Education Commons^™

Unmasking Challenges Of African American Women At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis) Unveiling Phenomenological Realities And Prioritizing Well-Being, Alicia C. Perry

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses African American women's intricate challenges at predominantly white institutions (PWIs), exploring the outcomes of navigating a sense of belonging which eventually affects one's well-being within this professional context. The study employs a qualitative approach to delve into the experiences of those who work or have worked in the environment. By capturing the personal narratives of African American women in various roles at PWIs, the research aims to understand the intersectionality of race and gender dynamics impacting their professional lives. The literature review contextualizes the study by discussing the challenges identified in existing research, including the marginalization experiences …

Student Loan Debt And First-Generation Community College Students, Sandra A. Fuentes

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The rising costs of college attendance and changes in financial aid packages leave students with little option other than to incur a debt of some amount. Unfortunately, colleges often fail to provide adequate financial literacy and student loan information so prospective students planning to attend college can make informed decisions. Student loans may seem attractive in the short term because, unlike other loans, repayment does not begin immediately. However, the accrual of student loan debt leads to long-term financial consequences, including the opportunity to build economic wealth after graduation. Utilizing a basic qualitative research design, I explored first-generation community college …

Intrinsic Motivation Is Not Enough: Exploring The Decision To Pursue Promotion To Full Professor, Margaret Roberts

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The academic career path for tenure track faculty in most four-year universities in the United States allows those who earn tenure to make an individual choice about whether to pursue promotion to the rank of full professor. Limited research exists on the intrinsic motivators that individuals possess and draw upon to push past obstacles or challenges they encounter along their academic career journey. This study explored the role of intrinsic motivation in the decision of tenured associate professors to pursue promotion to full professor. Using a basic qualitative research design, this inquiry involved two in-depth interviews each with seven participants. …

Student Engagement, Experience, & Support Among Pre-Pharmacy Students, James J. Stack

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study was guided by Astin’s Student Involvement theory which explored student’s needs in a demanding program amongst 12 pre-pharmacy students at the University of the Pacific. This qualitative study looked to uncover the engagement, experiences, and support of pre-pharmacy students in order to learn what students want from their learning experiences; to aid in student success and retention. Qualitative interviews provided detailed stories to their pre-pharmacy experiences. Through a thorough analysis of the data seven themes emerged: (a) peer support (b) time management (c) exam structure (d) increased faculty support (e) housing placement (f) coping with stress (g) core …

Higher Education And The Dei Climate: Exploring And Understanding The Role Of Social Media, Self Esteem, And Intercultural Communication In Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Initiatives On The College Campus, Christian T. Cardona

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to understand the effects and levels of impact that a university student’s intercultural communication competence, social media usage, and self-esteem have on the students’ attitudes towards diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts implemented by institutions of higher education. By studying these three independent variables, this research seeks to improve the understanding of the university students’ attitudes on DEI efforts for leaders and change agents in higher education, providing an inspiration for leaders, administrators, and change agents of higher education to continue collaborating to innovate methods and avenues towards creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus climate, as …

Supporting Instructors To Promote At-Promise Students’ Success: How Faculty Coordinators Facilitate Tslc’S Ecological Validation, Jonathan Toccoli

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Despite decades of research and billions of dollars spent per annum to promote at-promise student—that is, low-income, first-generation, and/or racially/ethnically minoritized students—college success, at-promise students continue to be retained and graduate at lower rates than their traditionally college-going peers. The purpose of this study is to investigate how faculty coordinators in the Thompson Scholars Learning Community (TSLC) facilitate and integrate instructors into the program’s ecological validation which has been found to promote at-promise student success. This study is framed by the ecological validation model of student success in conjunction with a systems theory perspective of faculty roles to investigate how …

An Exploration Of College Students’ Self-Efficacy And Characteristics Of Good Language Learners In Learning Chinese As A Foreign Language, Cheng Chen

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

China’s growing economic power has led to over one hundred million people speaking Chinese world-wide (Chai & Wang, 2017). Although the Chinese language may not replace English as the most popular language worldwide, it is acknowledged that the Chinese language is an indispensable part of the future world (Zhao & Huang, 2010). However, there appears to be a paucity of research into the role self-efficacy and establishing good habits as a language learner play in non-native speaking students experiencing success while learning Chinese. A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate college students who were early Chinese learners in a beginning …

Chicanas Completing The Doctorate In Education: Providing Consejos De La Mesa De Poder, Sandra J. Castañón-Ramirez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study described four testimonios from Chicanas who have successfully completed a doctorate in education degree, both Ph.D. and Ed.D. The literature reviewed three important areas of study. The first is a review of the systemic challenges that Chicanas must hurdle; cheap labor, segregation of schools and neighborhoods, being silenced through English-only education, and deficit thinking. The second area of review focused on ways that Chicanas create strategies for success to overcome these challenges. The third was a review of the theoretical literature through a distinctly and relevant Chicana feminist lens.

Chicanas’ strategies for success were collected as testimonios. …

Higher Education Organizational Structure, Quality Assurance Practice, And Teaching And Learning In Arts Disciplines, David M. Chase

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of higher education organizational structure and institutional quality assurance practices to and the culture of teaching and learning in artistic disciplines from the perspectives of three artist-educators. The research questions addressed by this study are as follows:

1. How do participants view the relationship of the organizational structure of their institution to the provision of quality assurance practices in their disciplines?

2. What barriers, if any, do participants perceive about the implementation of effective quality assurance practice and policy, and if barriers are perceived, why do they occur?

3. What …

Influences On Doctor Of Education Students Who Have Completed All Program Requirements But Dissertation, Christopher Page

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the influences on Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) students who have completed all required coursework for their degree, but have not finished their dissertation, in an effort to identify factors influencing degree completion. Past research documents an increased time-to-degree (TTD) for Ed.D. students, which has a negative impact on K-12 and higher education, as well as on business, government, and society. This study examined Ed.D. students enrolled at a private teaching college in northern California by use of a survey built upon the framework of Bean’s nine themes of college student retention. It analyzed demographic indicators as well …

An Exploration Of Contributing Factors Of Student Fitness Employee Job Satisfaction In Campus Recreation, John Davenport

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored what factors contributed to a student employee’s satisfaction with their job in the fitness sector of campus recreation. Campus recreation programs offer many on-campus jobs for students, with a focus on student development and community. Despite much research being done on job satisfaction, there is a noticeable gap when it comes to job satisfaction in campus recreation fitness. Findings from nine semi-structured phone interviews across three universities in California, Louisiana, and Mississippi have yielded three main elements: people, job qualities, and rewards. First, the findings indicated that supervisors, teammates, and patrons are the people that contribute …

The Effects Of Design Thinking On Students' Career Self-Efficacy In Career Guidance Courses, Zhongmiao Sun

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The present study focuses on integrating design thinking into career guidance courses to test whether students’ career self-efficacy is increased by comparing the experiment group (by using design thinking method) and the general group (by using traditional teacher-centered method). The basic theoretic framework is Bandura’s self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977). Students will achieve career self-efficacy after experiencing repeatedly success (Bandura, 1977) in the career activities through design thinking method. Then students will have more confidence to make more appropriate career choices in their employment environment.

This study used AMOS and path analysis to analyze a just-identified model. The model included five …

Faculty Burnout In The California State University System, Edward Earl Seagle Jr.

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. The purposes of this study were to determine: (a) to what extent does faculty burnout exist within the California State University (CSU) system; (b) the correlation between faculty burnout and various demographic factors; (c) the correlation of the measured variables of burnout as related to self-perceptions; and (d) the dimensions of burnout within the CSU system. Procedures. Full-time faculty from each of the 19 CSU campuses were surveyed. Two questionnaires were used to canvass respondents' feelings of burnout: (a) Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and (b) Faculty Feeling Survey. The number of responses analyzed was 370. Findings. Comparing the CSU …