Education Commons^™

Factors Influencing African American Women To Attend A Rural Community College And Persist To An Associate Degree, Lorraine Anita Justice

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

African American women utilize the community college environments as an avenue to attain an education and eventually pursue career and educational goals while remaining in their own communities. However, not much is known about the unique perceptions and experiences of African American women impacting their enrollment and persistence at rural community colleges. The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive research study was to examine the reasons African American female students choose to enroll and attend a rural community college to further their education and persist towards graduation with an Associate degree.

The data were collected using semi-structure individual interviews. Twelve African …

A Case Study The Effects Of Student Engagement On Academic Achievement In African American Women: Comparing Undergraduate Stem Majors To Non-Stem Majors From A Historically Black College And University, Zenora E. Gay

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The nation is at a critical juncture in history as it seeks to increase the number of students who enter the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. The national push to have a properly trained STEM workforce was at the forefront of the past administration’s top priority list. The higher education community has a unique opportunity to contribute to the creation of a sustainable U.S. STEM workforce. Although significant progress has been made in STEM fields, some argue that movement has been too slow in certain cases, as shown in degrees earned by women in engineering (National Academies of …

Physical Education And Extracurricular Activity Participation Of Autistic, Neurodivergent, Disabled Trans Adults, Steven Kelly Holland

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Disabled trans students may be multiply marginalized and/or have reduced access to otherwise affirming gender identity- or disability-related spaces in educational contexts because of their intersectional identities. At present, a limited understanding of disabled trans students school experiences are known. This dissertation was constructed using a two-manuscript format. The purpose of the first study was to investigate the physical education experiences of disabled trans adults. The study was conducted from an interpretivist paradigm and used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of disabled trans adults. Six adults (aged 18-30), who identified as: autistic, neurodivergent, disabled, trans, non-binary, …

Integrating Empathy Pedagogy With Feminist Thought And Social Justice Praxis, Ashlyn Elizabeth Brown

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This thesis outlines the need for empathy pedagogy in higher education. It will examine how empathy pedagogy can be integrated with feminist thought and social justice praxis. I argue that when we integrate empathy pedagogy with feminist thought and social justice, we are building the capacity for students to understand others’ lives in oppression. Furthermore, an integrated modality of teaching empathy will allow students to foster the traits of empathy within themselves; students are then better able to act as agents of social change by utilizing the traits of empathy to actively listen, self-reflect, and mindfully engage with other lived …

A Narrative Study Of The Experiences That Disrupt Or Terminate Entry In The Community College Presidential Pipeline For African American Women, Dana G. Stilley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Organizational structures, beliefs, and values in higher education are influenced by the deep-seated characteristics of patriarchy, dominance and racial and gender bias, upon which higher education was founded. These factors continue to impact the ascension of African American women to college presidencies. Current challenges facing community colleges include a gap in executive leadership and the underrepresentation of African American women in the presidential pipeline.

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to better understand the experiences that disrupt or terminate the journey to a presidency for African American women in senior level positions at community colleges. The goal was to …

Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating Among College Women’S Social Networks: An Investigation Of Perceived Changes Following A Dissonance-Based Body Image Intervention, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Body dissatisfaction is associated with numerous health consequences and is pervasive among college women. Effective interventions exist that reduce body dissatisfaction in college women by helping them resist sociocultural pressures to conform to the appearance ideal, such as the Body Project. Yet research is limited on whether social and behavioral processes help participants reduce their engagement in sociocultural appearance-ideal messages and contribute to the intervention’s effectiveness. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine these social and behavioral processes, including the changes in college women’s social networks associated with their participation in the Body Project. Undergraduate and graduate …

Narratives From Appalachia: The Current Stories Of Lgbtq Community College Students, Todd A. Cimino-Johnson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

LGBTQ students are ubiquitous on community college campuses across the United States. The exact number of LGBTQ students is unknown and often their needs are ignored. LGBTQ students face harassment and discrimination at higher rates than other minority groups. This study was conducted to gather the current narratives of LGBTQ students attending community colleges in the Appalachian Region. This study aimed to determine what LGBTQ students are experiencing on community college campuses across Appalachia. Fifteen students took part in a one-on-one semi-structured interview for this qualitative study. All students were currently enrolled in a program of study when the interviews …

The Relationship Between Virginia Title 1 Spending And Minority Male Graduation Rates: A Longitudinal Study, Anastacio B. Marin

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades, education funding in the United States has been redistributed to schools that lack sufficient financial resources to meet the needs of students (Boyle & Lee, 2015). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), was enacted to increase academic accountability and achievement throughout the nation’s public-school systems. Nationwide, there is a persistent achievement gap between historically marginalized students and their affluent peers. This gap is evident in the Commonwealth of Virginia when measuring student proficiency on End of Course Assessments (EOCAs). For schools serving a large …

Black Teachers’ Collective Wisdom As Social Justice Pedagogy: A Black Feminist Narrative Analysis, Jacqueline Cora Boone

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

In this age, 21st century, where social issues surrounding race and gender are impassioned and escalating, black feminists and Black Feminist Theory are leading the charge in bringing salience through activism and engagement. Doing post structural qualitative research aims to dismantle a myth of scientific knowledge that emphasizes triangulation and transferability of research with the use of multiple representations of experience. This research investigates critical issues in qualitative research, specifically the ontological challenge that researchers commonly encountered in depicting experience and social reality. The turn to experience and lived stories has expanded the modes of qualitative research by hearing marginalized …

Possible Self Dynamics Of Community College Students Engaged In 3d Printing In Informal Environments, Lawrence Ralph Nightingale Jr.

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The overall number of students from diverse backgrounds and women that graduate from community college with degrees in high paying Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines is unacceptably low. The number of opportunities to gain exposure to STEM-based expressions of technology to overcome the dearth of exposure in high school is limited in community college. 3D Printing uses computer-controlled machines to build physical objects one layer at a time starting from the bottom up. The computer-controlled nature of 3D Printing provides a low risk, low cost platform to exercise elements of computer programming and engineering.

This study was a …

Cecily Brown And Maureen Gallace: Teaching Covert Feminism In Public School, Danielle Salyers

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Feminist art consisting of explicit, provocative, and politically charged imagery is common in the university setting and the wider art world. Although this freedom from inhibition certainly functions as a valuable source of inspiration for those fortunate enough to participate in the institution of higher education, content of this nature potentially works against feminism’s goals by excluding the youngest audience at the moment they are forming ideas about gender relations; students at the K-12 level. As a public-school art educator, I am faced with strict censorship policies that make it difficult to include students in the ongoing feminist conversation by …

Gender-Specific Mentorship For Collegiate Female Band Directors, Laura M. Johnson, Douglas T. Owens

College of Arts and Letters Posters

The purpose of this study was to provide insight on the impact of gender-specific mentorship for aspiring female collegiate wind band conductors. The areas of focus included impactful mentorship methods, identifying mentors, and potential improvements for the wind band field. This research project was approved for an IRB exemption by the Old Dominion University College of Arts and Letters Human Subjects Review Committee. Two Qualtrics surveys were created for this study to reflect the differences in the level of experience of wind band conductors. Female collegiate/university band conductors and current/former music education or conducting graduate students completed Survey A (N …

Gender-Specific Mentorship For Collegiate Female Band Directors, Laura M. Johnson

Music Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide insight on the impact of gender-specific role models and mentorship for aspiring female collegiate wind band conductors. The areas of focus included methods of impactful mentorship, identifying role models, and potential improvements for the wind band field. This research project was approved for an IRB exemption by the Old Dominion University College of Arts and Letters Human Subjects Review Committee.

The subjects in this study were separated into two groups. Those that completed Survey A were either female collegiate/university band conductors, current music education or conducting graduate students, or former music education …

Writing The Rainbow: Facilitating Undergraduate Teacher Candidates’ Lgbtqia+ Allyship Through Multimodal Writing, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Julia Morris, Valerie Taylor

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This yearlong qualitative descriptive case study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of education faculty with pre-service elementary teacher candidates sought to disrupt heteronormativity and to increase candidates’ awareness and preparedness for inclusivity with future LGBTQIA+ elementary students. Central to our findings was that in researching and authoring multimodal texts addressing topics and concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community for their future classrooms, there was a shift in the perceptions and preparedness of the candidates toward working with children identifying as LGBTQIA+. However, we also encountered resistance and/or apathy that led us to develop an analytical framework for disrupting teacher candidate …

A Delphi Study: Retention Of Women In Leadership Positions In Stem Disciplines, Kimberly T. Luthi

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This Delphi study explores barriers and support systems that impact women’s professional advancement in STEM disciplines. There were 20 expert panelists who committed to participate in the study and 15 panelists completed the four rounds of the study after attrition. The panelists were selected based on specific criteria including educational background, diversity within STEM disciplines, experience as a former or current female administrator who served at two-year degree offering institutions, leadership and membership within women’s advocacy organizations in STEM and related workforce education fields, and depth of knowledge and understanding of the research questions. Through the four rounds of the …

So, You Want To Attract And Retain Diverse Faculty???: An Autoethnography, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This is an autoethnography about epistemic injustice (i.e., diminished credibility as a knower) and resilience of an intersectional tenured faculty member who transformed harm into opportunities for rebuilding intellectual confidence and for exercising intellectual courage. Personal stories are used to examine and make explicit epistemic injustice harms by situating them within everyday contexts (Glesne, 2006). The purpose of this essay was to introduce theoretical perspectives with different language for improving discourses about an old challenge, racial bias, and to make explicit the types of harms experienced. Important research questions are posed for consideration by researchers. The stories shared in this …

Advancing The Field Of Human Services: Lgbt Competencies, Narketta Sparkman-Key, Nicola Meade, Ne'shaun Bordern

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals and Generic Human Services Professional Competencies adopted by the National Organization for Human Services do not include language or competencies specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. Without a specific ethical code and/or competency outlined by the field, human services practitioners do not have clear guidelines for their work with these populations. Additionally, researchers lack a way to formally measure professionals’ abilities with these populations. This leaves potential for these historically marginalized populations to continue to be in a vulnerable position. To address these needs, authors reviewed established competencies in other helping …

Beyond Binary Gender Identities, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Camden Ross

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Judith Dunkerly-Bean and Camden Ross—parent and child—share their perspectives on how Camden, who is transgender, navigates a duplicitous existence in a Christian private school.

Sexual Violence Victimization, Mental Health, And University-Based Health Service Use Among College Females, Julie E. Stoner

Health Services Research Dissertations

Females between the ages of 18 and 24 consistently experience higher rates of sexual violence compared to females in any other age group (Sinozich & Langton, 2014). Approximately one in five college women experience sexual violence victimization (SVV; Krebs, Lindquist, Berzofsky, Shook-Sa & Peterson, 2016) during the academic year. Among undergraduate female students, 23.1% are victims of sexual violence due to physical force, violence or incapacitation (Cantor et al., 2015). Sexual victimization has been associated with several short- and long-term psychological health consequences, accounting for enhanced symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicide risk (Basile, Smith, Breiding, Black & Mahendra, …

The Impact Of The Number Of Dual Enrollment Credits On Racial Minority Students’ Completion Time At Five Virginia Community Colleges, Elizabeth Gardiner Dingess

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The five-year college completion rate for students of color can be 15-20% lower than it is for White students (Fink, Jenkins, & Yanaglura, 2017). Dual enrollment courses have been researched as a predictor of college completion (Taylor, 2015), but fewer racial minority students enroll in dual enrollment courses; this enrollment disparity affects their college preparedness skills and may lead to lower college persistence and graduation rates (Evenbeck & Johnson, 2012). Despite the benefits dual enrollment courses could provide to racial minority students, few studies have examined the differences in college completion outcomes between racial minority and majority dual enrollment students …

When Silence Screams: An Examination Of Reporting Behaviors Among Sexual Assault Victims On Hbcu Campuses, Natasha Robinson

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2015), 20% to 25% of college women experience a completed or attempted rape victimization during their college career, but less than 5% of college women file a report with law enforcement (Fisher, Cullen, and Turner 2000). Prior literature indicates that student characteristics/background, alcohol use, and affiliation with Greek life influence students’ chances of being sexually assaulted as well as victim decisions to report. Current research on campus sexual assault victimization and students’ decisions to report has neglected Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) but seem to show that minorities are less likely to …

Risk And Resiliency Factors Affecting The College Adjustment Of Students With Intersectional Ethnocultural Minority And Lgbtq Identities, Stacey Christina Fernandes

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Adjustment to college has been demonstrated to be a multifaceted process with several developmental challenges for young adults entering higher education. As colleges and universities in the United States increase in racial and ethnocultural diversity and as LGBTQ students become more visible on campus, it has become crucial to cater support services and interventions to their specific needs. This study used archival data to examine the relationships between gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, risk and resilience factors, and college adjustment in a sample of treatment-seeking students at four-year institutions nationwide. The data were analyzed using three three-way multivariate analyses of …

Incivility As A Barrier To Embeddedness Among Engineering Students: Does Gender Matter?, Katelyn R. Reynoldson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To meet the current demand for engineers, research has focused on how to attract and retain qualified candidates in the field, especially those that are underrepresented (e.g., women; NSB, 2016). The present study investigates incivility and embeddedness, which have been found to be antecedents of retention in both the workplace (Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001; Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erez, 2001) and the collegiate setting (Caza & Cortina, 2007; Major et al., 2015). To extend previous research, both constructs were examined simultaneously among undergraduate engineering students. Undergraduate, first-year engineers completed an online survey indicating the extent to which …

The Role Of Mobile Learning In Promoting Global Literacy And Human Rights, Judith M. Dunkerly-Bean, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

In this chapter the authors review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of e-readers and mobile phones most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone reading initiatives. Situated in human rights and utilizing the lens of transnational feminist discourse which addresses globalization and the hegemonic, monolithic portrayals of “third world” women as passive and in need of the global North’s intervention, the authors explore the ways in which the use of digital media provides increased access to books, and other texts and applications …

Predictors Of Medical Students’ Attitudes Towards Abortion And Their Changes Overtime, Rebecca Elizabeth Morales

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

As new legislation is regularly being introduced to minimize Roe v. Wade’s protection of women’s right to choose in a medical setting, it is imperative to study what predictors may have an impact on abortion attitudes within the demographic of medical students, as well as how these predictors impact one’s willingness to provide the service in the future. The current study then, uses data collected in 2000 and 2015 from a medical school located in Virginia, and in collaboration with a research university in the state to examine what factors are associated with a willingness to provide an abortion, as …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of The Lived Experiences And Mentoring Relationships Of Black Women Student Affairs Administrators, Tiffany Shawna Wiggins

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary literature regarding the experiences of Black women in higher education administration is scarce, and that which does exist, often focuses on those who serve in teaching faculty roles, and/or fails to provide a holistic perspective on the lives of those who makeup this group. Utilizing an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, this qualitative investigation explored the lives of Black women college administrators from their perspective. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Patricia Hill Collins’s Black Feminist Thought, this study aimed to uncover the lived experiences of Black women student affairs administrators as they relate to their professional demands and pursuits …

The Role Of Mobile Learning In Promoting Literacy And Human Rights For Women And Girls, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

In this chapter the authors review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of e-readers and mobile phones most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone reading initiatives. Situated in human rights and utilizing the lens of transnational feminist discourse which addresses globalization and the hegemonic, monolithic portrayals of “third world” women as passive and in need of the global North’s intervention, the authors explore the ways in which the use of digital media provides increased access to books, and other texts and applications …

How Mobile Learning Initiatives Can Empower Women, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The Sustainable Development Goal 5 provides a call to action to promote gender equality and to empower women. This article responds to that call by providing insight into how mobile learning initiatives have been used to support that aim. A critical analysis is conducted of studies in the past decade to review what strategies have been effective in empowering women. The analysis revealed that initiatives were targeted towards three areas: Education, health, and financial empowerment.

Findings show that in certain topics women should play an active role to further the empowerment process. This article also aligns with Objective 4 of …

A Preliminary Study Investigating The Factors Influencing Stem Major Selection By African American Females, Tiffany Monique Ray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the significant factors influencing STEM major selection by African American females. A quantitative research design with a qualitative component was employed. Ex post facto survey research was conducted utilizing an online questionnaire to collect data from participants. African American undergraduate females that had declared a major in STEM comprised the target population for the study. As a basis for comparison, a second data collection ensued. All non-African American undergraduate females majoring in STEM also received the survey instrument to determine if there was a significant difference between factors that influence STEM major …

"We Are Still In Apartheid:" Girls' Perspectives On Education Inequality In Democratic South Africa And Models For Social Change, Rebekah Lindsey Joyce

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Centering on the perceptions of black South African girl learners from impoverished township communities provides a new informed lived knowledge regarding social and educational inequality in the nation’s post-apartheid era. Perspectives from intersectional feminist theory and Black Feminist Thought offer an appropriate and unique approach to analyze the multiple socio-economic inequalities these girl learners face every day. By gathering original narrative data from a group of girls, their teachers, and the principal of Fezeka Secondary School in Gugulethu, South Africa, the intersections of inequality these girls face will be illuminated as critical factors to consider for policy and program aid …