivery, focusing on the six curricular core competencies of reading …

Birth Of A Powerhouse: How One University Reimagined, Restructured, And Revived Outreach, Slone H. Cansler

Dissertations

Today’s modern higher education landscape presents myriad challenges to higher education leaders and administrators. Among those challenges is how universities respond to demands for accountability, growth of alternative models of postsecondary education delivery, the need to serve and increasingly diverse society, and reduced state and federal appropriations. Research suggests that the biggest changes for American higher education are imminent and will necessitate new business models, new forms of collaboration and partnerships, and innovative about the enterprise of higher education. This study sought to gain understanding about the development process and structural framework that allows a university’s outreach unit to be …

Females In Automotive Careers: Career Decision-Making Influences And Experiences During University Preparation And Beyond, Russell A. Leonard Jr.

Dissertations

Today, women fill nearly 50% of the jobs in the U.S. economy (U.S. Dept. of Labor, 2014). While women are making progress in many careers once considered male only, they are still underrepresented in the male-dominated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers, filling only 25% of available STEM jobs (Beede et al., 2011). The problem is not a lack of interest in STEM subjects, but a “leaky pipeline” that develops early in adolescence. By the eighth grade, half as many girls are interested in STEM careers as boys (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2007). Even after graduation from college, women …

The Relationship Of The Type Of Academic Advising And Parental Types On The Transition Of Freshmen Students To College, Elizabeth Ruth Gordon

Dissertations

The field of academic advising has evolved to incorporate more developmental approaches to academic advising, which includes analyzing a college student's personal or academic experience, as well as future career aspirations. An avenue of understanding a student’s background would be to understand the parental type to which students have been exposed. This study attempts to determine if there are relationships between academic advising type, parental type and transition of the freshmen college student. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of the academic advising types, including developmental and prescriptive advising, and parental types, whether permissive, authoritative, and …

Our Voice, Our Choice: Race, Politics And Community Building On The Pages Of Five Historically Black College And University Newspapers From 1930 To 1959, Sheryl Monique Kennedy Haydel

Dissertations

From 1930 to 1959, the black college student-run press was a prolific voice leading discussions about ways to eradicate racial discrimination, amass political currency, and nurture communal solidarity. Embedded in their mission was a desire to awaken their readers intellectually and emotionally to join a mounting movement toward racial liberation. Yet, historians have ignored this expansive network of black collegian editors and writers, who were a philosophical extension of the professional Black Press.

Like their mentors in the Black Press, black college student editors and writers vigorously advocated for racial equality, took a combative stance against political gerrymandering that left …

Dual Enrollment Efficacy On College Readiness As Perceived By High School Dual Enrollment Teachers And Counselors In South Alabama, Shulanda Stallworth Franks

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Dual Enrollment teachers and high school counselors to compare and determine whether there are significant differences between their perceptions of college readiness among DE participants in South Alabama. Data was analyzed and presented based on its relevance to effectiveness. This study is relevant because scholars are unclear about the effects of DE on college readiness.

This research was designed to close some of the gaps in the literature and help education stakeholders to identify effective mechanisms to continue to develop and promote the Dual Enrollment program. This study examined …

The Use Of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis For Academic Progress And Degree Completion, Joshua William Schutts

Dissertations

College student retention and graduation are important to students, institutions, and the community. Institutions must commit to understanding why students persist and depart in order to address student success. As a result, institutions and governmental entities have increased the emphasis they place on using data to improve student success and degree completion. An abundance of research suggests that background factors (such as high school GPA and ACT score) combined with environmental factors (such as one’s major and first semester GPA) are predictive of student success. However, the literature has yet to explore the value of ROC curve analysis as a …

Tales From The Field: A Phenomenological Study On The Unique Challenges Iraq/Afghanistan Ptsd Veterans Experience While Attending A Community College In Southern California, Nick N. Arman

Dissertations

With the downsizing of U.S. military personnel and increased educational benefits offered by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, many Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans will enroll in a community college for education and training opportunities (Vacchi, 2012). A review of literature revealed the majority of OIF/OEF combat veterans in higher education suffered from symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Ackerman, DiRamio, & Garza Mitchell, 2009; American Council on Education, 2009; Cate, 2014). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the unique challenges experienced by OIF/OEF veterans diagnosed with PTSD when attending community college …

Escaping The Remedial Curse: An Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Credit-Bearing Alternative To Traditional Developmental Education, Daniel J. Super

Dissertations

This study examined the impact of a credit-bearing intervention literacy course taught at a southeastern United States four-year public university on student retention rates and cumulative grade point average. Undergraduate students (N=1,038) entering the university from fall 2010 to spring 2013 classified as not college ready were assigned to the course as an alternative to a more traditional non-credit bearing developmental reading course.

Using binary logistic regression and hierarchical linear regression, two dependent outcome variables related to student success were measured to infer course effects: twoyear retention status, defined as enrolling at the institution two years successful course completion, and …

Does Global Citizenship Education Predict Identification With All Humanity?, Alpha Amber Scott Belt

Dissertations

Scholars and leaders agree institutions of higher education must prepare students to live, work and thrive in a global community. Nevertheless, there remains much discourse and debate surrounding what it actually means to be a global citizen, and what are the appropriate learning opportunities that will best serve to achieve this goal. This quantitative study examined whether or not participation in global citizenship education opportunities predicts how a student identifies him- or herself in relation to all humanity as measured using the Identification with All Humanity (IWAH) scale (McFarland et al., 2012). Four research questions were examined 1) does participation …

Exploration Of Experiences And Perceptions Of Saudi Arabian Students Within A Team Project Setting At An U.S. University, Ronald A. Mckean

Dissertations

Cultural differences between Saudi and American students produce immense challenges to a successful integrative acculturation. Positive experiences can not only enhance the education of international students, but also effect understandings and attitudes of local students, administrators, faculty, and staff. A greater implication of these experiences may be their influence on long term international relationships. Few qualitative studies have been conducted that examine the dynamics of the cultural integration of Saudi students with American students during the acculturation process.

The purpose of this qualitative research, therefore, is to describe and interpret the experiences and perceptions of Saudi Arabian students as they …

A Qualitative Study Of Factors Promoting Doctoral Attainment Of Second-Generation Mexican American Males From California, Jorge Chavarin

Dissertations

Research on second-generation Mexican American males who attain a doctoral degree is limited. Often, the data presented clusters Mexican Americans under the Latina/o or Hispanic ethnic group, focuses on factors that hindered educational attainment or details Latino male experiences in the context of their Latina female counterparts. Mexican-Americans are the largest subgroup of this ethnic group yet little is known about their post-secondary educational experiences. Rather than focusing on barriers, this study concentrated on the factors that influenced eight Mexican American males from California who attained their doctorates from a doctoral-granting university within California.

Arguably, the self-efficacious men of this …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Software-Based Training To Improve The Spatial Visualization Skills Of Students In Stem Disciplines In Higher Education Institutions, Peter Cole

Dissertations

This research investigates how software can be used to teach spatial skills leading to greater success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) fields. Existing research indicates that spatial skills can be taught and that good spatial skills are common to people who succeed in STEM fields. In this work, a software-only testing system with a direct targeted, training intervention module was implemented to measure and teach spatial skills using mental rotations, which are believed to be one of the most significant indicators of success in STEM fields. Spatial skills were tested using a standardized and validated test that measures …

The Influence Of Race And Ethnicity On Giving Among Latin@ Young Alumni From A Predominantly White Institution, Michael Bumbry

Dissertations

Little is known about the way in which alumni of color think about and exercise giving to higher education (Gasman & Anderson-Tomkins, 2003). The majority of research in alumni giving to higher education has not highlighted the unique elements of philanthropy within communities of color, promoting the assumption that they are not philanthropic compared to their White counterparts (Newman, 2004). This is problematic considering shifting educational, labor and economic demographics which suggest that people of color are enrolling and graduating from college at higher rates; entering the work force, and have increasing buying power. Further limiting scholars’ and practitioners’ understandings …

You're Kind Of Just Conditioned: Women And Female College Students' Defiance Of Dominant Social Messages In The Development Of Leader Self-Efficacy, Shannon Darracott Howes

Dissertations

Researchers have consistently found that women have lower leader self-efficacy (LSE) than men, despite being equally capable as leaders. This is problematic because LSE is associated with many benefits that support the development and enactment of leadership. Despite the importance of LSE, there is a dearth of research on the construct, particularly in the higher education context. This grounded theory study utilized semi-structured interviews with 12 undergraduate students who identified as females or women to explore how they developed LSE. Findings were related with four core concepts that were woven throughout the various categories of themes that comprised the grounded …

Dreamers And The College Dream: A Case Study Analysis Examining The Influences Of High Schools And High School Agents, Aliza Joy Gilbert

Dissertations

This dissertation study contributes to a nascent field of research on undocumented students and college access. Rooted in a conceptual framework of models of college choice, this study utilizes case study methodology to examine how a high school and its agents influence an undocumented student’s college choice process. The unit of analysis is a suburban public high school located in the Midwest.

Data collection included semi-structured interviews of students, teachers, counselors, and college counselors, observation of college counseling programs, and document review of college related materials. The constant comparative method was the primary system of data analysis. The coding process …

Symbolic Centers In The Background Or Units At The Forefront Of Change? Race Specific Cultural Centers And Student Support Programs And Their Potential Impact On Students Of Color, William Rodriguez

Dissertations

This study examined the potential impact race specific cultural centers and student support programs (CCSSPs) have on the leadership development of students of color. Data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership was used to answer two primary questions. The two primary questions focused on the potential impact of CCSSPs on leadership outcomes and the rates of participation in high-impact leadership practices. The analytic approach utilized “effect size” methodology while also conducting sample t-tests to compare means between CCSSP users and non-users and chi-square analysis for relationships between dependent categorical variables.

No findings emerged for leadership outcomes for the sample as …

The Relationship Between Financial Incentives And Perceptions Of Student Choice At Private Michigan Universities, Ndahwa Musa Masanja

Dissertations

Problem

The rising cost of getting a college or university degree gives millions of students “sticker shock” each year, and paying off student debt has only grown more difficult over time (Liberto, 2012). The College Board, a nonprofit group that runs the SAT exam, indicates that over the past decade, the average annual tuition for community college has risen 40% to $3,122 while the yearly cost at a four-year public university has risen 68% to $7,692. The escalating cost of higher education has inevitably influenced students’ choice of college or university (Felton, 2012). These high tuition costs make a college …

Musical Listening Interest, Socio-Demographic And Socio-Psychological Factors As Predictors Of Test Anxiety Among Students Of A Christian University In Jamaica, Wayne E. N. Ireland-Cleghorne

Dissertations

Problem

There is an enormous deficit in the literature on the factors associated with test anxiety generally, and test anxiety and music listening interest in particular, in the Caribbean region. This deficit is made even more distinct by the numerous studies that exist on test anxiety elsewhere and the effect it has on students’ behavior and performance in the classroom.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between musical listening interest and test anxiety, while controlling for variables that are deemed plausible predictors of test anxiety. Predictor variables utilized include sociodemographic factors such as gender, age, …

Identity Styles, Mediated By Commitment And Syncretism, As Predictors Of Undergraduate Students' Attitudes Toward Selected Discipleship Practice At Vally View University In Ghana In 2015: Implications For Religious Education, Juvenal Balisasa

Dissertations

Problem

The study of student life on campus has attracted numerous social science enquiries especially in the areas of spirituality, religiosity, and meaning making in life. Of particular interest has been the attempt to restore value-based education in Christian institutions of higher learning, taking cognizance of the need for cultural contextualization and the influence of postmodern ideology. This present study sought to examine the possible predictive role of identity styles, mediated by commitment and syncretism, in the attitudes towards discipleship practices among undergraduate students of Valley View University in Ghana, West Africa in 2015.

Method

The study employed the principles …