Education Commons^™

Movin’ On Up: The Lived Experience Of Women Of Color In Leadership And The Supports That Helped Them Make It To The Top, Rozina Kapadia

Dissertations

Purpose: The number of women of color in leadership continues to be significantly lower than the number of men. The lack of opportunity combined with the lack of support results in less women of color in leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of women of color in their roles as leaders in corporate environments with respect to the support (personal supports, organizational supports, cultural supports, and stereotypical supports) received. Specifically, the research examined the stories of female leaders of color to understand how their experiences have supported or hindered their growth in leadership. …

“A Real Man . . .”: Deconstructing Machismo Heteronormative Standards With K–12 Latino Male Educators Through Dialogic Spaces, Mario Echeverria

Dissertations

In a K–12 educational landscape where 75% of educators are white women, recruitment of Latino male educators is crucial for diversification, yet these educators represent just 2% of the teaching workforce in the United States (NCES, 2020). These educators grapple with a layered sense of identity as they navigate expectations of hegemonic masculinity and machismo norms that dictate their roles as disciplinarians and saviors, especially for young boys of color (Brockenbrough, 2018; Lara & Fránquiz, 2015; Martino & Kehler, 2006; Mills et al., 2004; Singh, 2021). Unfortunately, Latino male educators leave the profession at twice the rate of their Latina …

Heterosexual Parents Who Move Toward Acceptance Of Their Gay Sons, Brady Sullivan

Dissertations

Rejection of gay men by parents is a frequent occurrence. Rhoades et al. (2018) found 49% of a sample of 657 sexual minority children had experienced parental rejection due to their LGBTQ+ identity. However, the current body of literature does not discuss those heterosexual parents who initially reject their sexual minority children and then return to a place of acceptance. Within the framework of attachment theory, this dissertation used a basic qualitative approach, influenced by Grounded Theory methods, to investigate the experience of heterosexual parents who move toward acceptance of their gay son. Fifteen, white, heterosexual parents, ranging from ages …

Against The Wind: A Study On Aviation As A Female Career Choice, Bonnie Gagliardo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify and describe the educational and social experiences that sparked the interest of female pilots as young women to pursue a career in aviation.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study utilized semi- structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of female pilots, to understand if there were common social and educational factors which influenced them to become interested in aviation. Using convenience sampling, eleven pilots who hold a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot’s License were selected to participate in this study.

Findings: The findings from this …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Higher Education Leaders As Portrayed In The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Colette Anderson Chelf

Dissertations

Leadership represents an abstraction of human thought. While functionalist theories propose leader-centric models, contemporary leadership theories embrace a postmodern paradigm acknowledging ontological and epistemological assumptions of qualitative study. This ideology suggests a multi-dimensional model of leadership that reflects the complexity and fluidity of leadership in practice. Emergent theories explore the social construction of leadership, rather than an individual leader’s traits or behaviors. Our collective understanding of leadership is manifest in the (re)creation of leadership as exemplified in social discourse such as newspaper reporting.

The purpose of the study is to reveal socially accepted archetypes assigned to higher education leaders, as …