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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Dissertations

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Examining The Relationship Between Student Engagement And Stem Persistence At An Hbcu, Saundra Yates Evans Jan 2015

Examining The Relationship Between Student Engagement And Stem Persistence At An Hbcu, Saundra Yates Evans

Dissertations

A growing imbalance in the demand for a science and technology workforce and the declining availability of a science and technology talent pool is challenging America’s world dominance in research and innovation, economic performance, and quality of life. Contributing to this imbalance is flatness in the trend of students selecting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors coupled with decreasing rates of retention in STEM disciplines. Many research studies and reports emphasize that incorporating the untapped talents of Americans who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines--African-Americans, Hispanics, and women--is necessary to increase the pipeline of STEM graduates. A synthesis of college …


Military Millennials As Next Generation Leaders: Do Leadership Traits Matter?, Phillip Michael Green Jan 2015

Military Millennials As Next Generation Leaders: Do Leadership Traits Matter?, Phillip Michael Green

Dissertations

Employers are constantly evaluating individuals to fill leadership roles within their organizations to extract the highest return from their resources and investments. Millennials, born between 1982 and 2000 (Howe and Strauss, 2000), represent the youngest and newest generation entering the workforce. A sub-population of this generation consists of military veterans returning to the United States after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This quantitative study examines the leadership traits of the military Millennials that have transitioned to civilian life and compares this population segment with Millennials without a military background. To compare the two groups of the generational cohort, a …


An Interpretivist Case Study Of Leadership Transition In The Context Of A Southern Baptist Church, Ronald Tuck Apr 2014

An Interpretivist Case Study Of Leadership Transition In The Context Of A Southern Baptist Church, Ronald Tuck

Dissertations

This ethnographic study examined the experiences of key individuals involved in a senior leadership transition in the context of the church. Leader transition constitutes a significant aspect of organizational leadership theory, yet succession planning is often neglected in the context of churches. This study revealed that leadership transition is not a single event in the history of a church organization, but rather an evolution of events involving a multiplicity of factors and individuals. Narratives from five individuals directly involved in the pastoral leadership transition process informed the study: the search committee chair, the outgoing and incoming pastors, and two differently-located …


The Influence Of The Emotional Intelligence Management Curriculum To Improve College Students’ Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Skills To Impact Leader Behavior And Team Performance Effectiveness, Cindy Register Love Jan 2014

The Influence Of The Emotional Intelligence Management Curriculum To Improve College Students’ Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Skills To Impact Leader Behavior And Team Performance Effectiveness, Cindy Register Love

Dissertations

There is a growing emphasis in institutions of higher learning to produce sustainable and competitive graduates who possess relevant personal competencies for career success. Emotional intelligence skills can provide the competitive edge for graduates to be successful int heir industry of choice. Integrating emotional intelligence into higher education can potentially shift the learning environment and increase specific personal competencies. This study aims to investigate the influence of an emotional intelligence intervention to improve college students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to impact leader behavior skills and team effectiveness. The research looked specifically at students’ skills from three dimensions (intrapersonal,interpersonal, and leadership) …


Culturally Responsive Leadership: A Case Study To Explore Stakeholders’ Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Leadership In A K-12 Public Charter School In North Carolina, Kimberly Michelle Jones Goods Jan 2014

Culturally Responsive Leadership: A Case Study To Explore Stakeholders’ Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Leadership In A K-12 Public Charter School In North Carolina, Kimberly Michelle Jones Goods

Dissertations

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the culturally responsive leadership practices of charter school leaders. The goals were: (a) to explore how the school leadership team perceived culturally responsive leadership in a K-12 charter school in North Carolina, (b) to explore how the teachers perceived culturally responsive teaching and learning in a K-12 charter school in North Carolina, and (c) to explore how parents perceived a culturally responsive home-school connection in a K-12 charter school in North Carolina. Because this study involved an examination of stakeholders’ perceptions of culturally responsive leadership in a …


Project Managers’ Use Of Lateral Influence Tactics To Achieve Team Commitment, Rochelle Evangeline Cook Jan 2014

Project Managers’ Use Of Lateral Influence Tactics To Achieve Team Commitment, Rochelle Evangeline Cook

Dissertations

Building on transformational leadership theory, 43 individuals from various new product development (NPD) teams were studied to understand the relationship between the project managers’ use of lateral influence tactics and team commitment as perceived by new product development team members. An explanatory correlational study was conducted to examine these relationships. Data were collected via questionnaire about each NPD team member’s view of the project manager’s use of lateral influence tactics and the NPD team member’s perception of team commitment. Perceptions of procedural justice were also tested for mediation. The study found that there is a moderate positive relationship between each …


An Exemplar Woman Leader Of Malawi, Africa: A Narrative Account Of The Honorable Anne Mary Fletcher, Toni Pettiford Bradsher Jan 2014

An Exemplar Woman Leader Of Malawi, Africa: A Narrative Account Of The Honorable Anne Mary Fletcher, Toni Pettiford Bradsher

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the life experiences, spirituality and a sense of community, and cultural values that undergird the leadership praxis of a woman leader from Malawi, Africa. By accounting for the culturally-situated understandings of leadership and leadership practices of an exemplar woman leader of Malawi, Africa, narrative inquiry methodology (Chase, 2011 &, Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) was employed to create an interpretive framework with which to analyze interviews, stories, and field notes through the lens of an endarkened transnational feminist paradigm (Dillard & Okpalaoka, 2011). An endarkened transnational paradigm includes a sacred responsibility to bring …


Use Of Sweet Potato To Develop A Medium For Cultivation Of Lactic Acid Bacteria, Saeed A. Hayek Jan 2013

Use Of Sweet Potato To Develop A Medium For Cultivation Of Lactic Acid Bacteria, Saeed A. Hayek

Dissertations

This study investigated the use of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) as a basic component to develop a medium for cultivation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Extract from baked sweet potatoes was used to form a sweet potato medium (SPM). SPM was supplemented with 4 g/L of each nitrogen source (beef extract, yeast extract, and proteose peptone #3). Lactobacilli MRS was used as a control medium. Ten LAB strains were used to determine the suitability of SPM serving the growth of LAB. Our results showed no significant (p < 0.05) differences in the optical density, maximum specific growth rates, and bacterial populations between MRS and SPM. SPM also maintained higher pH values throughout the incubation period compared to that in MRS. The cost of SPM was 47% less than the cost of MRS. Further step was taken to determine the suitability of SPM serving LAB enzymatic activity. LAB strains growing in SPM showed relatively higher β-glucosidases, acid phosphatase, and phytase activities and lower a-glucosidase compared to that in MRS. Strains of L. reuteri showed the …


The Impact Of Group Personality Characteristics On Group Decision-Making, Kevin Shawn Bottomley Jan 2013

The Impact Of Group Personality Characteristics On Group Decision-Making, Kevin Shawn Bottomley

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) how group information sharing impact group decision effectiveness, (2) how group personality composition impact group information sharing, and (3) how group personality composition impact group decision effectiveness. The data collected was FIRO-B® scores on the expressed scale, group information sharing data as measured by the Process and Issues Questionnaire (PIQ), and group decision effectiveness data as measured by the PIQ. Correlation analysis were performed to analyze the group psychological characteristics (H2, H3, & H4,) based on an index created for each group where the data …


Understanding The Behavior And Attitude Of Professional Athletes In Saudi Arabia Toward Dietary Supplements, Sulaiman O. Aljaloud Jan 2013

Understanding The Behavior And Attitude Of Professional Athletes In Saudi Arabia Toward Dietary Supplements, Sulaiman O. Aljaloud

Dissertations

A dietary supplement is defined as a product taken orally that contains a "dietary ingredient" (vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, etc.), and is intended to supplement one's diet. Dietary supplements include plant extracts and concentrates from foods. Supplements help provide required nutrients to fulfill nutritional levels for daily training or competitive performance, and can help remedy nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it is important that sports professionals have a thorough knowledge of these supplement products. However, athletes need to be informed about the use and possible benefits, side effects, and risks associated with the use of dietary supplements. Four objectives guided …


A Descriptive Study Of The Leadership Role Of Community Health Ambassadors On Diabetes-Related Health Behaviors, Barbara Pullen-Smith Jan 2013

A Descriptive Study Of The Leadership Role Of Community Health Ambassadors On Diabetes-Related Health Behaviors, Barbara Pullen-Smith

Dissertations

Diabetes is a chronic disease that bears a disproportionate burden among African American populations. The lack of access to affordable, culturally appropriate health care is a key barrier to effective diabetes prevention or disease management for racial/ethnic minority populations. Living in public housing communities, with concentrated poverty, exacerbates the burden of diabetes and reduces access to screening and early detection services to prevent the onset of diabetes. The purpose of the study was to describe the leadership role of lay health advisors, known as Community Health Ambassadors (CHAs), on diabetes-related health behaviors of African Americans living in a public housing …