Education Commons^™

Community College Engineering Degree Partnerships With 4-Year Universities, Jeffrey Mark Stear

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing the number of STEM professionals and reducing inequities in STEM are national priorities. Community colleges are important to address these concerns because they represent a higher percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) and women students. However, students starting 4-year STEM degrees in community college have had a lower completion rate. Partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities have the potential to improve success for community college students, but more research is necessary. The purpose of this ex post facto, quantitative, correlational study was to determine the relationships among participation in different types of partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities, …

Gifted Female Voices: Perceptions Of Differentiation In Secondary And Higher Education, Ann Makikalli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the advocacy of differentiation as best pedagogical practices for instruction of gifted students can be found in scholarly literature, minimal research attention has been given to high-ability students’ perceptions about their lived classroom experiences. Lack of challenging and accelerated content for identified gifted students can lead to boredom, negative self-perception, and disengagement from school. Gifted adolescent females, who are less likely to address barriers to realizing their potential can especially suffer or thrive depending on curriculum. The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe identified female gifted university students’ perceptions of pre-collegiate and collegiate differentiation of curriculum and …

First-Generation Women Students’ Perceptions Of Support While Enrolled In Higher Education Institutions: A Phenomenological Study, Erin Blankenship Messmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study used qualitative research methods to explore the perceptions of support first-generation women students enrolled in college have. Eleven first-generation women students who were enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs across the United States completed one-on-one interviews with the researcher. The participants explained the support they felt from family, friends, and members of their college or university, as well as areas where further support could be given. In these interviews, key themes emerged, such as the roles of mentorship and emotional support, the need for financial assistance, the role of family in support and providing cultural capital, the …

Perceptions Of Executive Female Leaders In Athletics, Lynnette Y. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1981 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) developed the designation of Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) within the membership. With the addition of women’s athletic programs in the NCAA starting in the 1981-1982 season, the NCAA knew there was a need to guarantee at least one executive woman was seated at the decision-making table to support the new female teams ("NCAA SWA brochure," 2011). Title IX legislation was already a decade old when the NCAA added women’s teams and the platform to grow women in sport was forefront (Glazor-Raymo, Townsend, & Ropers-Huilman, 2000, p. 184). Today, there are women in …

Understanding Why Women Stay: Examining Persistence Factors Of Women Majoring In Science And Technology Programs In Public Ethiopian Universities Using A Mixed Methods Design, Meseret Hailu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amongst African nations, Ethiopia is a unique case in many respects. The country has the second largest population on the continent, is currently experiencing an economic boom, and is a relatively stable nation in the geopolitically volatile "Horn of Africa" region. In the past two decades, the higher education sector in Ethiopia has experienced rapid growth, as evidenced by an increase in both student enrollment and the number of universities. Amongst the various types of higher education institutions, public universities are especially important because they receive the greatest financial support from the Ministry of Education. Moreover, science and technology programs …

From Kabul To The Academy: Narratives Of Afghan Women's Journeys To And Through U.S. Doctoral Programs, Bushra Aryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of seven Afghan women pursuing doctoral degrees in a variety of disciplines and programs across the United States. The guiding question for this study was: What factors influence Afghan women's journeys to and experiences in doctoral programs?

In an attempt to understand Afghan women doctoral students, I provided a historical background of Afghanistan and education in Afghanistan followed by a literature review on South Asian women, the broader category for Afghan women. Within this literature review I explored the following components: culture, gender, immigration, experiences in postsecondary education; all factors that may be influential in …

Women’S Ways Of Leading? A Qualitative Content Analysis To Determine Leadership Messages Contained In Literature Of National Panhellenic Conference Groups, Andrea M. Fechner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study documented the leadership messages sent to women in 16 of the National Panhellenic Conference groups' official literature. The purpose of the study was to provide detailed descriptive analysis using excerpts from the official literature to show both traditional and non-traditional (women's ways of leading) theoretical themes as well as to determine the use of followership versus leadership messages to women. The approach to this study was the use of qualitative content analysis whereby messages were collapsed into larger theme categories. Datum from content analysis was represented in excerpts and quotes from the official literature of the 16 groups …

Rural Nonfarm Scott County, Tennessee Women And Their Pathways To Baccalaureate Degrees, Jo A. Lobertini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand why women from Scott County, Tennessee, left home to attain the baccalaureate degree and returned home to live and/or work. More specifically, understanding (1) the educational aspirations, motivations, and discouragements prior to attending college; (2) the educational persistence, motivations, and discouragements while attending college; (3) and the reasons for returning to Scott County after attaining the baccalaureate degree. The population of this study included all females over the age of 25 who had a bachelor's degree, attended grades 1–12 in Scott County, Tennessee, and returned there to live. The primary form …