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A Deep Learning Approach For Real-Time Crash Risk Prediction At Urban Arterials, Pei Li Jan 2020

A Deep Learning Approach For Real-Time Crash Risk Prediction At Urban Arterials, Pei Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Real-time crash risk prediction aims to predict the crash probabilities within a short time period, it is expected to play a crucial role in the advanced traffic management system. However, most of the existing studies only focused on freeways rather than urban arterials because of the complicated traffic environment of the arterials. This thesis proposes a long short-term memory convolutional neural network (LSTM-CNN) to predict the real-time crash risk at arterials. The advantage of this model is it can benefit from both LSTM and CNN. Specifically, LSTM captures the long-term dependency of the data while CNN extracts the time-invariant features. …

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Composition, Encapsulation, And Dimensionality: A Study Of The Photophysics Brought On By Synthetic Changes In Perovskite Materials, Andrew Towers Jan 2020

Composition, Encapsulation, And Dimensionality: A Study Of The Photophysics Brought On By Synthetic Changes In Perovskite Materials, Andrew Towers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Perovskite materials are currently being explored as a candidate for a wide variety of optoelectronic applications with a focus on active materials for solar cell and an array of lighting applications. To optimize perovskites for optoelectronic applications, a myriad synthetic and processing techniques are used to overcome limitations in the raw materials. Presently, perovskite materials have demonstrated vast improvements as candidates for solar cell and lighting applications, though the fundamental photophysical characteristics resulting from the rapid succession of synthetic developments require further investigation. Further comprehension of the basic photophysical processes being altered by synthetic and processing changes must be achieved …

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Contact Mechanics Of Fish Scale Inspired Exoskeletal Components On A Nonlinear Elastic Substrate, Jeremy Stephen Jan 2020

Contact Mechanics Of Fish Scale Inspired Exoskeletal Components On A Nonlinear Elastic Substrate, Jeremy Stephen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The contact mechanics of structures with exoskeletal components deviate significantly from classical Hertzian and non-linear models. In the case of fish scale inspired samples under blunt indentation loading these factors are inherently tied to both the size of the indenter and the scales' distribution and orientation. Control of these geometric parameters provides a pathway to tailor the properties of surfaces for better grip, damage mitigation and controlled deformation. This study explores the response of a substrate with stiff scales protruding from its surface, which is comprised of a soft elastomeric material with properties typical of those in soft robotics applications. …

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Understanding Value And Motivation: Analysis Of Alumni From A Us Undergraduate Business Degree, Pamela Bozeman, Daniel W. Eadens Jan 2020

Understanding Value And Motivation: Analysis Of Alumni From A Us Undergraduate Business Degree, Pamela Bozeman, Daniel W. Eadens

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

As young people are seeking degrees that will help them with employment and as universities seek ways to increase enrollment and retention, the emphasis of the value of higher education has emerged as an important aspect in achieving these goals. The focus of this particular study, where a paucity currently exists, was to examine the concepts of value in relation to undergraduate business education. A main aim of this study was to identify values (beyond economic), based on time since graduation, and the motivating factors that help to define those values. One of the key trends this study revealed was …

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Supervisors Matter For College Students: Relationships Between Employment Type And Student Outcomes, Daniel W. Eadens, Justin D. Hultman Jan 2020

Supervisors Matter For College Students: Relationships Between Employment Type And Student Outcomes, Daniel W. Eadens, Justin D. Hultman

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Although student persistence is an important metric for higher education administrators and working while attending school is pervasive among those who attend college, the extent to which work supervisors may impact students while attending college through interactions is underexplored. This study examines the relationship between supervisor interactions and student outcomes in relation to type of employment, academic persistence, and competencies. The literature review indicates the relationship between type of employment and academic persistence is important and interactions may provide useful benefits. However, interactions within the type of employment experience is lesser known. The study site for this research is Alpha …

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Characterization Of Clear Coat And Base Coat Automotive Paint Analysis Using Dart-Hrms And Comparison Of Ftir Spectroscopy, Py-Gc-Ms, And Dart-Hrms For Clear Coat Analysis, Kaitlin Jones Jan 2020

Characterization Of Clear Coat And Base Coat Automotive Paint Analysis Using Dart-Hrms And Comparison Of Ftir Spectroscopy, Py-Gc-Ms, And Dart-Hrms For Clear Coat Analysis, Kaitlin Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Current techniques used to analyze automotive paint samples include microscopy, fourier – transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and pyrolysis gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS). These techniques are performed in the respective order listed above. Out of the three techniques currently used in this field, the one that has the highest discriminatory power is py-GC-MS; however, this technique is time consuming and destructive toward the sample. One hundred automotive paint samples were analyzed using FTIR, Py-GC-MS and direct analysis in real time-high resolution mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS) to determine how DART-HRMS compared to Py-GC-MS in terms of discriminatory capability. DART-HRMS takes approximately …

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Estimation And Clustering In Block Models, Majid Noroozi Jan 2020

Estimation And Clustering In Block Models, Majid Noroozi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Networks with community structure arise in many fields such as social science, biological science, and computer science. Stochastic block models are popular tools to describe such networks. For this reason, in this dissertation which is composed of two parts we explore some stochastic block models and the relationship between them. In the first part of the dissertation, we study the Popularity Adjusted Block Model (PABM) and introduce its sparse case, the Sparse Popularity Adjusted Block Model (SPABM). The SPABM is the only existing block model which allows to set some probabilities of connections to zero. For both the PABM and …

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Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics For Nonlinear Frequency Conversion And Polarization Diversity, Tracy Sjaardema Jan 2020

Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics For Nonlinear Frequency Conversion And Polarization Diversity, Tracy Sjaardema

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Silicon has proven to be one of the materials of choice for many integrated photonic applications. However, silicon photonics is limited by certain material shortcomings. Two shortcomings addressed in this work are zero second-order optical nonlinearity, and the lack of methods available to achieve broadband polarization diversity. Heterogeneous integrated solutions for these shortcomings of silicon photonics are presented in this work. First, nonlinear frequency conversion is demonstrated with thin-film lithium niobate on silicon substrates. The method for reaching the highest-achieved second-harmonic generation conversion efficiency, using active monitoring during periodic poling, is discussed. Additionally, a cascaded approach for generating higher-order harmonics …

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Distributed Algorithms And Inverse Graph Filtering, Nazar Emirov Jan 2020

Distributed Algorithms And Inverse Graph Filtering, Nazar Emirov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Graph signal processing provides an innovative framework to handle data residing on distributed networks, smart grids, neural networks, social networks and many other irregular domains. By leveraging applied harmonic analysis and graph spectral theory, graph signal processing has been extensively exploited, and many important concepts in classical signal processing have been extended to the graph setting such as graph Fourier transform, graph wavelets and graph filter banks. Similarly, many optimization problems in machine learning, sensor networks, power systems, control theory and signal processing can be modeled using underlying network structure. In modern applications, the size of a network is large, …

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Few-Mode Fiber Lasers And Amplifiers, Ning Wang Jan 2020

Few-Mode Fiber Lasers And Amplifiers, Ning Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Lasers and amplifiers of high-order spatial modes are useful for a number of applications, including communication, sensing, microscopy, and laser material processing. This dissertation presents the generation and amplification of high-order spatial modes in few-mode fibers (FMFs). In the area of amplification of high-order spatial modes, low-crosstalk amplification among spatial modes is realized in a retro-reflecting few-mode Er-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) by exploiting the unitary property of the coupling matrix of a symmetric photonic lantern (PL). A small-signal gain larger than 25 dB and crosstalk below -10 dB was achieved over the C-band for a 3-mode EDFA. Such a few-mode …

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Tuning Dynamics, Sterics, And Ion Conductivities In Reticular Materials, Demetrius Vazquez-Molina Jan 2020

Tuning Dynamics, Sterics, And Ion Conductivities In Reticular Materials, Demetrius Vazquez-Molina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The goal of this thesis is to synthesize libraries of organic building blocks with systematic functionalizations for tuning dynamics and steric traits in crystalline frameworks. Chapter 1 will introduce the materials being studied, their targeted applications, and a brief outline of each chapter will also be included. Chapters 2 explores the impact of mechanical processing in Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) from the point of view of crystallographic effects and pressure induced preferred orientation. This chapter also studies solid-state ionic conduction for Li ions in crystallographically aligned COFs studied by solid-state NMR and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), we observed fast ionic …

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Removal Of Chemicals Of Emerging Concern And Mass Transfer Modeling In A Nanofiltration Membrane Process, Carlyn Higgins Jan 2020

Removal Of Chemicals Of Emerging Concern And Mass Transfer Modeling In A Nanofiltration Membrane Process, Carlyn Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

An investigation of 1,4-dioxane and enantiomeric ibuprofen mass transfer in a nanofiltration (NF) membrane process has been completed. Pilot-scale experiments using a 267 gallon per minute (gpm) split-feed, center-port NF process treating pH 6.5 groundwater revealed a consistent 12 percent removal of 1,4-dioxane despite the variable feed concentration (180 nanograms per liter (ng/L) to 38,400 ng/L) when the water flux and temperature were held constant. Bench-scale, flat-sheet NF membrane experiments treating pH 4.0 synthetic water displayed a 34.5 to 49.5 percent removal of racemic ibuprofen. Removal values were dependent on feedwater concentration (1 to 1,500 microgram per liter (µg/L)), pH, …

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Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp Summer Intervention Program For Rising Seventh-Grade Algebra 1 Honors Students, Deanna Haught Jan 2020

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp Summer Intervention Program For Rising Seventh-Grade Algebra 1 Honors Students, Deanna Haught

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a summer intervention program for middle school Algebra 1 Honors students. The intervention program, Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp, was offered for rising seventh grade students at a middle school prior to them entering Algebra 1 in the Fall semester. The literature review and analysis of data from school districts in Central Florida showed that the increase in middle grade students enrollment in Algebra 1 has coincided with a decrease in the passing rate among those students on the Florida Algebra 1 End of Course exam and the course. The intervention program and this study were …

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A Case Study Of The Impact Of The Dplc Model Of Professional Learning On Collective Teacher Efficacy And Organizational Trust In A Middle School, Maria Gaspar Jan 2020

A Case Study Of The Impact Of The Dplc Model Of Professional Learning On Collective Teacher Efficacy And Organizational Trust In A Middle School, Maria Gaspar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the relationship between the implementation of the District Professional Learning Community (DPLC) model of professional development and collective teacher efficacy and organizational trust at one middle school in a large urban school district. Data were collected from the following sources: Goddard & Hoy's (2003) CE Scale Form L, Hoy & Tschannen-Moran's (2003) Omnibus-T scale, six additional survey items used to explore teachers' perceptions of the DPLC model's influence on improving student literacy, and semi-structured focus group interviews. A series of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests were performed to analyze …

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Understanding And Predicting Properties Of Low-Dimensional Functional Materials From First-Principles, Naseem Ud Din Jan 2020

Understanding And Predicting Properties Of Low-Dimensional Functional Materials From First-Principles, Naseem Ud Din

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A periodic network with uniform single metal active site, in coordination with redox-active organic ligands, is a promising class of materials for next generation single atom catalysts. Towards this quest, in this dissertation I have carried out first-principles density functional theory (DFT) based calculations of the geometrical and electronic structure and magnetic properties of several transition-metal-organic-chains (TM-C) both in gas phase as well as on Au(111) surface. Of particular interest are dipyridyltetrazine (DT), Bis-pyrimidine (BP), and 1,10-phenanthroline5,6-dione, (PDO) ligands used to design the TM-C with several single TM atoms as the coordination center. I have screened several TM atoms to …

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Symmetry And High Harmonic Spectroscopy In Solids, Shima Gholam Mirzaeimoghadar Jan 2020

Symmetry And High Harmonic Spectroscopy In Solids, Shima Gholam Mirzaeimoghadar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

High harmonic generation (HHG) by intense femtosecond laser pulses has, over the last three decades, provided new coherent sources of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray light and enabled the field of attosecond science. Furthermore, as properties of the target are encoded in the harmonic emission, high harmonic spectroscopy has allowed extraction of molecular structure and dynamics from the spectra and polarization states of harmonics generated from gas-phase molecules. HHG from solids, discovered in 2011, now promises to offer similar benefits to condensed matter physics. In this dissertation, I describe progress on two fronts: extending attosecond techniques to generate new high …

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Optimization Of Dapoxyl Aptamer For Label-Free Bioanalysis, Jack E. Mordeson, Ryan P. Connelly, Pedro F. Madalozzo, Yulia Gerasimova Jan 2020

Optimization Of Dapoxyl Aptamer For Label-Free Bioanalysis, Jack E. Mordeson, Ryan P. Connelly, Pedro F. Madalozzo, Yulia Gerasimova

Digital Repository: Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

No abstract provided.

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Design, Construction, And Characterization Of A Combined Mini-Co₂/Voc Sensor And Gas Chromatograph For Field Research, Rishi Basdeo, Michael Hampton Jan 2020

Design, Construction, And Characterization Of A Combined Mini-Co₂/Voc Sensor And Gas Chromatograph For Field Research, Rishi Basdeo, Michael Hampton

Digital Repository: Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

No abstract provided.

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Teacher Shortages: An Analysis Of The Relationship Among First-Year Teacher Retention, Type Of Licensure, Teaching Assignment, And Professional Learning In One Urban Central Florida School District, Stephanie Stan Jan 2020

Teacher Shortages: An Analysis Of The Relationship Among First-Year Teacher Retention, Type Of Licensure, Teaching Assignment, And Professional Learning In One Urban Central Florida School District, Stephanie Stan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Over 95% of states in the nation experience teacher shortages in at least one subject or certification area (Espinoza et al., 2018). Specifically, special education is acknowledged as an area with a critical shortage of teachers (Florida Department of Education, 2018; U.S. Department of Education, 2018). The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher shortages through the analysis of the relationship among first-year teachers, teacher licensure, teaching assignment, professional learning, and teacher retention. This study examined the relationship between first-year teacher retention and whether a cohort of first-year teachers remained within the same school, moved to another school within …

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Communication Administration As A Tri-Voiced Sustainable Community, Ronald C. Arnett Jan 2020

Communication Administration As A Tri-Voiced Sustainable Community, Ronald C. Arnett

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Books and authors have challenged the focus on “me” alone, rejecting “individualism” that seeks to stand above social context and constraints (Tocqueville, 1955; Arnett, 2019; Arnett, 2020), “narcissism” that falls in love with one’s own image (Lasch, 1985), and “emotivism” that limits decision making to personal preferences (MacIntyre, 1984). Contrary to a focus on an individual abstracted from a social context, one finds an emphasis on community (Arnett, 1986). When, however, a conception of community embraces only those empirically present, it becomes an abstraction oblivious of the phenomenological considerations of persons before and after the present moment. This essay textures …

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Development Of An Environmental Disposition Scale: A Guide For Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Jady Chen Jan 2020

Development Of An Environmental Disposition Scale: A Guide For Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Jady Chen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Promoting sustainable behavior or environmentally responsible behavior poses challenges because there is no overarching solution for behavior changes. Both surveys and interventions are context specific, meaning behaviors do not necessarily influence other behaviors and the same values, norms, and beliefs do not necessarily translate to the same level of sustainable behavior. Because there are regional differences in ideologies in the United States, a country level approach to encourage sustainable behavior would not be as effective as having interventions that directly correlate with the motivations that encourage environmentally responsible behavior. A survey will be conducted with University of Central Florida undergraduate …

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Exploring Arts Integration In Language Arts Instruction For Elementary Education, Mary A. Dehner Jan 2020

Exploring Arts Integration In Language Arts Instruction For Elementary Education, Mary A. Dehner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to provide insight on how arts integration in English language arts education increases engagement and achievement in students and teachers alike. Throughout my analysis of literature, local field research in two Central Florida public elementary schools, and my creation of a five-day arts-integrated writing unit, I found that arts integration, especially when utilizing Leonard Bernstein’s Artful Learning Method was observed to show a positive impact on students. Arts integration allowed for a child’s natural curiosity and instinct to create to take over, which created authentic learning experiences for the students. The research also demonstrated …

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Using Integrated Thematic Units To Teach Social Studies In The Intermediate Grades Classroom, Noelle Frantz Jan 2020

Using Integrated Thematic Units To Teach Social Studies In The Intermediate Grades Classroom, Noelle Frantz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Teachers are asked every day to teach a variety of subjects to their students, but it is often challenging to find enough time in the day to teach every subject. Often, social studies is the subject that gets left out of the curriculum. The purpose of this project was to examine the research behind thematic units and determine their role as a strategy to teaching social studies in the intermediate grades classroom. I researched thematic units including how to create them and their benefits and challenges. Using the research, I then made a resource for teachers to create their own …

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A Model Experiment To Investigate The Possibility Of Glyphosate Contamination In St. Kitts And Nevis, Winston Fu Jan 2020

A Model Experiment To Investigate The Possibility Of Glyphosate Contamination In St. Kitts And Nevis, Winston Fu

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that is used globally to combat the spread of weeds among crops. Not all countries around the world have been using the herbicide. For example, island countries such as Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis do not use the herbicide on their crops. However, St. Kitts and Nevis imports food and other agricultural products from around the world, leading to the hypothesis that glyphosate is contaminating the soil through those imported products. The aim of this research project was to determine if glyphosate is present in the island country of St. Kitts and Nevis. A …

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Musical Cryptography Using Long Short-Term Memory Networks, Curtis Helsel Jan 2020

Musical Cryptography Using Long Short-Term Memory Networks, Curtis Helsel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Musical cryptography is a technique in which plain text messages are enciphered into a musical composition. Recently, a surge of music composition by means of machine learning have produced natural-sounding music that can be deemed as composed by humans. The combination of machine-generated music and enciphering a message into the composition is a logical step in musical cryptography. Outlined in this thesis is a method that incorporates the use of a specific type of recurrent neural network, Long Short-Term Memory, and a variant of the substitution cipher to form of symmetric-key cryptography system. Exploration was also completed to determine how …

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The Role Of Expertise In Perceiving Emotions Through Kinematics, Kendahl E. Krause Jan 2020

The Role Of Expertise In Perceiving Emotions Through Kinematics, Kendahl E. Krause

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There has been much debate about how we perceive other people’s minds. Some theories, such as Theory of Mind, are based on the presumption that the minds of others are closed and inaccessible, requiring some form of inferential processing and mentalizing to understand. On the other hand, Direct Social Perception says that information about the mental states of others is readily available to perceive and requires no internal processing to understand. Taking either theory into account, it remains an open question if expertise plays a role in social perception. This study aimed to identify if experience in portraying emotions through …

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Seaweed As A Carrier For Microplastics, Stephanie M. Rodriguez Jan 2020

Seaweed As A Carrier For Microplastics, Stephanie M. Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Analysis of seaweed as a vector for microplastics is an integral part of understanding the formation and deposition of micro-sized plastic waste in seawater. The project itself originated due to the influx of seaweed (and mismanaged plastic waste) residing on the shores of St. Kitts and Nevis and the constant deposition of plastic pollution intertwined within the seaweed. The natural occurrence of the two together lead to the consideration of fragmented plastics remaining on the seaweed. The objective of this research is to stain, identify, and quantify the concentration of microplastics sourced from both store-bought and environmental seaweed samples. A …

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Degradation From Cmas Infiltration In 7ysz Eb-Pvd Thermal Barrier Coatings, Zachary Stein Jan 2020

Degradation From Cmas Infiltration In 7ysz Eb-Pvd Thermal Barrier Coatings, Zachary Stein

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The lifetime of the high temperature ceramic coating 7 wt.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (7YSZ) is reduced when calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate (CMAS) particulates enters aero-engines during operation in a sandy or dusty environment, melts, and infiltrates into the coating. 7YSZ undergo both chemical and mechanical degradation from CMAS infiltration during cycling. Characterization methods with synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) provides a non-destructive means to measure the impact of time and temperature on coating degradation with high spatial resolution of 7YSZ coatings infiltrated and annealed by CMAS for 1 hour and 10 hours as well as at 1225 °C and 1250 °C. Additionally, qualitative results of …

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Ob/Gyn Women In A #Metoo World: Unraveling Agency, Gender Bias, And Gender Inequity In The Workplace, Corey L. Bazemore Jan 2020

Ob/Gyn Women In A #Metoo World: Unraveling Agency, Gender Bias, And Gender Inequity In The Workplace, Corey L. Bazemore

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explores the visibility of women physicians, specifically in gynecology and obstetrics. It focuses upon their perspectives of gender inequity and sexual harassment within their broader profession and individual daily workplace. This study explores the medical and STEM women’s awareness and understanding of sexual and gender microaggressions within their professions by interviewing six women physicians. I analyze these narratives in relation to the #MeToo movement and how this movement gives visibility to the voices of women across workforces, including medicine, STEM, and other academic areas. This study shows the ongoing need to develop deeper conversations and interventions about women …

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Understanding The Challenges Child Welfare Workers Encounter Related To Promoting The Online Safety Of Foster Youth, Denielle Kirk L. Abaquita Jan 2020

Understanding The Challenges Child Welfare Workers Encounter Related To Promoting The Online Safety Of Foster Youth, Denielle Kirk L. Abaquita

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Foster care case managers are responsible for the wellbeing of foster youth in the foster care system. Teens (ages 13-17) in foster care are most vulnerable to serious risks, such as sex trafficking. Such risks have been heightened by the advent of internet-based technologies that connect foster youth with unsafe others at unprecedented frequency and speed. This thesis examines how case managers tackle the challenge of online safety as it relates to adolescents in the foster care system in the United States. I conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with case managers who worked with foster teens (ages 13-17) within the past …

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