Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of A Viniyoga-Based Practice On Mental Health Clinicians' Perceived Stress, Burnout, And Quality Of Life, Julie Pate

Dissertations

Psychotherapists often experience stress when treating distressed or emotionally troubled patients due to the emotionally taxing nature of their work, which can lead to burnout and other negative consequences (Bell et al., 2023; Maslach & Leiter, 2016; Simionato & Simpson, 2018) Therapists find it challenging to maintain regular self-care routines (Driscoll, 2023; Baker & Gabriel, 2021; Posluns & Gall, 2020). With the constant demand for counselors (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2024), there is a critical need for effective stress management strategies to mitigate burnout risks (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2022; Sibitz, Pils, …

The Impact Of Targeted Professional Development On Principals’ Instructional Leadership And The Cultivation Of Positive School Culture, Anastasia M. Opahle

Dissertations

Effective principal leadership is the cornerstone of effective schools, as it has been shown to increase student success. In the State of Wisconsin, there is currently no requirement for ongoing professional development for principals. This study examined the impact of professional development targeted at principal leadership on student achievement and school culture. Using a mixed methods approach, results showed principals who participated in a yearlong principal cohort indicated their leadership skills improved. The qualitative data showed the participating principals believed the targeted professional development was collaborative, reflective, relevant, and actionable. This research indicates that sustained, targeted professional development is crucial …

Exploring The Process Of Professional Identity Development For Generation Z Counselors-In-Training Enrolled In Cacrep-Accredited Master's Programs In The Northeastern United States Coun, Jordan G. Shaw

Dissertations

Professional identity development is a central outcome of counselor preparation programs, yet how Counselors-in-Training (CITs) experience this process, particularly during internship, remains underexplored. This qualitative study examines the lived experience of professional identity development among Generation Z CITs enrolled in master’s programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in the Northeastern United States, with specific attention to the implications for counselor education and supervision in a shifting professional landscape.

Using an existential-phenomenological framework and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants born between 1995 and 2010 who were completing …

The Voices Of Educators And Elders: Examining A Supplemental Educational Program Through A Culturally Responsive Lens In Gullah Geechee And African American Communities, Kelly D. Shelton

Dissertations

African American students in South Carolina experience historical educational suppression (Anderson, 1988; Bowers et al., 2018; Fabel, 2019). This qualitative case study investigated how the use of African Diaspora and Gullah Geechee culture in supplemental education programs supported the academic success of youth. Using a culturally and historically responsive literacy and critical race theoretical framing (Gay, 2013; Hammond, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1997; Mills, 1997; Muhammad, 2020), this study captured the voices and insights of community elders and program directors of The Village Group, that makes use of Gullah Geechee cultural, academic, and vocational practices to engage and …

Built On Dignity, Backed By Love: A Mixed Methods Study And Curriculum Grounded In Black Caregivers’ Racial Socialization To Cultivate Youth Agency, Heather Watson

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how low-income Black youth and their caregivers experience, interpret, and respond to racial discrimination, with a focus on the development of youths’ dignity as a culturally grounded resilience process. Using a mixed-methods, community-based participatory research (CBPR) design, the study addresses three central aims: (1) to identify the forms of discrimination youth and caregivers encounter and their relationship to racial stress and resilience; (2) to define dignity from the perspectives of youth and caregivers; and (3) to identify caregiver-youth conversations that cultivate dignity and inform the development of the Dignity Development Curriculum (DDC). Data were collected through semi-structured …

Migrant Domestic Workers As Disposable Kin In Global Capitalism's Care Economy, Miguel Ceron Becerra

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the economic, emotional, and relational harms suffered by migrant domestic workers under global capitalism. These harms are systemic, stemming from labor and migration regimes designed to sustain capital accumulation in the care economy. Affluent regions benefit from the labor of migrant domestic workers at the expense of damage to their fundamental relationships. The result is the erosion of workers' kinship ties, rendering them "disposable kin" in the eyes of those who profit economically and emotionally from their work. The study is organized into four chapters. The first explores how global care chains are structured through labor and …

Changing Lanes, Crossing Industry Lines From Higher Education To Business Leaders: A Narrative Inquiry To Understanding The Challenges Faced By Residence Life Professionals Who Had To Change Career Paths Due To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tatianna Geneva Ingram

Dissertations

This narrative inquiry examined how higher education residence life and housing professionals navigated career transitions into business leadership roles following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using human capital theory as a framework, the study explored the transferable skills cultivated in residence life positions and how these skills supported adaptation across industries. Participants’ narratives illuminated motivations for transition, including job market volatility, compensation concerns, and work-life balance, while also highlighting challenges encountered in reskilling and navigating identity shifts outside of higher education. The findings reveal the enduring value of competencies such as leadership, crisis management, diversity and inclusion expertise, and operational strategy in …

Understanding Early Childhood Community Collaborations (Ecccs) In Relation To Systems Change, Rebecca Waterstone Halperin

Dissertations

The early childhood system in the United States is piecemeal and fragmented (Adams et al., 2017; Gomez & Rendon, 2019; Kagan & Kauerz, 2012; State Capacity Building Center, 2022). The result is that families have unequal access to care, education, and other early childhood services for their young children. There have been various approaches to building, impacting, and changing the early childhood system to move toward equity, and many of these approaches call for collaborative efforts. The state of Illinois is engaged in comprehensive early childhood systems work, and one of the vehicles driving this change has been the work …

Alienation On Campus: Students, Agency, And A 'Praxis Of Possibility', Julia R. Allison

Dissertations

In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the idea of alienation took hold across the United States as a way of explaining feelings of disconnection, powerlessness, and meaninglessness that seemed to be pervading American society. This was no less true on college and university campuses, where students engaged in protest over both government action and inaction and a new youth counterculture took root. What led to alienation’s prominence as a social phenomenon is a matter of some debate, as are the causes of its precipitous decline in the early 70s. However, after an extended silence more recent decades have seen something …

University Resilience: Examining The Relationship Of Acute, Externally-Driven Crisis Events To University Enrollment And Financial Stability, Amy Kyhos

Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the phenomenon of a significant, acute, externally-driven crisis event on university resilience at four-year, tuition-driven, public and private higher education institutions in the United States of America. The study primarily considered the resilience indicators of university undergraduate enrollment and financial stability through the crisis context of COVID-19. It is theorized that a perceived lack of reliability, flexibility, and pace to evolve that higher education exhibited during and shortly after COVID-19 is a sustained point of vulnerability to a field under increasing review from a range of stakeholders and points of financial and public pressure. The study contemplated …

Revisiting Collective Efficacy: Insights From Cognitive Interviews And Experimental Surveys, Tori Kay Olson

Dissertations

This three-part study revisits the collective efficacy scale developed by Sampson and colleagues in the 1990s to see if the scale needs updating. Defined as community cohesion and social control, collective efficacy is often used in community research to explain crime rates. The first phase uses cognitive interviews to understand how survey respondents interpret the original collective efficacy survey. The interview data then helps create new versions of the ten questions in the second phase. In the third phase, ChatGPT generates a revised version of the collective efficacy scale. The study employs a split-ballot experimental survey to test whether the …

Investigating Host Factors In Coronavirus Assembly And Egress, Surovi Binte Sharmin Mohona

Dissertations

Coronavirus (CoV) structural proteins congregate at the ER-Golgi intermediate compartments (ERGIC) prior to virus budding into the organelle lumen. Subsequent trafficking and fusion of virus-containing, ERGIC-derived vesicles then release nascent viruses from infected cells. Our findings in this dissertation illuminate mechanisms by which CoV structural proteins coalesce at the virus assembly and budding sites. The cytoplasmic tails of all CoV spike (S) glycoproteins contain variants of a consensus KxKxx coatomer-binding motif. Host coatomer complexes facilitate retrograde trafficking of client cargo proteins via recognition of such motifs. Utilizing reverse genetics methodologies, we introduced variations in the S coatomer motif in a …

Narrating Institutional Becoming: Faith, Leadership, And Identity Reconstruction During A College-To-University Transition, Viviene H. Dyer

Dissertations

Problem

The contributions of faith-based higher education institutions to the tertiary landscape in small island developing states are insufficiently addressed in the scholarly literature. Consequently, there is limited understanding of how these institutions navigate organizational transitions and respond to capacity gaps that the public sector is unable to fill within dynamic cultural and regulatory environments. This gap is especially evident for Seventh-day Adventist institutions, whose efforts to preserve mission and identity during periods of institutional change remain underexamined and poorly documented.

Purpose

The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to examine how university administrators influenced the development and ongoing …

A Qualitative Multiple Case Study Exploring Shifts In Thinking Of Principals Through Initiatives To Foster Relational Leadership Conducive To Retaining Teachers In High-Minority, High-Poverty Public Schools, Rita Seay

Dissertations

Problem

The public education system is broken, and teacher shortages have reached a crisis, especially in some specialty fields in United States (Carrillo & Salhotra, 2022; Podolsky et al., 2016). Lately, the teacher workforce has been described as a “leaky bucket” (Podolsky et al., 2016, p. 1). Indeed, the problems are complex in poor socioeconomic communities with racial and ethnic groups of students because teachers struggle to make a difference and, in most cases, fail due to insurmountable situations that are beyond their scope of influence (Rondfeldt et al., 2013). Evidence published that students suffer immensely from a broken, segregated …

The Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On The Leadership Of Elementary School Principals, Berteil Yousefi

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine how the key emotional intelligence (EI) dimensions of self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management impact the leadership effectiveness of exemplary elementary school principals in terms of decision making, interpersonal relationships, and overall school climate.Methodology: Thirteen elementary school principals from Stanislaus County, Northern California, with at least 3 years of experience participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were transcribed and analyzed using Moustakas’s (1994) transcendental phenomenological approach, facilitated by NVivo 15 software. Trustworthiness was ensured through member checking, peer debriefing, and interrater reliability (80%).

Findings: Seven major themes emerged. First, self-awareness …

Integrating Military-Acquired Iso Quality Management Principles Into Civilian Employment: A Phenomenological Study Of Post-9/11 Veterans, Paul Encinias

Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative phenomenological study explored how post-9/11 U.S. military veterans describe their lived experiences of understanding and applying four ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Principles (leadership, engagement of people, process approach, and evidence-based decision making) during the transition to civilian employment. This study further sought to understand how veterans articulated these competencies across employment stages and how those competencies were recognized within civilian organizations.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study used semistructured interviews with 10 post-9/11 U.S. military veterans residing in the United States who had separated from active duty and were engaged in the transition to civilian employment. Participants were …

From Glass Ceilings To Balustrades: The Barriers And Supports In Gender-Balanced Corporate Boards Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Erica Joy Thompson Dias

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine, through the lens of activity theory (AT), barriers individuals on public company boards of directors experienced in achieving or maintaining gender balance and supports that mitigated those barriers.

Methodology: Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 16 directors representing 13 gender-balanced public company boards. Data were coded using the AT framework, which conceptualizes human activity through interacting components including subject, object, rules, tools, community, and division of labor. In this study, barriers were tensions that obstructed progress toward gender balance, and supports were methods, resources, or actions that mitigated those …

Student Perceptions Of Academic Support Systems: A Sequential Mixed Methods Analysis Of Persistence, James Anderson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to assess the perceived influence of first-year institutional support services on student retention from the first to the second year at regional public universities in the Northeastern United States.

Methodology: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was used. In the quantitative phase, 437 retained second-year students completed the researcher-designed Retention Support Impact Survey to assess service utilization and perceived effectiveness. In the qualitative phase, 10 students participated in semi-structured interviews to provide deeper contextual insight into the numerical data.

Findings: The data indicated a disparity between service utilization rates and student-reported …

Walking On A Tightrope: Women And Managers Navigating Maternity Leave And Return-To-Work, Rachel R. Kalvert

Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative phenomenological study explored how professional women experience maternity leave and return-to-work, focusing on how managerial communication shapes perceptions of career, competence, belonging, and career progression. The study involved professional women who returned to the same organization full-time from 6 months to 3 years after maternity leave.Methodology: Fourteen professional women were recruited via snowball sampling and listservs. Data were collected through Zoom interviews. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and received interview questions in advance. The interview guide aligned with the study's three questions. After the interview, participants reviewed AI-generated transcript summaries for accuracy; and participants were given a …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Principals’ Transformational Leadership And Its Impact On Job Satisfaction In Rural California, Pesach Walter

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological study explored how early-career teachers in rural California public schools perceive their principals’ transformational leadership behaviors and how those perceptions influence job satisfaction, retention, and leadership effectiveness.

Methodology: A qualitative phenomenological design examined the lived experiences of early-career teachers in rural California K–12 public schools. Five participants with three to five years of experience were selected by purposive sampling; rurality was defined by National Center for Education Statistics locale codes 41, 42, and 43. Data were gathered through semi-structured, 60-minute Zoom interviews guided by a researcher-developed protocol based on Bass’s Four I’s framework. Transcripts were coded in …

Practices Alternative Education Principals Use To Create An Infinite Mindset In Their Schools To Inspire Extraordinary Results, Renee Gates

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe how exemplary alternative education principals perceive the practices of Simon Sinek’s Infinite Mindset Framework are embedded within their organizations to inspire the achievement of extraordinary results. A further purpose of this study was to understand the organizational supports and barriers these exemplary leaders perceive affect the development of an infinite mindset.

Methodology: Interviews were used to explore and describe how exemplary alternative high school principals perceive the five practices of Sinek’s Infinite Mindset are embedded within their organizations. The study is intended to contribute to and extend current …

Pediatric Clinical Reasoning Labs’ Impact On Student Self-Efficacy In Pediatric Physical Therapy Education, Bethany Early

Dissertations

All graduates of entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs must be competent to work with patients across the lifespan and high levels of perceived self-efficacy (SE) may be a predictor of future success. Experiential learning is an effective teaching and learning strategy used within Pediatric PT education (PedPTE). This study examined the extent to which pediatric clinical reasoning labs impact student SE within PedPTE, and to what extent does previous experience or interest in pediatrics have on perceived SE.

The methodology was a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design. Quantitative data collection included 27 second year DPT students, utilizing …

A Delphi Study: Communication Practices For Expert Elementary Administrators During Day-To-Day Crises On Elementary School Campuses, Anthony Michael Langford

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the communication practices expert elementary school administrators consider the most effective for informing their district office, staff, students, parents, and the community during day-to-day crises. The study also evaluated the effectiveness of these identified practices and determined the best methods for implementing the top three practices in each area. Methodology: This Delphi study focused on three areas of research: (a) the practices expert elementary administrators use to communicate during day-to-day crises, (b) the way expert elementary administrators rate the effectiveness of those practices, and (c) the methods expert elementary administrators …

The Art Of Crisis Leadership By Exemplary Naval Frontline Leaders, Broadus Brooks

Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative, multiple-case study held significant importance because it aimed to identify and describe the strategies used by exemplary naval frontline leaders to lead in crisis, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focused on the five critical tasks of strategic crisis leadership (sensemaking, decision making/coordination, meaning making, accounting, and learning), providing a unique insight into the experiences of these leaders during a crisis.Methodology: This qualitative, multiple-case study employed interviews to collect data from exemplary naval frontline leaders to identify and describe their leadership strategies during the unprecedented COVID-19 global health crisis.

Findings: Crisis leadership among U.S. naval frontline …

The Adolescent Development Of Small Business Owners’ Entrepreneurial Mindset, Fern Arredondo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe how small business owners in Southern California interpret experiences before age 20 that influenced the development of the eight domains of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Entrepreneurial Mindset Index (EMI). This study used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore how adult small business owners reflect upon and interpret experiences before age 20 that influenced the development of their entrepreneurial mindset. By examining the influence of pre-adulthood on these owners, the study aimed to deepen the understanding of how early experiences shape entrepreneurial mindsets and contribute to long-term entrepreneurial success. …

The Impact Of Vulnerability On Building Trust: A Qualitative Study Of Superintendents In Northern California, Jasmin Hasmukhlal Patel

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and explain how exemplary superintendents in Northern California practice vulnerability to build trust within their organizations, guided by Brené Brown’s framework of vulnerability-based leadership: Authenticity, courage over comfort, curiosity and learning, practicing empathy, and leading with heart. An additional purpose was to examine the challenges these leaders encounter when practicing vulnerability in complex public education contexts. This study addresses a gap in leadership research by providing empirical insight into how vulnerability functions as a trust-building practice at the highest level of K–12 educational leadership.

Methodology: A qualitative phenomenological design was …

Rewriting The Future: Examining The Influence Of Mentoring On Ged Graduates' Pursuit And Performance In Postsecondary Education, Shari Antoinette Crain

Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of GED graduates who were mentored while earning their GED and examined how those mentoring experiences contributed to their academic achievement in community college. Although increasing numbers of adult learners pursue postsecondary education through the GED pathway, many encounter barriers related to academic confidence, institutional navigation, and access to support systems. Limited research has examined how mentoring supports GED graduates during their transition into higher education.

Guided by the College Student Mentoring Scale developed by Nora and Crisp (2009), this study examined mentoring experiences across four domains: psychological and emotional support, degree and …

Principal Leader Behaviors That Create Meaning For Their Teachers To Reduce Stress And Burnout, Angelina Santana

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary high school principals use to create meaning for themselves and their teacher followers through relationships, character, vision, wisdom, and inspiration. In addition, the study aimed to determine the new teachers’ perceived degree of importance of the principal leader behaviors related to relationships, character, vision, wisdom, and inspiration to help create meaning.Methodology: The mixed methods convergent study design uses qualitative and quantitative means to collect and analyze data to understand how exemplary high school principals make meaning for their teacher followers. First, qualitative interviews …

A Ministry Manual For Supporting Pastoral Transitions: Addressing The Emotional And Spiritual Needs Of Clergy And Their Families, John Tucker

Dissertations

Pastoral transitions represent spiritually significant yet often under-supported moments in the life of clergy, congregations, and ministry networks. While leadership change is frequently framed in theological language emphasizing divine calling and institutional continuity, insufficient attention is given to the emotional, relational, and familial dimensions of these transitions. This Doctor of Ministry project examines the spiritual and emotional impact of pastoral transitions within African American church contexts, with particular attention to clergy wellbeing and systems of care.

This study employed a mixed-methods research design integrating quantitative survey data with qualitative semi-structured interviews. Survey instruments were distributed to pastors affiliated with The …

Generative Ai Professional Development Program For Higher Education Instructors, Sheena Bahra

Dissertations

As technology progresses and brings enhanced forms of artificial intelligence (AI), such as generative AI (Gen AI), it continues to affect education by introducing opportunities and challenges in its application to higher education teaching. Advances in technology can make instructors reluctant to use applications, leading to missed learning and skill-development opportunities for higher-order thinking skills. This study investigates how AI professional development (PD) training can influence higher education instructors’ willingness to use Gen AI in the classroom. This study employed a qualitative instrumental case study design informed by an exploratory lens. The study investigated instructors’ use of Gen AI in …