Social and Behavioral Sciences | Open Access Articles

Redefining America's Ethnicity, Gender And Race, Anthony Major

UCF Forum

When redefining the ethnicity, gender and race of American society, I find it is interrelated with the cultural dialogue. The African-American experience has always been tied to those topics.

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Doctor Who And The Creation Of A Non-Gendered Hero Archetype, Alessandra J. Pelusi

Theses and Dissertations

This project investigates the ways in which the television program Doctor Who creates a new, non-gendered hero archetype.

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Gangstas, Thugs, Vikings, And Drivers: Cinematic Masculine Archetypes And The Demythologization Of Violence In The Films Of Nicolas Winding Refn, Christopher John Olson

College of Communication Master of Arts Theses

This thesis considers how the depictions of masculinity in the films of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn function as a critique of mainstream Hollywood cinema’s perpetuation of the notion that violent male behavior represents a heroic ideal for men to emulate. In films such as Pusher, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, and Drive, Refn constructs and presents his male characters by drawing upon recurring archetypal figures such as the gangster, the gangsta, the gunslinger, and the samurai. These figures recur throughout popular culture and across genres, and they perpetuate and reinforce a specific version of masculinity that emphasizes individualism, stoicism, and violence. …

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Communication Apprehension And Its Relationship To Gender And College Year, Jodi Frantz, Amber Marlow, Jennifer Wathen

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study examined the differences between communication apprehension, one’s gender, and his or her year in college. Participants included a convenience sample of full-time undergraduate students at a Midwestern, liberal arts, private Christian college. The students were asked to complete the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24), a self-report measure of communication apprehension. It was predicted that females would have higher communication apprehension levels than males and that as class standing increases, communication apprehension decreases. A statistically significant difference was found between males and females with respect to their overall CA score. The results also showed no significant difference between …

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Community Assistance For Refugees And Gender Roles: What Could Make This C.A.R. Run Better?, Nathan E. Meyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Community Assistance for Refugees is a non-profit service organization in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. Secondary migration to southern Minnesota has increased the refugee population as well as the need for research assessing the needs and concerns of refugees. The purpose of this project was two-fold: first to analyze how C.A.R. is able to meet the needs of its clients and second, to investigate ways in which C.A.R. could improve its services. Traditionally female refugees are less educated and less mainstreamed into American society. This research was designed to help all clients, but special attention was paid to the specific needs of …

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The Basis Of Self And Other In Gender Constructed Identity, Julie L. Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This paper is an extension of previous research projects wherein I applied theories of identity and labeling (Garfinkle), power (French and Raven) and gender (Pearson, West and Turner) to adolescent girls’ identity construction. Using methods of textual criticism, I argued then that the advertising targeting adolescent girls at the crucial transitional period between child identity and adult identity was dominated by patriarchal imagery, the implications of which are sexual violence, low-self esteem and self-objectification by young women. This paper applies the same methodology but to identity formation of adolescent boys, arguing on the basis of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic that adolescent …

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Selling Gender: Gender Role Portrayals In Contemporary Magazine Advertisements, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study presents a content analysis of gender role portrayals and male and female objectification in contemporary magazine advertisements. A total of fifteen magazines were analyzed from a two month period to determine if gender role portrayals have changed or remained the same as earlier studies. The first analysis looks at product categories most and least often advertised by male or female models. The second analysis looks at the sexual portrayals in magazine advertisements and the rate of objectification of male and female models.

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The Effects Of Perceived Gender Coaching Styles Of Female Coaches On Extrinsic Motivation Of Female Athletes On Team Sports, Cameron Sitler

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study investigated the effect of perceived gender coaching style and gender stereotypes on the extrinsic motivation of female athletes. A t-test was utilized, with Masculine and feminine coaching styles as independent variables. The research question asked whether female athlete’s extrinsic motivation could be affect based on the type of gender coaching style used by female head coaches. H1 predicted that a masculine coaching style, respectively, would negatively influence the extrinsic motivation of female athletes. Fifty-four college female athletes filled out an online survey consisting of The Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, Biere, and Blaise, 1995) and …

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Gender, Humor And Quality Of Life In Workplace Sitcoms: A Content Analysis Examining Agency In Post-Recession Situation Comedies, Gwendolyn Logan Bost

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used content analysis to analyze gender representations in post-recession workplace sitcoms using a typology developed using Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. 100 episodes of programming were analyzed by five graduate researchers for a total of 2579 cases. Though men dominated the sample, results were dissimilar from previous findings within some of the literature on televised representations of gender. Findings indicated that need type for most commonly expressed needs were split fairly evenly by gender, but that less expressed needs were more polarized with regard to gender representation. Women also met their own needs more than men did, and had …

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Perceptions Of The Communications Studies Major: Is There A Female Stereotype?, Kyle Petersen, Karina Almaguer

Communication Studies

This paper investigates whether there is or is not a correlation between feminine perceptions of Communications and the relevance of the major. One Hundred Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students were asked to complete a survey that included basic student demographics as well as if they have taken courses within the major or know anyone within it, their perceived relevance of the major, and whether they believed it to be for males or females. The test between the two variables was shown as approaching statistical significance. After analyzing these results, using feminine perceptions as the independent variable and the relevance …

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Gender Representation In Sports Communication, Michelle R. Stiller

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

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A Legacy Of Letters: The Construction Of An Aging Masculine Identity, K. Tiffani Baldwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the construction of a masculine identity through a qualitative analysis of personal letters written by an aging man over the last two decades of his life (age 68-89). Symbolic interaction and life-span communication are the guiding frameworks behind the development of the research questions and the subsequent analyses. Research question one asks: What themes emerge from the personal letters written by an aging man? The following two themes emerged: a) relationality, and b) age and aging. Research question two asks: What do the metaphors that emerge from personal letters reveal about the …

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America's Heroes And Darlings: The Media Portrayal Of Male And Female Athletes During The 2014 Sochi Games, Matthew K. Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

It has been well documented that female athletes receive much less media attention than male athletes, with estimates placing coverage of male athletes at 95% of all sport-related media (Coakley, 1986). While not to that extent, studies focusing on media portrayals of Olympic athletes also confirm that the media dedicates the majority of coverage to male athletes (Duncan, 1990; Duncan & Hasbrook, 1988; Hambrick, Simmons, Greenhalgh, & Greenwell, 2010; Higgs, Weiller, & Martin, 2003; Lee, 1992; Kinnick, 1998; Pfister, 1978). Some evidence suggests that media coverage of female athletes and the recognition of their achievements are slowly increasing (Higgs et …

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Lgbt Parents On American Television, Heather Kahn

Honors Theses

Television is an ever changing medium used in mass communication, and people often rely on this medium for knowledge about different subjects. This study demonstrates how television depictions of marginalized groups can change over time. Focusing specifically on a subset of the LGBT community – parents – this study documents the evolution of LGBT parents on American television. A total of 14 television shows were selected for a qualitative analysis. The parents depicted in these shows were analyzed according to gender, race, class and sexuality. The results were then summarized and put into historical context. This study contributes to the …

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Narrating Gender: A Feminist Approach To The Narratives Of The Transgender Experience, Jamie K. Lange

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Gender and identity are complex and often ubiquitous in nature. This is a study about gender and identity and the ways in which they manifest through the narratives of five transgender individuals, who all transitioned after the age of 45, who now live as women. This study about the transgender experience adds a significant and important perspective on gender, identity, identification, and the relationship between gender and identity. The most important conclusions are the lengths to which these people go to support gender social constructs, reinforcing the immense strength of the social construction of gender. The idea that social constructs …

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Girls Will Be Girls: Discourse, Poststructuralist Feminism, And Media Presentations Of Women, Amanda Soza

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study examines presentations of women in the media through Foucauldian critical discourse analysis in order to explore dominant ideas of gender and femininity embedded within D/discourses that constrain the lived experiences of women. Specifically, this study explores the television show Girls as a text presenting particular knowledge of femininity. By engaging in an interpretive analysis of the ways femininity is presented in both public and private presentations of gender in Girls, I reveal how women make sense of past and negotiate future public performances of femininity in private. Further, I deconstruct a specific scene of Girls to reveal …

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The Development Of Prosodic Structures In The Speech Of Young Children Establishing A Control Group, Darrell Matthews, Dr. Shawn Nissen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Acoustically, the speech characteristics of male and female speakers differ from one another. In adults, this variation is clearly caused by physiological differences between males and females. The size and shape of the vocal tract, as well as the length of the vocal folds have an impact on the sound of a person’s voice. Because adult males typically have a larger larynx and longer vocal folds than adult females, their voices tend to be lower.

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Immigrant Women’S Experiences Of Using Mobile Phones: Counting Pennies To Connect Across Continents, Parul Malik, Lorraine Gayle Kisselburgh

ADVANCE-Purdue Gender and STEM Research Symposium

There are many success stories of women around the world using information communication technologies (ITCs) to empower themselves. Most research on ICT-enabled empowerment tends to focus on rural women in emerging economies. Little attention has been paid to their low income, immigrant counterparts living in North American cities. Using 30 interviews with Bangladeshi and Ethiopian women who recently immigrated to New York City, this exploratory study describes the barriers to the use of mobile phones amongst immigrant women. A majority of these women were dependents of construction workers and cab drivers, while the others had operative level positions in retail …

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Navigating Pregnancy And Parenthood: Work-Family Considerations For Men And Women Graduate Students In Stem And Other Disciplines, Ziyu Long, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Abigail Selzer King

ADVANCE-Purdue Gender and STEM Research Symposium

Scholars and non-academicians consider popular key advantages to be flexibility in career trajectories as well as autonomy and control over one’s schedule and the work that one chooses to do (e.g., Buzzanell & Lucas, 2006, 2013). Although academic careers seem to offer these benefits, there are questions about whether and how such flexibility actually occurs, particularly in times of pregnancy/adoption, family leave, and work-life “balance” (e.g., Stone, 2008). Implicit in academic flexibility is that graduate student careers might evidence some of the same flexibility but within institutional structures that can range from lockstep to a build-you-own-plan and timetable model. In …

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Gender Differences In Text Messaging, Sara R. Shawcroft

Theses and Dissertations

Text messaging is a significant social phenomenon that merits investigation. Communications theories are well suited to this type of research because text messaging serves as both mediated communication and interpersonal communication. This kind of research can also contribute to a deeper understanding of communication differences between genders. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether there are gender differences in the use of text messaging and, if so, what the differences are. Participants for the study were recruited via convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 27 participants ages 18--35; 14 were female and 13 were male. Data were collected …

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Comparing Portrayals Of Beauty In Outdoor Advertisements Across Six Cultures: Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, South Korea, And Turkey, Pamela Morris

Pamela K. Morris

This research expands scholarship on cross-cultural investigations by examining ideas of beauty through the lens of outdoor advertisements. Using a content analysis method, 293 images of women in outdoor advertisements from six different cultures, including Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, South Korea, and Turkey, were reviewed through a framework of advertising and consumer culture, globalization, and theories of beauty. The findings revealed that differences across cultures exist and that beauty ideals are culture dependent.

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"We're Taking Slut Back": Analyzing Racialized Gender Politics In Chicago's 2012 Slutwalk March, Aphrodite Kocieda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined bodied activism in Chicago's Slutwalk 2012 march, a contemporary movement initiated in Toronto, Canada that publicly challenged the mainstream sentiment that women are responsible for their own rape and victimization. Adopting an intersectional approach, I used textual analysis to discuss photographs posted on the official Chicago Slutwalk website to explore the ways this form of public bodied protest discursively engages women's empowerment from movement feminism as well as third wave and postfeminisms. I additionally analyzed the overall website and its promotional materials for the Slutwalk marches as well as how Chicago's photographic representations privilege the white female …

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Maternal Perceptions Of Agency In Intergenerational Transmission Of Spanish: The Case Of Latinos In The U.S. Midwest, Isabel Velázquez

Spanish Language and Literature

This article examines the ways in which a group of first-generation Latino immigrants to the U.S. Midwest conceptualized their role in their children’s bilingual development. Respondents were asked to identify the individuals or institutions on which their children’s language and academic development depended, as well as household practices perceived as conducive to Spanish maintenance, and perceived obstacles to their children’s use of Spanish in the domains of home, school, and community. Discussion centers on maternal perceptions of agency because of the centrality of the mother in intergenerational minority language transmission. It is argued here that immigrant mothers’ perceptions of agency …

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“Doing Gender” In Public Speaking Education: A Focus Group Analysis Of Biological Sex And Gender Identity In Public Speaking Education, Heather A. Coburn

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

This exploratory focus group analysis examines the ways in which students of a Capstone Communication Studies course (N = 15) perceive factors, such as their communication studies education, biological sex, and gender roles, that have impacted their experiences with Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) and Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC), as well as the effectiveness of various treatment methods for the reduction of PSA. Three independent student focus groups were conducted – one comprised of biological females (n = 5), one of males (n = 3), and one containing subjects of both biological sexes (n = 7). Herein participants discussed their personal …

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Doing Laundry, Megan Getter

Megan Getter

Using Goffman’s theory on the presentational self, my study explores everyday performances in a laundromat. I take a critical interpretative approach to understand the performances of gender and class in the laundromat. I conducted ethnographic observations as a full member and include autoethnographic observations to enrich the findings. The laundromat is a unique space where gender and class are neutralized people are performing a private chore in a public space. This study fills a gap in public space and ethnographic literature devoid of laundromats.

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Building Advocacy In Healthcare: The Impact Of Intergroup Dialogue On The Cultural Sensibility Outcomes Of Health Profession Students Using An Individual Diversity Development Framework, Chassity Leeshell Holliman Douglas

Online Theses and Dissertations

Racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from persistent health disparities such as heart disease, hypertension, cancer, asthma, obesity, and diabetes among others (Sullivan & Mittman, 2010). Several social inequalities influence the characteristics of minority health disparities including higher levels of poverty, insufficient education, unemployment, poor housing conditions, and lack of health insurance. However, healthcare disparities are also influential contributors to health disparities. Healthcare disparities are brought about through differences in access to or availability of quality facilities, care, and services. Given the unequal circumstances that are formed from health and healthcare disparities for minority populations, the increase in the diversity …

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Exploring Influences On Gender Equality In Photojournalism: Is The Field Picture-Perfect?, Andrea Briscoe

LSU Master's Theses

America prides itself on having a free press. Ideally, this free press would look like the communities in which they cover. However, research shows that gender discrepancies are quite common in newsrooms (Anderson 2014; Briscoe 2012; Norris 1997; Willnat and Weaver 2014). Women often have a marginal presence in newsrooms, and this is troublesome, because scholars have noted that men and women approach newsgathering and reporting differently (Beam and Cicco 2010; Briscoe 2012; Grabe et al. 2011; Weaver 1997). While research has focused on gender discrepancies in various types of media, little to no research has looked at the field …

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Strategic Deployments Of ‘Sisterhood’ And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women’S Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

Linguistic uses of ‘sisterhood’ provide a window into disparate understandings of relationality among virtual and actual interlocutors in women’s development across vectors of caste, class, ethnicity and nationality. In this essay, I examine the trope of ‘sisterhood’ as it was employed at a women’s development project in Janakpur, Nepal, in the 1990s. I demonstrate that the use of this common signifier of kinship with culturally disparate ‘signifieds’ created a confusion of meaning, and differential readings of the politics of relationality. In my view, ‘sister,’ as used at this project, was a multivalent, strategically deployed, and divergently interpreted term. In particular, …

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Feminist Stereotypes: Communal Vs. Agentic, Emily R. Lindburg

Scripps Senior Theses

This study examined relationships between facial appearance, gender-linked traits, and feminist stereotypes. Naïve college students rated traits based on facial appearance of female CEO's whose companies appeared in the Forbes 1000 list. The photos of each female CEO (n=35) were randomly combined with two descriptive identifiers; an occupation (n=9) and an interest area (n=9), including 'feminist'. Participants then rated the head shots of the CEO's on a 7 point Likert scale of communal (expected feminine) traits like attractiveness, warmth, compassion and cooperativeness, and on agentic (expected masculine) traits like ambition, leadership ability and intelligence. If college students hold negative stereotypes …

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Gender Mainstreaming In Journalism Education, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

In a time of swift technological changes in the news media, much of journalism education is focused on preparing students for careers in a new media landscape instead of focusing on gender or other diversity issues. For example, Pavlik (2013, p.213) argued in a recent article that a curriculum that ‘emphasized innovation and digital media entrepreneurship is one of the keys to a robust professional future for the field and students seeking a media career’. Even so, Pavlik (2013, p.217) recognised that most programmes in media education are holding on to an outdated professional model of journalism and mass communication, …

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Redefining America's Ethnicity, Gender And Race, Anthony Major

UCF Forum

Doctor Who And The Creation Of A Non-Gendered Hero Archetype, Alessandra J. Pelusi

Theses and Dissertations

Gangstas, Thugs, Vikings, And Drivers: Cinematic Masculine Archetypes And The Demythologization Of Violence In The Films Of Nicolas Winding Refn, Christopher John Olson

College of Communication Master of Arts Theses

Communication Apprehension And Its Relationship To Gender And College Year, Jodi Frantz, Amber Marlow, Jennifer Wathen

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Community Assistance For Refugees And Gender Roles: What Could Make This C.A.R. Run Better?, Nathan E. Meyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Basis Of Self And Other In Gender Constructed Identity, Julie L. Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Selling Gender: Gender Role Portrayals In Contemporary Magazine Advertisements, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Effects Of Perceived Gender Coaching Styles Of Female Coaches On Extrinsic Motivation Of Female Athletes On Team Sports, Cameron Sitler

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Gender, Humor And Quality Of Life In Workplace Sitcoms: A Content Analysis Examining Agency In Post-Recession Situation Comedies, Gwendolyn Logan Bost

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Perceptions Of The Communications Studies Major: Is There A Female Stereotype?, Kyle Petersen, Karina Almaguer

Communication Studies

Gender Representation In Sports Communication, Michelle R. Stiller

Communication Studies

A Legacy Of Letters: The Construction Of An Aging Masculine Identity, K. Tiffani Baldwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America's Heroes And Darlings: The Media Portrayal Of Male And Female Athletes During The 2014 Sochi Games, Matthew K. Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

Lgbt Parents On American Television, Heather Kahn

Honors Theses

Narrating Gender: A Feminist Approach To The Narratives Of The Transgender Experience, Jamie K. Lange

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Girls Will Be Girls: Discourse, Poststructuralist Feminism, And Media Presentations Of Women, Amanda Soza

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Development Of Prosodic Structures In The Speech Of Young Children Establishing A Control Group, Darrell Matthews, Dr. Shawn Nissen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Immigrant Women’S Experiences Of Using Mobile Phones: Counting Pennies To Connect Across Continents, Parul Malik, Lorraine Gayle Kisselburgh

ADVANCE-Purdue Gender and STEM Research Symposium

Navigating Pregnancy And Parenthood: Work-Family Considerations For Men And Women Graduate Students In Stem And Other Disciplines, Ziyu Long, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Abigail Selzer King

ADVANCE-Purdue Gender and STEM Research Symposium

Gender Differences In Text Messaging, Sara R. Shawcroft

Theses and Dissertations

Comparing Portrayals Of Beauty In Outdoor Advertisements Across Six Cultures: Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, South Korea, And Turkey, Pamela Morris

Pamela K. Morris

"We're Taking Slut Back": Analyzing Racialized Gender Politics In Chicago's 2012 Slutwalk March, Aphrodite Kocieda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Maternal Perceptions Of Agency In Intergenerational Transmission Of Spanish: The Case Of Latinos In The U.S. Midwest, Isabel Velázquez

Spanish Language and Literature

“Doing Gender” In Public Speaking Education: A Focus Group Analysis Of Biological Sex And Gender Identity In Public Speaking Education, Heather A. Coburn

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

Doing Laundry, Megan Getter

Megan Getter

Building Advocacy In Healthcare: The Impact Of Intergroup Dialogue On The Cultural Sensibility Outcomes Of Health Profession Students Using An Individual Diversity Development Framework, Chassity Leeshell Holliman Douglas

Online Theses and Dissertations

Exploring Influences On Gender Equality In Photojournalism: Is The Field Picture-Perfect?, Andrea Briscoe

LSU Master's Theses

Strategic Deployments Of ‘Sisterhood’ And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women’S Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

Feminist Stereotypes: Communal Vs. Agentic, Emily R. Lindburg

Scripps Senior Theses

Gender Mainstreaming In Journalism Education, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication