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Case Study Of Inclusive Environments For Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Employees, Darin Dale Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the positive changes occurring regarding American attitudes toward members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, empirical evidence indicates that LGBT individuals do not believe inclusive environments exist, as 48% of the population remains closeted at work. A gap exists in the literature relating to the formulation of practical solutions that establish and sustain inclusive environments. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the possible influence of cultural lag on the workplace engagement of LGBT employees. Ogburn's cultural lag theory served as the conceptual framework. The following research questions guided the study: (a) The …

The Relationship Between Formal Evaluations And Online Adjunct Faculty Teaching Practices, Euwanna Antoinette Heard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The increased enrollment of adult learners in colleges and universities that offer online

programs has provoked a need for skilled online adjunct faculty. Administrators at online

universities in the Mideastern region of the United States have sought to better

understand the relationship between formal evaluations and teaching practices of the

online adjunct faculty. Guided by the theory of adult learning, the purpose of this study

was to determine the relationship between formal evaluations of the teaching practices of

online adjunct faculty and their professional development. A correlational study was

completed to determine the association between online adjunct faculty's perceptions of …

Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises Obtaining Public Procurement Contract Awards, Asha Mcglashan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The dominance of federal and state contracts by large enterprises reduces the share of contracts small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) business leaders obtain. As of the last census reading in 2016, SMEs received only 23% of contracts. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies of 3 small business leaders, operating in south Florida, for obtaining state contracts through public procurement. The thematic findings were in the context of the principal-agent theory as the conceptual framework. The participants answered 10 questions in semistructured interviews and provided organizational procurement documents for review. The methodological triangulation of multiple …

Predicting The Nclex-Rn Pass Rate At An Associate Degree Nursing Program, Dawne Devoe Olbrych

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) first-time pass rate for an associate degree in nursing (ADN) program was below the national mean, presenting a problem for graduates who failed the NCLEX-RN and could not enter the workforce as registered nurses. Knowles's assumptions of adult learning, Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve, and Zull's neuroscience research served as the theoretical frameworks for this study. The purpose of this study was to identify which academic and time-lapse variables predict the graduate's first-time passage for the NCLEX-RN. Archived academic records and NCLEX-RN results for all 786 graduates from one ADN program who took …

Frequency Of Cell Phone Texting And Social Competency In Adolescents, Anita Marie Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is no current research on the relationship between texting frequency, social competency development, and the moderating effect of gender in adolescents. A quantitative study involving a moderation design using multiple regression assisted in determining the relationship between cell phone texting and gender and whether or not the interaction of these variables predicted social competency development. The theoretical base that grounded this study was the taxonomic model of social competence, which identified the importance of examining social awareness abilities such as communication, an essential component for the development of social competency. The study included 74 participants. The participants were parents …

Perceptions And Interpretations Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Cambodian Immigrant Community, Raksmey Arun Roeum Castleman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects more than 60% of Cambodian immigrants in the United States. However, researchers do not yet know why less than 5% of Cambodian immigrants are accessing mental health services. This qualitative study involved investigation of participants' perceptions of how PTSD is manifested in the Cambodian immigrant community to understand barriers to mental health services access. The social ecological theory provided a frame for understanding how traditions, values, culture, and beliefs affect Cambodian immigrants' perceptions of PTSD and the mental health system. Data was collected from semi structured interviews of 13 participants, 18 to 70 years of …

Parents' And Teachers' Perception Of An Alternative School, Larry Lee Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The alternative school in this case study has experienced resistance to the assignments the past few years. Present enrollment consists mostly of African American male students, whose parents complain about constant fighting, inadequate educational resources and the lack of class selections necessary for student academic progress. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers and parents regarding academic information, and general information, they perceived have had the greatest impact on behavior, discipline, and achievement in the school environment. In addition, parents' primary concerns about student assignment to the alternative school were explored. Constructivist learning …

Police Culture And Decision-Making, Larry D. Anthony

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Decisions made by street-level police officers during encounters with the public have an immediate and long-lasting effect. Bad choices can cause a loss of trust, respect, and legitimacy for the police in a community and lay a foundation for violent confrontations between officers and citizens. Layers of culture that shape human decisions consist of social and institutional culture, including interactions that shape an individual's culture and beliefs and demographics and technology that affect cultural development. Police culture (which includes these layers of culture and factors like rank, units, and history) shapes attitudes and opinions about communities and people in a …

The Relationship Between Positive Academic And Behavior Support Services: School Failure Prevention-Plan, Tujaim M. Berry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Urban middle school students experience poor self-efficacy and poor attitudes toward school climates after being retained. Previous research has indicated that grade-level retention in primary and secondary education might cause long-term achievement gaps, school failure, and high school dropout rates. However, current research has yet to examine relationships between archival data retrieved on retained middle school students' achievement outcomes and perceptions of school climate. The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative study was to assess the relationships between retained middle school students' self-efficacy as measured by the School Climate Survey and their performance outcomes as measured by PowerSchool®. Bandura's theory of …

Experiences Of Interpersonal Interaction Between Nurse Educators And Minority Nursing Students, Debra Boldan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Changes in the cultural composition of the United States population are not reflected in the nursing workforce. The lack of diversity in nursing may be due to the unique interpersonal needs of minority nursing students remaining unmet in traditional nursing education programs, which might unintentionally lead to alienation, isolation, and lower graduation rates for minority students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore interpersonal interaction experiences nursing educators have in teaching minority nursing students. Critical social theory provided the theoretical framework to explore the ways social inquiries may hinder learning and keep marginal groups from reaching their full …

High School Teachers' Self-Reported Knowledge And Implementation Of Social And Emotional Learning Competencies, Stephanie Y. Clark Rhoe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public policymakers have failed to address public high school students' social and emotional learning (SEL). Recent public policies such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) do not measure SEL outcomes as significant. Public education is government funded and therefore public policy driven. Research indicates SEL competencies have a positive influence on students' academic successes, classroom behaviors, and future career outcomes. The conceptual framework for this study was based on SEL components described by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and served as the lens though which the data were analyzed. Research questions for this phenomenological study explored …

An Evaluation Of Juvenile Lifers In Pennsylvania Pre And Post Act 33 Of 1995, Kieshia Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Act 33 of 1995 is an amendment to Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act (2008). This amendment changed jurisdictional boundaries for juvenile offenders who committed violent crimes with weapons. As a result, youth who committed violent crimes with weapons were automatically transferred to the adult criminal justice system. Using punctuated equilibrium as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this study was to determine if Act 33, as a punctuating event, resulted in an increase in the number of youth transferred to the adult criminal justice system and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in an urban county in Pennsylvania. Secondary data …

Perspectives Of Elementary Classroom Teachers About Family Volunteer Presence And Student Performance, Rachel Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While researchers have explored various aspects of the family volunteer presence in the classroom, little is known pertaining to the perceptions of teachers regarding this phenomenon, specifically as it relates to fifth grade student reading comprehension. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions of family volunteers' presence and its influence on fifth grade student reading comprehension. The works of Patton and of Epstein informed this study. The research questions explored teachers' perception of benefits and challenges of the family volunteers' presence. Data were collected via interviews with 8 experienced fifth grade teachers who have worked with a …

Length Of Pretrial Detainment For Inmates With Mental Illness, Maria Pereira-Sosa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been an increase in the number of individuals with mental illness being housed in correctional facilities over the last 50 years. In this study, the length of pretrial detention was compared for inmates who have a mental illness and are compliant with psychiatric medications, inmates who have a mental illness and are noncompliant or not prescribed psychiatric medication, and inmates with no mental illness. I also examined if inmates who have a mental illness have less severe charges and if there was a difference in the classification of mental health diagnoses for inmates who are and are not …

Teachers' Experiences With Web-Based Professional Development For Diffusing State Standards, Nadine Petrie-Waymyers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School reform efforts ultimately affect the students, but what is seldom looked at is how they affect teachers. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of teachers with regards to web-based professional development during a systemic change. The purpose of this qualitative study was to generate an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of 6 teachers in a Southeastern state who had participated in the initial process of implementing organizational changes and the diffusion of the new state educational standards. Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory served as the study's conceptual framework. Research questions focused on the perspectives of teachers regarding the …

Social Work Practice With Older Adults, Carley Yvonne Vailu'u

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers working for adult protective services (APS) face many clinical challenges to ensure the safety and well-being of older adult clients. APS social workers often interact with older adults who engage in self-neglecting behaviors that compromise their ability to function in a healthy and independent manner. The purpose of this research study was to explore challenges in direct social work practice to identify how APS services can be improved when working with the older adult population, particularly individuals who engage in hoarding behaviors. Using action research methodology, 2 focus groups were conducted to explore the experiences and knowledge of …

The Impact Of Shared Governance On Nursing Satisfaction And Retention, Melanie Wetmore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Shared governance is a practice model that supports shared decision making between direct care nurses and their leaders. Developed from Kanter's theory of structural empowerment, shared governance allows employees to influence decisions made in an organization. Shared governance has been shown to increase nursing satisfaction, positively impact outcomes, and reduce nursing turnover. The purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between implementation of a system-wide, multihospital shared governance structure and registered nurse (RN) satisfaction, turnover, and perceptions of shared governance. The 3 sources of evidence used in the study were 2016-2017 organizational RN engagement survey results, 2016-2017 organizational …

Career Challenges Faced By Professional Black Women In Sweden, Herta Boakye-Yiadom Dahl

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academically and professionally qualified Black women who immigrated to Sweden from the United States and the continent of Africa encounter barriers that may hinder their career opportunities. The unstable labor market position of foreigners required efforts by the Swedish government to address the problem. Little is known about the unique and specific challenges that qualified Black immigrant women experience when integrating into the Swedish labor market with foreign qualifications and professional experience. Guided by Durkheim's social integration theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to evaluate the lived experiences of Black immigrant women as they integrated into the Swedish …

Executive Succession In Community Action Agencies In A Southern State, Johnnie Faye Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Without adequate succession planning (SP) for executive directors, nonprofit organizations risk losing their mission and direction and their ability to sustain the quality of program and services and maintain superior leadership. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which SP was being developed and implemented in community action agencies (CAAs) in a southern state. This study also focused on the challenges that these organizations experienced from not implementing SP. This single case study design was based on the theoretical framework of organizational change, using Lewin's 3-stage model. Identified through purposive and snowball sampling, 17 participants from …

Effect Of Administrative Practices On Law Enforcement Officers' Emotional Intelligence Performance, Iberkis Faltas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Between 2001 and 2017, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) received 295,616 allegations of police misconduct involving New York Police Department (NYPD) officers' use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and offensive language (FADO). The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of administrative disciplinary actions on officers' emotional intelligence and performance in relation to citizen complaints of police misconduct. The central research question addressed how administrative practices influence law enforcement officers' behavior in relation to emotional intelligence-based performance. The theoretical construct for this study is based on the emotional intelligence theories of Bar-On, Goleman, and Mayer, DiPaolo …

Assessing The Effects Of Career Exploration Among African-American Urban Adolescents, Mia Flowers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deficits in career decision making self-efficacy, career decidedness, and academic motivation have contributed to prolonged cycles of poverty, an increase in the number of years it takes to complete an undergraduate degree, and an upsurge in the amount of financial debt incurred. Recurrently, students are saddled with large amounts of debt for a degree that was never attained. One group heavily affected by this phenomenon is African American urban adolescents (AAUA). This quantitative study used a social cognitive career theory framework and a repeated-measures research design to examine whether a significant change in scores occurred from Time 1 to Time …

Citizen Perceptions Of Institutional Disparities And The Reintegration Of Nonviolent Drug Related Offenders, Terrance Hinton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2017, Louisiana had the highest incarceration rate in the nation with 1,420 of every 100,000 adult males being placed in a state or local penitentiary. To address this issue, a series of criminal justice reforms were passed within the Louisiana legislature that released thousands of former offenders back into the community. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the attitudes, thoughts, and opinions of citizens in a single Louisiana city regarding ex-offender re-integration and disparities within the criminal justice system. March and Olsen's Rational Choice Institutionalism was used to explain how environment impacts individual perception and choices …

The Impact Of Mentoring On Social Excluded Adults In A Small Midwest City, Rose A. Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empirical data have indicated that a considerable amount of the world's population, 45.3 million in the United States, live in deplorable conditions, some of which are created by social exclusion. Social exclusion is a disenfranchisement experienced by individuals and families living in poverty conditions created by circumstances such as lack of education, lack of economic sustenance, unemployment, poor health, and other social ills. Mentoring is a multidimensional skills-development opportunity for disadvantaged youth, aspiring new professionals, employed individuals being promoted, and instructor-student relationships. There is the possibility that mentoring could be useful for other societal groups as well, particularly social excluded …

Survivors' Experiences Of Pet Abuse Within The Cycle Of Domestic Violence, Taylor Chastain Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence is a pervasive issue that impacts all members of a household, including pets. There is comprehensive quantitative evidence to suggest that domestic violence and pet abuse commonly co-occur; however, as the personal accounts of pet-owning survivors have started to emerge through qualitative investigation, more research is needed to understand the unique experiences of pet abuse that take place alongside instances of domestic violence. This phenomenological investigation utilized control balance theory and a feminist framework to uncover the experiences of survivors who entered their pets into an animal care program specifically designed to help during times of domestic violence …

Strategies Small Business Salon Owners Use To Survive Longer Than 5 Years, Delita Netrice Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners are the primary initiators of innovation and economic growth but fail at high rates. Fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first 5 years of operations. Through the lens of systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies some small salon business owners use to remain in business for longer than 5 years. Using purposeful sampling, the 7 owners of small salon business owners in the southeastern United States were selected based upon evidence of their strategies to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. Data were collected through …

Managerial Strategies Small Businesses Use To Prevent Cybercrime, Doreen Lynn Maahs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Estimated worldwide losses due to cybercrime are approximately $375-575 billion annually, affecting governments, business organizations, economies, and society. With globalization on the rise, even small businesses conduct transactions worldwide through the use of information technology (IT), leaving these small businesses vulnerable to the intrusion of their networks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the managerial strategies of small manufacturing business owners to protect their financial assets, data, and intellectual property from cybercrime. The conceptual framework was systems thinking and action theory. Participants included 4 small manufacturing business owners in the midwestern region of the United States. …

Effective Organizational Culture Strategies For A Firm Operating In Foreign Countries, Peter Morcos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational culture is a significant driver of success for firms, especially for those considering expansion to foreign countries. The purpose of this single case study was to explore effective cultural-oriented strategies that senior business leaders use to align the organization's culture with foreign countries' cultures to improve organizational performance in foreign countries. The target population was 8 current and former senior managers of a firm operating in 16 countries. Data were collected via a mix of videoconference and face-to-face interviews and the firm's archival documents, the financial statements, the HR policy, and the internal control policy. The conceptual framework that …

Psychological Uncertainty, Stress, Frustration And Their Relationship With Counterproductive Workplace Behavior, Joan M. Norwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The overall problem this research addresses is the costly impact of counterproductive work behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether uncertainty, stress, or frustration are related to variability, or in predicting counterproductive work behaviors. Wavering economic conditions have steadily altered work environments, and with continuous work changes are growing feelings of uncertainty, concerns of employee and organizational safety, performance, and overall wellbeing. The social exchange theory and the workplace social exchange network were used in this study to better understand employee relationships and response behaviors. Research questions compared the relationships among perceived uncertainty, stress, frustration, and levels …

Portuguese-American Parents' Knowledge Of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Debbie Shrimatie Persaud

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, there is an interethnic research gap that exists regarding Portuguese-American parents' knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study was to explore Portuguese-American parents' knowledge of the symptoms and diagnosis of ADHD, how they think it impacts their children's education, learning, behaviors, and what interventions they use to address the behavioral issues and learning disabilities that result from ADHD. Guided by family systems theory, with the premise that children are an integral part of the family and cannot be understood in isolation from the family, this qualitative, phenomenological study used semi-structured interviews …

The Experiences And Perceptions Of African American Women Who Reside In Nursing Homes, Lakeisha De Lon Riley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of African American women who reside in a nursing home and to understand African American women's decisions for admitting to the facility. Social Learning Theory was applied to answer the question of how African American women's experiences and perceptions toward long-term care influence healthcare decisions and admission to a nursing home. Eleven participants interviewed in the study were at least 60 years old, admitted into the facility within the past two years and who had not previously resided in a nursing home. Yin's five step approach …