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Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

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The Journey To Generative Conflict: An Action Research Study In A Community Action Agency, Maya Townsend Jan 2026

The Journey To Generative Conflict: An Action Research Study In A Community Action Agency, Maya Townsend

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Countries around the world face unprecedented levels of polarization and discontent, creating conditions that encourage organizational conflict as employees replicate patterns present within the environment. Organizational conflict can be a source of anxiety, a distraction from work, and an impediment to innovation, sound decision making, and quality outcomes. However, conflict need not be destructive. With that background, this dissertation is guided by the following primary research question: How can an organization develop a generative conflict culture that strengthens relationships and contributes to positive outcomes? The single-case study follows one community action agency as it seeks to develop and implement more …


Feeling Seen By Being Heard: A Constructivist Critical Incident Study Of The Listening Experiences Of Ciswomen Of Color For The Development Of An Inclusive Listening Praxis For Leaders, Christina Zhong-Wen Chang Jan 2026

Feeling Seen By Being Heard: A Constructivist Critical Incident Study Of The Listening Experiences Of Ciswomen Of Color For The Development Of An Inclusive Listening Praxis For Leaders, Christina Zhong-Wen Chang

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examines how listening shapes inclusive workplaces by exploring the listening experiences of 23 professional cisgender women of color working in predominantly white institutional spaces. Although listening is a fundamental part of communication, it is frequently undervalued and overlooked in leadership literature. Using the constructivist critical incident technique (CCIT) methodology, the research analyzed 88 significant moments when participants felt distinctly heard or unheard by leaders. Findings reveal that listening operated as a relational practice signaling respect, affirmation of voice, and anchoring leadership in accountability, while enabling leaders to engage perspectives beyond their own. Four listening types emerged: Listening Withheld, …


Exploring Relational Leadership And Psychological Safety During Ai Integration In The Workplace, Solmaz Kaynama Jan 2026

Exploring Relational Leadership And Psychological Safety During Ai Integration In The Workplace, Solmaz Kaynama

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores employee psychological safety, or its lack, during artificial intelligence (AI) integration in the workplace through a relational leadership lens. The population included employees of for-profit business corporations currently integrating or adopting AI technologies (N = 14). Participants completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Results showed eight themes: relational leadership creates a psychologically safe workplace climate; unsupportive and dysfunctional leadership erodes trust and psychological safety; psychological safety determines whether employees speak up openly or hold back; employees’ experience daily work through workplace culture, pace, and remote or hybrid conditions; AI may delivers immediate productivity benefits while introducing new psychological and …


She Leads: A Phenomenological Study Of Women's Leadership Experiences In Nonprofit Organizations, Trisha W. Lee Jan 2026

She Leads: A Phenomenological Study Of Women's Leadership Experiences In Nonprofit Organizations, Trisha W. Lee

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Women comprise a significant portion of the nonprofit sector workforce but are underrepresented in leadership, particularly among executives in larger revenue nonprofit organizations (NPOs). This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of women who led large, local NPOs (those with annual revenues between $1 million and $5 million) in Ohio. Addressing a gap in understanding the intersection of gender and leadership in large revenue NPOs, this research compared women who were founders of their NPOs with women who ascended to leadership in established organizations. Did founding one’s own NPO provide an advantage in leading it once it grew? How did …


Navigating An Uncharted Path: Chief Diversity Officer Challenges In Creating And Implementing A Dei Strategy Plan Within Major Hospital Systems, Diane Shines Mcdaniel Jan 2026

Navigating An Uncharted Path: Chief Diversity Officer Challenges In Creating And Implementing A Dei Strategy Plan Within Major Hospital Systems, Diane Shines Mcdaniel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the major challenges Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) face when creating and implementing DEI strategy plans within major hospital systems in the United States. The study was guided by one research question: What are the major challenges that Chief Diversity Officers face in creating and implementing a DEI strategy plan within major U.S. hospital systems? A phenomenological design was used to examine the challenges of six Chief Diversity Officers serving in major U.S. hospitals as they led DEI strategy planning and implementation. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews consisting of eight open-ended questions designed to elicit …


Climate Resilience In Action: Process-Based Equity For Co-Governed, Socially Cohesive, Ecologically Integrated Democracies Through The Design And Implementation Of Nature-Based Solutions, Donna Choih Jan 2026

Climate Resilience In Action: Process-Based Equity For Co-Governed, Socially Cohesive, Ecologically Integrated Democracies Through The Design And Implementation Of Nature-Based Solutions, Donna Choih

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) governance and behavior have the potential to become more equitable, beginning with a closer examination of what equity entails. Governance and behavior together are the actions manifest from internal dispositions and thoughts that facilitate the process of decision-making, in this case, for equitable NbS. This critical review seeks to (1) address the gap in literature on human development and behavioral dimensions of procedural justice for NbS by further defining process-based equity (PbE), and (2) present a framework of best practices for equitable NbS. This framework, along with a complementary conceptual model, was developed using the Preferred Reporting …


Empowered Margins: Women, Work, And Justice In Educational Labor, Erin Woodford Jan 2025

Empowered Margins: Women, Work, And Justice In Educational Labor, Erin Woodford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines economic justice and employment precarity faced by educators in both K-12 and post-secondary education systems. While literature explores themes of changing demographics in union membership, collective bargaining, labor activism, and gendered and intersectional inequities in academia, and women in leadership in unions, a critical gap of disabled women’s voices and solutions to the inequities remains. This study highlights how job insecurity, unequal pay, hiring biases, limited recognition of prior learning, and inadequate institutional support exacerbates mental health challenges, professional invisibility, and economic instability. In the K-12 unionized system, systemic barriers such include disregard for substitute teaching as …


Journey To Well-Being: An Exploration Of Thrivership Post-Domestic Violence, Kader Gumus Jan 2025

Journey To Well-Being: An Exploration Of Thrivership Post-Domestic Violence, Kader Gumus

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Domestic violence profoundly affects multiple facets of a survivor’s life. While most existing literature on survivorship addresses the immediate aftermath of domestic violence, this study delves into the extended process following the trauma of abuse to attain “thrivership,” a new concept in the scholarly and practice literature that emphasizes enduring well-being and flourishing. This dissertation examines the journeys from surviving to thriving for 13 women who transformed themselves and their lives to achieve well-being after traumatic domestic violence. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was applied to examine the multiple layers of environmental influences on an individual’s development, including the micro, meso, …


Restorative Leadership: A Generative Exploration With Women School Leaders, Camille Rénée Pauline Tyson Jacobs Jan 2025

Restorative Leadership: A Generative Exploration With Women School Leaders, Camille Rénée Pauline Tyson Jacobs

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As schools increasingly adopt restorative practices, a parallel shift in leadership is occurring, challenging traditional leadership models like servant and transformational leadership. While research has largely focused on student outcomes, there is a critical gap in understanding how restorative practices influence school principals’ leadership. Given their central role in sustaining and expanding restorative initiatives, this study aimed to address that gap by developing a definitional framework for restorative leadership, grounded in the experiences of women school leaders in grades 5 to 12. Using sensemaking theory, the research examined how leaders conceptualize and apply restorative values in practice. Key questions included …


Heart-Thinking Leadership: A Transformative Approach To Binary Hierarchies In Waldorf Schools, Chiaki Uchiyama Jan 2025

Heart-Thinking Leadership: A Transformative Approach To Binary Hierarchies In Waldorf Schools, Chiaki Uchiyama

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores heart-thinking leadership as a transformative approach to dismantling elitism, hierarchy, and binary structures in education, leadership, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Grounded in insights from Damásio, Spinoza, Emerson, Hegelian dialectics, and wisdom traditions such as Manichaeism, African spirituality, and Indigenous feminism, it examines how third space thinking fosters inclusivity and dynamic leadership. By integrating intuition, intellect, and relational awareness, heart-thinking leadership moves beyond rigid dualisms—mind and body, self and other, power and subjugation—to cultivate a holistic way of knowing. This perspective critiques conventional DEI models that reinforce binaries of oppressor and oppressed, advocating instead for an …


The Anatomy Of Physician Fulfillment: Strategies Beyond Burnout, Brook Hale Jan 2024

The Anatomy Of Physician Fulfillment: Strategies Beyond Burnout, Brook Hale

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The persistent tension and power struggle between healthcare executives and physicians is a prevalent issue in healthcare organizations, often leading to a culture of organizational mistrust. This dynamic stems from perceived conflicting goals: executives are frequently seen as primarily focused on financial outcomes, while physicians are viewed as resistant to change. This study explored how physician fulfillment is experienced at work, with the ultimate goal of identifying potential interventions to bridge the gap between these groups. There is vast research and literature available regarding burnout in healthcare; this research focused on understanding what physicians find fulfilling in their work and …


How Team Engagement Improved Positive Behavior Intervention And Support, Colleen Canty Jan 2024

How Team Engagement Improved Positive Behavior Intervention And Support, Colleen Canty

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are a continuum of behavior intervention strategies designed for implementation across the student population. The implementation of PBIS has demonstrated positive academic and behavioral outcomes, as well as safe and favorable school culture in the public education setting (Ockerman et al., 2012; Sugai & Horner, 2009). However, in the alternative school setting, results have not been as favorable. “Alternative school programs have also moved towards adopting PBIS framework, however, outcomes have been less positive. Although alternative programs are often more restrictive and specialized because of the intensified needs of their youth, they share instructional, …


Developing More Equitable And Critically Conscious Organizations: Testimonios And Critical Platicas With Black And Latino/X Lgbtq+ Male Chrd Leaders, Mario Burton Jan 2024

Developing More Equitable And Critically Conscious Organizations: Testimonios And Critical Platicas With Black And Latino/X Lgbtq+ Male Chrd Leaders, Mario Burton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation connects the recent DEIB movement within organizations to larger social justice movements, specifically those that impact workers and the workplace. Critical human resource development (CHRD) professionals, who serve as “insider activists”, are highlighted due to their work to continue movement objectives within organizations. Through testimonios and critical platicas, this study explores how Black and Latino/x LGBTQ+ CHRD professionals, in particular, are experiencing the workplace, especially as it relates to their engagement with how DEIB is practiced within organizations. Through this study, these professionals provide insights into the ways that workplaces can be redesigned and reimagined to be …


Inclusive Theory Of Change Development For A Social Enterprise, Megan A. Bolton Jan 2024

Inclusive Theory Of Change Development For A Social Enterprise, Megan A. Bolton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research aimed to study what occurs when a theory of change (ToC) is co-created in a social enterprise serving individuals facing barriers to employment. The study included the following three objectives: identifying the barriers and facilitators experienced by those implementing the ToC, gathering the perspectives of program end users on the ToC, and exploring how the ToC would facilitate impact measurement. A central feature of this AR study was the engagement of returning citizens in the discussion and development of the ToC, which added to the process and outcomes of this research in important ways. The lived experience of …


A Critical Incident Analysis Of Humanizing Interactions Between Correctional Officers And People Who Are Incarcerated, Aimee Califano Jan 2024

A Critical Incident Analysis Of Humanizing Interactions Between Correctional Officers And People Who Are Incarcerated, Aimee Califano

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The correctional officer (CO) has one of the most critical roles in the correctional setting and is one of the least studied topics amongst criminal justice professionals (Butler et al., 2018). In the United States, a CO’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of an incarcerated individual and the staff that work in the prison setting (Cheek, 1984). Paradoxically, in the United States, the CO works in an organizational system based on deprivation and punishment toward incarcerated people. The United States Prison system’s current structure does not support rehabilitation efforts of incarcerated people and ultimately impacts any …


The Power Of Her Voice: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study Exploring The Career Experiences Of Women Middle-Level Leaders, Cynthia Mako Robinson Jan 2024

The Power Of Her Voice: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study Exploring The Career Experiences Of Women Middle-Level Leaders, Cynthia Mako Robinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study provides a vital contribution to the discourse on women’s career trajectories by amplifying the often-overlooked experiences of women middle-level leaders. Positioned at the intersection of strategic and operational functions, these leaders play a vital role in organizations—developing and motivating employees, driving change, and serving as relationship managers and key connectors to senior leadership. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences of 15 accomplished women middle-level leaders, each with over 15 years of service across private, public, and nonprofit sectors in the United States. Grounded in relational-cultural theory (RCT), career theory, positive work relationships, and …


Teacher Professional Dialogue For Justice-Oriented Practice: A Qualitative Action Research Study, Megan Leigh Normandin Dec 2023

Teacher Professional Dialogue For Justice-Oriented Practice: A Qualitative Action Research Study, Megan Leigh Normandin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study used a qualitative action research approach to engage a group of secondary English teachers in a collective inquiry to determine the best model for transformative teacher reflexivity and dialogue. Through solution-focused conversation, the goal was to design a sustainable framework for professional development that fosters creative, just, and compassionate instruction. The primary question explored was: What is an effective structure for sustained reflective dialogue among teachers in a comprehensive public high school? The action research model provided the context for a cyclical process of reflection, discovery, and growth. Findings of this study will form both a blueprint for …


Experiencing Workplace Inclusion: Critical Incidents That Create A Sense Of Inclusion For Professional Staff In Higher Education, Katherine Penn Lampley Jan 2023

Experiencing Workplace Inclusion: Critical Incidents That Create A Sense Of Inclusion For Professional Staff In Higher Education, Katherine Penn Lampley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Professional staff make up the majority of employees at colleges and universities in the United States but are rarely the focus of research in higher education. As a result, little is known about how these employees experience the workplace, creating a challenge for educational institutions working to attract, develop, and retain this essential resource. Employees who feel included in the workplace have higher performance levels and are more likely to remain with their organizations, but workplace inclusion is a complex and undertheorized psychological phenomenon. This exploratory study provides insight into the psychological experience of inclusion by examining the experiences, interactions, …


Navigating Conflict During Periods Of Change In Higher Education: Deconstructing Academic Leaders’ Construction Of Meaning, Tyler Guy Olson Jan 2023

Navigating Conflict During Periods Of Change In Higher Education: Deconstructing Academic Leaders’ Construction Of Meaning, Tyler Guy Olson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Navigating departmental and organizational conflict is an essential function and responsibility of an academic unit leader (dean, associate dean, director, or chair) in higher education institutions (HEIs). During periods of organizational change, conflict tends to increase in complexity and difficulty—in part due to resistance to change—making it more difficult to manage in a constructive manner (Marcus, 2014). Much of the literature that looks at the academic unit leader and conflict focuses on personal conflict styles (or modes), types of conflicts encountered, and training on techniques and skills for conflict resolution and management. Missing from the literature is research that examines …


Empowered Presence: Theorizing An Afrocentric Performance Of Leadership By African American Women, Sharon Wamble-King Jan 2023

Empowered Presence: Theorizing An Afrocentric Performance Of Leadership By African American Women, Sharon Wamble-King

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is a paucity of theorizing concerning leadership enactments performed by African American women. The performances have been marginalized and obscured within the Western leadership canon as they fall outside its epistemological boundaries; they have also been sidelined within Critical Leadership Studies. This study employed Afrocentricity as a decolonizing paradigm and Africology as the research methodology to describe and define a leadership phenomenon enacted by African American women. Setting aside Western conceptions of leadership, focus groups of African American women examined video excerpts of Africana women’s oral performances through an Africological lens. Participants’ Afrocentric-oriented perceptions sparked collective storytelling and Meaning-Making …


It Takes Heart: Building Peer-Driven Training Initiatives Through Workers' Stories, Deborah Lynne Moy Jan 2023

It Takes Heart: Building Peer-Driven Training Initiatives Through Workers' Stories, Deborah Lynne Moy

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

My research inquiry is centered on the larger project of building a transformational, empowerment model of worker voice in workplaces. The purpose of my research is to explore/illuminate the question, “How can I use workers’ stories to center and advance collaborative worker voice on the job through peer-driven training initiatives?” I frame this general research inquiry around two key questions: (a) How do I create authentic spaces for workers’ stories to emerge from the heart? (b) How do I use workers’ stories to create the environment needed for workers to become peer teachers/leaders of their own training initiatives? This study’s …


Leadership For Change: Teacher Education In Afghanistan: A Decade Of Challenge In Reconstruction, Reform, And Modernization In A Post Conflict Society, Susan Wardak Jan 2022

Leadership For Change: Teacher Education In Afghanistan: A Decade Of Challenge In Reconstruction, Reform, And Modernization In A Post Conflict Society, Susan Wardak

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation used interpretive case study methodology focused on the story of rebuilding the national education system of Afghanistan destroyed by decades of conflict. The study documents the challenges and progress in preparing adequate and qualified teachers for the nation. The dissertation is based on critical analysis of available documents tracing events, policies, and programs. The research asks: What are the critical leadership strategies and organizational frameworks that promote or impede institutional change? What are the barriers to change in teacher education in a conservative Islamic society? The dissertation is unique in that this story of educational intervention in a …


How Should Bosses Lead? New Revelations From Frontline Managers, Bonnie A. Curtis Jan 2022

How Should Bosses Lead? New Revelations From Frontline Managers, Bonnie A. Curtis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Strategic business change in the 21st century has been fraught with issues, resulting in failure for more than half of all attempted efforts to transform companies. Frontline managers (FLMs) are key to successful corporate change, transforming a company’s direction into action and results and the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique business challenge for every Consumer Products Group (CPG) company and FLM by interrupting supply chains. The aim of this grounded theory study was to create theory by conducting open-ended interviews with 20 frontline managers to determine how they viewed themselves and their roles, teams, and bosses during change. Results …


Exploring The Leadership-As-Practice Of Middle Managers Engaged In Organizational Changes In An Asia Pacific Multinational Setting, Eric Kung Jan 2022

Exploring The Leadership-As-Practice Of Middle Managers Engaged In Organizational Changes In An Asia Pacific Multinational Setting, Eric Kung

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been a great need for leadership studies on middle management, particularly in the Asia Pacific context. This study explored the leadership practices of middle managers engaged in leading organizational changes of multinational corporations (MNCs), within the Asia Pacific context. Organization ethnography was used as the research method. The ethnographer observed and analyzed the actual practice of middle managers of a multinational manufacturing company located in China for six months. The findings showed that middle managers played significant roles in communication and execution in leading organizational changes. The study also showed that change management could be a dynamic process …


Reframing Leadership Narratives Through The African American Lens, Marion Missy Mcgee Jan 2022

Reframing Leadership Narratives Through The African American Lens, Marion Missy Mcgee

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Reframing Leadership Narratives through the African American Lens explores the context-rich experiences of Black Museum executives to challenge dominant cultural perspectives of what constitutes a leader. Using critical narrative discourse analysis, this research foregrounds under-told narratives and reveals the leadership practices used to proliferate Black Museums to contrast the lack of racially diverse perspectives in the pedagogy of leadership studies. This was accomplished by investigating the origin stories of African American executives using organizational leadership and social movement theories as analytical lenses for making sense of leaders’ tactics and strategies. Commentary from Black Museum leaders were interspersed with sentiments of …


A Journey To Finding Space In The Tension: Experience Of Instructors' Relationship With Religion And Spirituality In Doctoral Psychology Programs, Samantha Mcgee Jan 2022

A Journey To Finding Space In The Tension: Experience Of Instructors' Relationship With Religion And Spirituality In Doctoral Psychology Programs, Samantha Mcgee

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Religion and spirituality, when viewed through a holistic lens, can reflect important aspects of a person’s identity. It can be a source of well-being and also struggle. The fields of religion, spirituality and psychology have had a history of being polarized, with some efforts to integrate the two fields. Tensions exist at multiple ecological levels around the topic of religion and spirituality, which can make it easier to avoid discussing it in classrooms and therapy rooms. It is important to address and create room for discussion of experiences around religion and spirituality in classrooms that are training psychologists so they …


"Because God Said So": A Thematic Analysis Of Why People Denounce Black Greek-Letter Organizations, Mea Ashley Jan 2022

"Because God Said So": A Thematic Analysis Of Why People Denounce Black Greek-Letter Organizations, Mea Ashley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Today, Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) struggle to use empirical data to address financial burden, elitism, hazing, relevance in social justice issues, and the anti-BGLO movement. The anti-BGLO movement frames this study. The movement stems from beliefs that secret societies, fraternities, and sororities are anti-Christian. Society will continue to question the relevance and importance of BGLOs if they cannot overcome the issues plaguing them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to ascertain why members are leaving BGLOs, in case the organizations find the anti-BGLO movement to be a threat to organizational vitality. Through thematic analysis, 18 YouTube testimonials from denouncers …


Locating Uncertainty In Hospital Leader Sensemaking And Sensegiving Of Organizational Change: A Single Case Study, Sara E. Barry Jan 2022

Locating Uncertainty In Hospital Leader Sensemaking And Sensegiving Of Organizational Change: A Single Case Study, Sara E. Barry

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Leaders planning strategic change face significant ambiguity and uncertainty due to the complex, fast-paced, and volatile nature of organizational life. What one leader sees as an opportunity, another may view as a threat depending on their past experiences, their existing mental models, and their perceptions of uncertainty. Sensemaking and sensegiving theories provide a framework for how leaders retrospectively make sense of new and disorienting information through recursive cycles of interpretation, action, and learning, and seek to influence the meaning-making of others towards a shared vision of the strategic change. Despite decades of research using these theories, studies have yet to …


The Diffusion Of A Discipline: Examining Social Marketing's Institutionalization Within Environmental Contexts, Liz Foote Jan 2022

The Diffusion Of A Discipline: Examining Social Marketing's Institutionalization Within Environmental Contexts, Liz Foote

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As a social change discipline, social marketing has demonstrated its effectiveness in addressing many types of wicked problems. However, despite its utility in environmental contexts, it is neither well known nor widespread in its uptake in these settings. This study’s purpose is to reveal opportunities to drive the adoption, implementation, and diffusion (“institutionalization”) of social marketing within the domains of environmental sustainability and natural resource conservation. This research considers the use of social marketing as an innovative practice within a diffusion of innovations framework and uses a systems lens to examine early adopter social marketing professionals and the institutional contexts …


Video Meetings In A Pandemic Era: Emotional Exhaustion, Stressors, And Coping, Betty J. Johnson Jan 2021

Video Meetings In A Pandemic Era: Emotional Exhaustion, Stressors, And Coping, Betty J. Johnson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In the first quarter of 2020, societal upheavals related to the COVID-19 pandemic included employers’ work-from-home mandates and an almost overnight adoption of video meetings to replace in-person meetings no longer possible due to contagion fears and social distancing requirements. This exploratory study aimed to address, in part, the scientific knowledge gap about video meetings as a source of emotional labor. The study used mixed methods to explore three hypotheses concerning how the contemporary use of video meetings related to emotional exhaustion, stressors, and coping. Data were gathered through an online survey questionnaire. Emotional exhaustion, the dependent variable in the …