Higher Education Commons^™

A Comparative Case Study Exploring The Experiences Of Women Leaders In Academic Affairs And Administration In Higher Education Through The Lens Of Intersectionality, Johniqua S. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing concern about the absence of women in senior positions in academia and administration within institutions (Johnson, 2016). There is limited research to compare the journeys of women leaders in academics and administration. This study is an examination of women’s experiences of perceived barriers to leadership roles in faculty and administration. Using comprehensive interviews, this study explores personal accounts to emphasize apparent barriers to career advancement. The goal of the study is to explore women in senior positions in academia and administrative paths to leadership. The male dominated society has made it challenging for women to grow …

Exploring Online Mental Health Services: A Qualitative Study For First-Year College Students, Leandrian J. Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American first-year college students are faced with mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, which can have a negative impact on their academic performance. Research shows that students who suffer from mental illness, such as anxiety and depression, fear their condition will be perceived negatively by their peers and professors. The literature also suggests that U.S. colleges and universities can be more proactive in offering students resources for their mental health concerns to decrease anxiety and depression. It appears that absent or limited mental health resources have failed to address rising cases of student mental illness, and more specifically, …

Overview Of The Proceedings Of The 2020 Inclusion In Science, Learning A New Direction, Conference On Disability (Island), Cary Supalo, Jasodhara Bhattacharya, Daniel Steinberg

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Best Practices For Voter Engagement Within Higher Education, Alyssa Tomins

Honors Projects

It is imperative that higher education institutions learn more about how to recruit members of younger generations to participate in future elections. Young people have historically voted at low rates, but that trend has started to change in recent years as more resources are being devoted to voter engagement among young people. This leads to the interest of understanding what best practices and strategies have academic institutions utilized to advance voter engagement on their campuses. This qualitative study analyzes these best practices and strategies at 84 colleges and universities, all of whom are members of The Andrew Goodman Foundation Vote …

Pine Technical And Community College Policy Alignment Project, Amy Kruse

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of this project is to create an easily navigated campus policy and procedure process by aligning these documents with governing standards.

Developing A Culture Of Care And Support: A Review Of Institutional Practices And Growth Opportunities Affecting Black Male Student-Athletes At Southtown Community College, Roberto D. Torres

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

In December 2018, the Dean of Academic Affairs (DAA) was approached by the coach and members of the Southtown Community College (STC) basketball team regarding academic support for the team. The academic affairs team would delve into this situation and discover several areas where the college had failed these students. This study examines the conditions and climate that lead to the maltreatment of Black male student-athletes at STC and the feedback from the students affected. The feedback from these student-athletes gives a glimpse of their feelings of being mistreated because of their race and arguably their gender. The three goals …

Exploring The Role(S) Of Community Colleges In Addressing Wicked Problems Through Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: An Entrepreneurial Approach To Sustainability, Samantha Bryant Steidle

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

For years, scientists, policymakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs have warned of social, environmental, and economic risks throughout society. Although researchers have explored the role of baccalaureate-granting institutions in addressing wicked problems of sustainability through multi-stakeholder initiatives, the role of community colleges in addressing wicked problems of sustainability through multi-stakeholder initiatives was largely unknown. Additionally, a research gap existed regarding how the mission of community colleges is aligned with addressing wicked problems of sustainability, such as poverty, inequality, hunger, homelessness, and climate change.

This qualitative case study aimed to answer two research questions: (1) How do leaders of multi-stakeholder initiatives describe …

The Application Of Adult Learning And Development Theory In The Undergraduate Classroom, Jennifer Flewelling

Educational Studies Dissertations

Instructors in higher education may have a limited knowledge of ways adults learn and develop. That lack of theoretical understanding may have inhibited the pedagogical practice of faculty in the undergraduate classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore how university instructors described their understanding of adult learning and development in undergraduate settings, and to identify factors that influenced the design and implementation of instructional practice as reported by undergraduate faculty. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design. An online survey collected quantitative and qualitative data from 95 university instructors in Northeastern Massachusetts. Follow-up interviews were …

The Writing For Healing And Transformation Project, Heather Elizabeth Osborn

Education Doctorate Dissertations

As a qualitative action research study, the purpose of The Writing for Healing and Transformation Project was to facilitate more inclusive writing strategies and to promote individual and collective healing on issues of social suffering and oppression (Kleinman, Das, & Lock, 1997; Pennebaker & Smyth, 2016) for diverse students at a community college located in the northeastern United States. The 18 participants in the study included students in my English II literature and composition course. The theoretical framework encompassed Pennebaker’s (2016) “writing for healing” paradigm, advocating the use of expressivist writing and “social suffering theory,” examining how power structures affect …

Investigating The Experiences Of Faculty Members And Administrators With Quality Assurance And Accountability In Higher Education In Ontario, Melanie Lawrence

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The main objective of this qualitative case study was to explore the professional experience of six faculty members and three administrators in higher education during a time of increasing quality assurance and accountability policies so to gain a deeper understanding of how neoliberalism is changing their work experience as academics in Ontario, Canada. I have presented the research findings by employing policy sociology as both theory and methodology using the method of the qualitative case study. This form of qualitative inquiry provided an opportunity to explore how each interviewee navigated the current context of neoliberalism within their respective roles in …

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Challenges And Strategies Of Students Who Are Parents In The Higher Education Setting, Amy Joelle Dewitt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the challenges of student-parents, or those students who are also parents, in higher education and discover the strategies that this student population has found to overcome such challenges. Participants included student-parents who attended residential classes, online, and/or in hybrid formats at a public institution. Tinto’s (2012) theory of student persistence guided this study with the abundance of trials student-parents encounter through their student career. Knowles’ (1990) theory of adult learning and views on self-directed learning also contributed to this study examining how students learn as adults who take accountability for …

Junior Faculty Advising For Effective Student Growth And Academic Success: A Qualitative Study, Noreen Powers, Russell Wartalski

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

Supporting the academic advising needs of adult learners is paramount for colleges and universities. Research suggests that the faculty advisor's role is pivotal in students' academic progress. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, faculty advisors are tasked with supporting adult learners in achieving their professional goals and providing resources to ensure their academic success. Specifically, they help students navigate curriculum requirements and provide support both inside and outside the classroom. The tasks and responsibilities associated with faculty advising can vary based on the institution type and program needs. However, junior faculty who take on advising responsibilities at regional public …

How Will I Thrive? Developing Designer Professional Identity Among Undergraduate Communication Design Students, Denise Bosler

Education Doctorate Dissertations

A designer’s professional identity is constructed throughout a designer’s life and is developed through life experiences and education. While understanding the general importance of a professional identity is often clear to recent design graduates, developing it requires becoming self-aware of what traits constitutes designer professional identity (DPI). Kunrath, Cash and Yi-ling (2016) define DPI as the synthesis of personal attributes and design skills. However, the development of this full complement of DPI traits is often ignored and ill-supported in design education curriculum. A student’s DPI, if under-developed, can be a barrier to successfully transitioning from student to professional. Design educators …

The Level Of Academic Leaders’ Mastery Of The Intangibles Management Skills And Its Role In Achieving The Competitive Advantage Of Saudi Universities: A Field Study, Dr. Share Aiyed M. Aldosari

International Journal for Research in Education

This study aimed to examine the academic leaders' mastery level in emerging Saudi universities of intangibles management skills and explore the relationship between mastery levels and achieving a competitive advantage. A total of 330 radnomly selected teaching staff members at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University responded to a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Findings showed that (a) the academic leaders' mastery level of intangibles knowledge management skills at university was high, (b) there was a positive relationship between mastery level and achieving a competitive advantage, and (c) there were no statistically significant difference about mastery level due to college type …

First-Generation College Students: Making Sense Of Academic Advising And Advisor Leadership For Student Success, Andrew Martin Frazier

All Theses And Dissertations

Earning a college degree is one of the most socially and economically beneficial accomplishments individuals can achieve in the United States. The benefits of a college degree are evident, however not all students attain such credentials equitably. One student group that graduates from college at disparate rates when compared to others is first-generation college students (FGCS), or those who are the first in their family to earn a degree. FGCS are twice as likely to leave college with no earned degree compared to students who have parents or guardians with college degrees. Additionally, while significant research focuses on FGCS support …

Faculty Perceptions Of Self Efficacy In Interprofessional Healthcare Education, Rose M. Defeo

All Theses And Dissertations

Interprofessional team-based care is of the utmost importance to maximize health outcomes. These mixed discipline teams work together to complement skills and support each other for patient-centered care delivery. To prepare future healthcare clinicians, effective and efficient interprofessional healthcare education is needed. Students must learn to reflect on their abilities and demonstrate confidence in their skillsets to work effectively within this type of group. Reflective ability and development of self-efficacy are the foundation for learning how to function in an interprofessional team. Faculty within undergraduate and graduate healthcare programs have been tasked with facilitating activities to teach teamwork, roles, responsibilities, …

Exploring The Lived Experience Of Kumeyaay College Graduates, Ricardo Rafael Ramos

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience during participation in higher education of Kumeyaay Indian Nation college graduates. Specifically, the study investigated the factors graduates perceived to contribute to their persistence and attainment of a baccalaureate degree within six years of enrollment at a four-year institution of higher education. Participants included twelve participants who self-identified as members of the Kumeyaay Indian Nation who had earned at least a baccalaureate degree from a four-year institution of higher education within six years of enrollment. MaxQDA was used to organize, code, and synthesize interview transcripts to develop themes pertaining …

Belonging And Becoming In Academia: A Conceptual Framework, Maria Savva, Lynn P. Nygaard

Publications and Research

Establishing the conceptual framework for this book as a whole, this chapter looks at the process of developing an academic identity through the lens of ‘becoming’ a scholar, with particular emphasis on the challenges facing international, part-time EdD students. This process involves not only an intellectual breakthrough, but also an emerging sense of belonging. The inner journey – which intersects with and shapes academic progress – comprises a complex set of interactions between the social groups to which we belong, our beliefs about ourselves that come about through experience, the various contexts in which we operate, the position we hold …

Developing Multicultural Competence In Undergraduate Student Leaders Through A Civil Rights Bus Tour, Kevin J. Villegas, Catherine Lombardozzi

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

This qualitative study provides insight on the impact of an intensive civil rights bus tour on the multicultural competence development of undergraduate student leaders. Specifically, this phenomenological inquiry explored the lived experiences of four individuals who participated in a civil rights bus tour as undergraduate student leaders. Through interpretive phenomenological analysis, several themes emerged that have bearing on the development of multicultural competence in undergraduate student leaders. The results of this study conclude that the multicultural competence of the undergraduate student leaders who participated in the tour developed in significant ways. Ideally, this study informs the work of student affairs …

Understanding The Personal Significance Of Our Academic Choices, Maria Savva

Publications and Research

Savva maps the intrapersonal journey that paralleled her academic journey as an international doctoral student based in Cyprus. She describes changes in her research question and how she used the solitude often associated with the doctoral journey to create a space whereby she looked inwards to better understand her academic choices and her relationship to those choices. Through critical examination, she was able to gain a deeper understanding of the extrinsic and intrinsic factors behind her decision to pursue a doctorate and her selection of research topic. This, in turn, allowed her to harness the qualities of agency and resilience …

University Admissions Leaders Rethink Recruitment Strategies In The Wake Of Covid-19, Emily R. Albright, Elizabeth A. Schwanke

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

In the wake of COVID-19, university admissions leaders were challenged to rethink recruitment strategies and practices. This qualitative research inquiry explored how admissions leaders changed student recruitment strategies in response to the inability to connect with prospective students in-person. The study collected data from six university admissions leaders in the Midwest region of the United States. Systems theory and the concept of organizational adaptation supported this investigation. Findings of the study reveal challenges admissions offices faced in response to the pandemic, identify new recruitment strategies developed by admissions leaders, and information what strategies may comprise the future of recruitment. Three …

Gender Disparity In Studying Chemistry, Carlo Semerzier

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to determine if there is a difference between students’ gender, ethnicity, and age and their performance in General Chemistry I at a Christian University in Florida. Many scientific studies reveal the existence of a gender performance gap in chemistry: women mostly underperform men. Certain factors reported by researchers and cited in this study that might contribute to this gap include self-efficacy, math ability, prior conceptual knowledge in chemistry, attitude toward chemistry, spatial ability, discrimination, learning styles, and exam types.

This quantitative research study used retrospective data from 113 students from eight sections (2016-2019) of a …

Higher Education Discourses Of India’S National Education Policy 2020: Analysis And Teacher Counterspaces In Jesuit Institutions, Vincent Pereppadan Poulose

Doctoral Dissertations

Postcolonial India where diversities, tensions, and conflicts caused by social and economic hierarchies, political and religious divisions, cultural variations exist, higher education is expected to play a significant role in building up a harmonious and humane democracy founded on justice to all, especially to the minority communities. Therefore, to examine how the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisioned higher education and how it is felt among the stakeholders of a minority, this study attempted to analyze its higher education discourses and the responses of Indian Jesuit higher education faculty members. For analysis, this study employed the discourse historical analysis (DHA) …

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …

Measuring Employee Engagement And Adaptive Leadership During Higher Education’S Accountability And Performance Era, Karine Sandra Stukes

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Back in 2015, the Board of Governors for the state of Florida implemented new funding policy within its public state university system, as a mechanism to hold institutions accountable to their performance. According to the performance-funding policy, lower performing institutions were at risk of losing state funding if university metrics were not met. This challenging accountability and performance environment can cause much strife within lower-performing institutions, where it is relevant to explore positive workforce strategies that keep university employees engaged in the work that is needed to get the job done while keeping employees adaptive to challenges presented to them. …