Digital Commons Network^™

A Study On Betrayal And Safety: Understanding The Experiences Of Community College Employees, Jennifer Marie De La Rosa

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the experiences of community college employees who perceived their psychological safety had been compromised, leading to a sense of institutional betrayal. Its second purpose was to identify the experiences participants believed most impacted their psychological safety and contributed to feelings of institutional betrayal.

Methodology: This qualitative study employed a phenomenological approach to explore how community college employees made sense of their experiences related to psychological safety and institutional betrayal. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling strategies, representing a range of roles across California’s community colleges. Semistructured interviews …

Administrator Leadership And Collective Efficacy: Enhancing Math Education In Public High Schools In California, Lina Ahmadieh

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative, multicase study was to determine challenges that high school administrators experience when they establish the elements of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) based on the elements of common purpose, collective teacher accountability practices, protocols for collective practices, and interventions in their mathematics department and to determine the strategies that high school administrators use when they establish CTE in their mathematics department.Methodology: In this qualitative, multicase study, five interviews were conducted with public high school administrators in California. The researcher employed qualitative methods to explain the challenges that high school administrators experience when they establish the …

A Phenomenological Study: Implicit Bias In The Hiring Practices Of Health Care Organizations (Perception, Impact On Workforce Diversity, Mitigation Methods, And Implementation Assessment), Mohamed Boubrik

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how implicit bias influences hiring practices within health care organizations. Specifically, it investigated the perceptions of hiring professionals regarding implicit bias, its impact on workforce diversity, the strategies used to mitigate it, and the effectiveness of those strategies in real-world implementation.

Methodology: This qualitative study employed a phenomenological approach to capture the lived experiences of hiring professionals in Southern California health care organizations. A random sampling method was used to select participants across various health care facilities. Data collection was conducted through semistructured interviews, using a validated interview protocol as …

Breaking Barriers: A Delphi Study On Strategies Military Women Of Color Use To Advance Into Senior Leadership In The California Air National Guard, Michelle Leon Carrasco

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to determine what strategies military women of color (in ranks of E–8 and above or O–4 and above) used to overcome workplace barriers to advancement in the California Air National Guard (CAANG), to rate the importance of the strategies identified in Research Question 1, and to determine the methods by which they employed the top five most important strategies.Methodology: This study used a three-round Delphi method to collect data from women of color senior leaders in the CAANG. In Round 1, the expert panel identified strategies to overcome workplace barriers to advance …

Resetting The Imposter Phenomenon Reality: A Mixed Methods Research Study Of An Immediate Cognitive Behavioral Intervention On Stem Practitioners, Peter D. Smith

Dissertations

Imposter Phenomenon (IP) remains an essential framework for understanding how professionals attribute success to chance or misconceptions rather than genuine abilities. IP is especially pertinent for individuals who feel like frauds when attaining higher positions, convinced the promotions resulted from luck rather than accomplishments and credibility. The misguided mindset cultivates feelings of inadequacy or deceit, even when accolades, experiences, and qualifications prove the contrary. The prevalence of IP is widespread, impacting numerous individuals who have faced or continue to endure episodes of varying intensity. The psychological state makes individuals vulnerable to feelings of inadequacy, leading to reduced productivity, increased procrastination, …

Bookmarked: A Study Of Reading Engagement, Miranda W. Dickson

Dissertations

In many Science of Reading programs, the focus on foundational skills like phonics and fluency can overshadow the importance of reading engagement in elementary classrooms. This dissertation investigates the effects of a balanced literacy intervention designed to incorporate purposeful engagement strategies across 12 lessons for at-risk third-grade readers. The six-week intervention integrated skills instruction with reading engagement strategies in the subcategories of social, cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement. Grounded in Engagement Theory (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000), the study's instructional framework and literature review explore foundational theories of reading engagement within these subcategories: behavioral, cognitive, affective, and social. The research was …

A Phenomenological Study Of Gender And The Leadership Of Female Academic Library Directors, Julia D. Grace Dr

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how the gender of female academic library directors affects their leadership. The theory guiding this study was Acker’s theory of the ideal worker, as it offers a framework for examining the impact of worker gender in the workplace. The central research question of this study examined how the gender of female library directors at medium nonprofit private universities and colleges in the U.S. affected their leadership. This study utilized a phenomenological approach, conducting semi-structured interviews of female academic library directors at medium nonprofit private universities and colleges in the U.S. The …

Assessing Best Practices Of Facilitation Of The Free Exercise Of Religion By Army Chaplains Utilizing The Success Case Method, Geoffrey N. Bailey Phd

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study examined how U.S. Army chaplains experience and facilitate the free exercise of religion. The research explored compelling narratives of best-case facilitation experiences, identified leadership qualities associated with successful religious support, and analyzed similarities and differences between best and worst-case scenarios. Using Brinkerhoff's Success Case Method, the study distributed a quantitative survey to 1,478 active-duty chaplains (achieving a 23% response rate) followed by twelve guided interviews with participants representing diverse ranks and faith traditions. The research revealed six major themes: significant gaps in education for pluralistic ministry, tension between personal religious convictions and professional duties, crucial impact of …

Returning To School After A Pandemic And The Lived Experiences Of 9-12 Grade Athletic Coaches On Student-Athlete Success, Louie Vallejo

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological examination examines ninth-12th grade athletic coaches’ perceptions of the impact on athletes returning to athletic competition after being online during the pandemic for 2 years with regard to behavior, athletic achievement, attitude, and social connections.

Methodology: This qualitative study interviewed athletic coaches in the Tri-County Athletic Conference in Central California. Semi structured open-ended interview questions were the main source of data collection. Data were coded and the researcher analyzed the data for themes and patterns, and the results were validated through the interrater process by an experienced researcher.

Findings: After analyzing data, codes, and themes, the researcher …

Leadership In Times Of Crisis: Motivating Employees Through The Challenges Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hanan Khamis

Dissertations

Purpose: This study explores the critical role of leadership and employee motivation in sustaining organizational effectiveness during times of disruption, focusing specifically on the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It investigates how leadership styles and motivational theories evolve in response to heightened uncertainty, rapid operational changes, and emotional strain. Central to this purpose is understanding how adaptability, empathy, communication, and relational leadership practices help maintain employee engagement and ensure continuity within higher education institutions during crisis conditions.Methodology: A qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to capture the lived experiences of 10 human resource (HR) leaders representing public and private universities …

The Ethical Theory Of Enrique Dussel: An Investigation Of Violence And Coercion In His Three Foundational Principles, Eric Antonio Del Valle Cruz

Dissertations

Problem

Enrique Dussel's ethics proposes addressing global inequality through legitimate coercion as a means of liberating the poor, contrasting it with the violence of the current system. However, the inclusion of life-threatening acts, such as armed revolution, as coercion raises practical challenges for the Christian community, including ethical-political dialogue, inclusion of opposing parties, and potential dehumanization, which need further exploration in light of Dussel’s use of Scripture in support of his proposals.

Purpose

This dissertation aims to assess Dussel's philosophical principles and their connection to coercion and violence, ultimately establishing a framework for a conservative Christian proposal that combines the …

The Effect Of Inclusive Leadership By Pastoral Leaders On Catholic Parish Vitality, Matthew F. Manion

Dissertations

Catholic parish life in the United States has passed the point of decline where minor changes will enable it to grow again. Church leaders need a new missionary culture and outward-focused approaches to reach people today with the timeless truths of the faith. The old mindset of putting all the responsibility on the shoulders of the clergy to solve problems no longer works. Since heterogeneous groups make better decisions than homogeneous groups in complex, adaptive situations, this study explores the hypothesis that inclusive leadership by Catholic parish leaders leads to more innovation and better solutions to the challenges of church …

“Remember, You Are Not A Superhuman”: The Lived Experience Of Rest, Unrest, And Leadership In Special Operations, Trey Zoda

Dissertations

U.S. special operations forces (SOF) operate in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments that demand cognitive clarity, emotional regulation, and relational presence. While previous research on SOF readiness has addressed physical fitness, resilience, and sleep, little attention has been given to the psychological dimensions of rest and their implications for leadership. The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of psychological rest and unrest in U.S. government SOF and the perceived influence of these states on their leadership. Guided by Moustakas’s transcendental method, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with SOF personnel. They were …

Exploring Leadership Through The Lenses Of Psychological Safety: Experiences From The Warehousing Industry, Francis V. Manigault

Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how psychological safety is experienced and sustained in warehouse environments, particularly through leadership practices. The research focused on five central questions regarding how psychological safety is defined, the barriers to sustaining it, and the specific leadership behaviors that influence employee voice and workplace culture. Seven participants from warehousing operations across the southeastern United States were selected through purposive sampling. These individuals held leadership positions and had firsthand experience with efforts to promote psychological safety. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed thematically using Colaizzi’s method. The study found that psychological safety in warehouse settings …

A Phenomenological Study Of Success Despite Barriers: How Leaders With Disabilities Experience Supervisory Leadership Through The Lens Of Adaptive Leadership, Ashley Oberlander Townsend

Dissertations

People with disabilities experience unemployment and underemployment more frequently than those without disabilities and encounter obstacles to becoming supervisory leaders (Harlan & Robert, 1998; Krzeminska et al., 2019; Roberson et al., 2021). The American workforce is significantly impacted by this problem, as more than one in four people have a disability (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024). This hermeneutic phenomenological research utilized interviews to collect data from three participants to answer the research question to explore the problem: what are leaders with disabilities’ lived experiences in overcoming barriers to achieving supervisory roles using an adaptive leadership lens? The research …

A Dissertation To Explore Entrepreneurial Decision-Making In High-Risk Uncertainty Using Ethical Leadership, Janice Patrick Honeycytt Hering

Dissertations

Entrepreneurs regularly face high-risk, uncertain situations. Until this study, no research had examined how entrepreneurs approach these situations. Although studies have identified the construct of courage and suggested ways for employees to take courageous action in the workplace, no study has examined how entrepreneurs approach situations perceived as high-risk and with uncertain outcomes until now. This study was based on ethical leadership, one of the major components of courage: acting for the higher good. This study conducted qualitative grounded theory research to determine what process entrepreneurs use when faced with the need for courageous actions. Participants were entrepreneurs in the …

Generalizing Coordination Threshold Graphical Games On Contagion And Secret Sharing Through Graph Features, Alexandra Fedrigo

Dissertations

Coordination graphical games depict interactions among a network of participants that must work together to achieve a desired outcome. Many sociological, economic, and political scenarios are modeled using these games. The flexible framework graphical games provide leaves a variety of parameters to be determined based on application, though the parameters that describe the network of participants are of central importance. There are several avenues previously unexplored in this area. In this work, a metric is introduced to describe graph fitness for a basic coordination graphical game and restrictions on the longterm behavior of the game are identified. Similarly, game outcome …

The Contributions Of Patient Education And Home Visits To Reduce Post-Cesarean Hypertension Readmissions, Stephanie Armstead

Dissertations

Cesarean births in the United States (U.S.) have increased steadily over the last decade. Researchers have identified maternal hypertension/hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) as a comorbidity associated with the increase of cesarean births. Mothers who are diagnosed with HDP and undergo a cesarean birth have a dual diagnosis of high-risk pregnancy, and due to worsening conditions, are readmitted to the hospital more frequently than mothers who experience a vaginal birth. This study aimed to determine whether a patient discharge education intervention provided by a transition of care (ToC) team or interdisciplinary care team (IDT), combined with early follow-up care from …

Understanding Pediatric Healthcare Access From A Black Parental Perspective : A Qualitative Study, Jessica A. Celestand

Dissertations

In the United States, healthcare access disparities have existed for several years in the African American/Black pediatric population. The District of Columbia ranks first nationally for health insurance coverage; however, African American/Black children have disproportionately experienced barriers to care compared to the District of Columbia’s pediatric population overall. There are current gaps in research that investigate African American/Black pediatric healthcare access from a parental perspective. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenology qualitative study was to explore research gaps by investigating barriers and facilitators to care, and the social determinants of health that impact pediatric healthcare access through the lens of …

Affordability Culture In Practice : Survey Validation Through A Socio-Technical Lens, Taylor Yeazitzis

Dissertations

Affordability has been a key directive in engineering projects as organizations seek to develop larger and more complex systems on stable or reduced budgets. This dissertation proposes a socio-technical framework of affordability to evaluate current affordability practices in organizations. Socio-technical frameworks have been used in complex organizations due to the ability to examine both social aspects as well as technical aspects as interconnected organizational components, yet previous research is lacking when attempting to approach affordability from this perspective. This research aimed to bridge this gap by validating a survey that examines affordability from both social and technical perspectives to gain …

An Algorithm For Three-Dimensional Bubble Simulations And Analysis For Advanced Nuclear Propulsion, Pongkrit Darakorn Na Ayuthya

Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development of a predictive simulation framework for analyzing gas-liquid dynamics in Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (CNTP) systems, where hydrogen gas is injected into a rotating liquid uranium fuel core. Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), a fully Lagrangian mesh-free method, this research models multiphase flow behavior under extreme conditions, capturing critical phenomena such as bubble formation, surface deformation, void fraction evolution, and rotational confinement. A novel modification to the liquid equation of state is introduced to mitigate SPH artifacts, improving fluid stability and enabling surface recovery after deformation. The model is validated against experimental data from static …

How Tax Code Complexity Impacts Small Business Decisions In Alabama: A Mixed Method Study, George Nkosi

Dissertations

This study investigates how federal tax code complexity influences small business decision-making in Alabama using a mixed-methods approach. Tax complexity is defined by ambiguity in tax provisions, frequent regulatory changes, and recordkeeping burdens, all of which affect decision-making and investment behavior. Survey data from small business owners were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify the primary dimensions of tax complexity. Regression analysis then assessed the relationship between these dimensions and business decision-making. The findings indicate that ambiguity, frequency of change, and administrative requirements are negatively associated with long-term planning and capital investment decisions. Two complementary case studies involving …

Skip-Level Meetings: Perspectives Of Skipped First-Tier U.S. Tech Leaders, Samuel Blacher

Dissertations

Although significant research exists on numerous intersecting theories, such as adaptive leadership, leadership communication, and employee voice, and although they are discussed in business publications and widely yet inconsistently implemented in industry, skip-level meetings are little scholarly studied. Such meetings offer benefits for employees, direct (skipped) managers, and skip-level leaders, and through them, to organizations, yet they also hold risks and pitfalls, and are influenced by various contextual factors, such as stakeholders’ national culture and age. This exploratory qualitative study employed elements of interpretive phenomenology, followed by thematic analysis, to examine the experiences, perceptions, and emotions of a diverse set …

Rejected From Pastoral Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of The Voice And Lived Experiences Of African American Pentecostal Women In Clergy, Cynthia Ann Hurns

Dissertations

The study explored the lived experiences of 10 African American Holiness-Pentecostal clergywomen who faced rejection in a predominantly male-led church system. These women shared detailed stories of their experiences in leadership as pastors, apostles, and co-pastors. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was employed, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) because it allows for in-depth exploration of how people make sense of their experiences, aligning with the study’s focus on leadership journeys. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through descriptive and iterative coding. Codes were grouped into broader categories, resulting in five emerging themes: voiceless calling, bound to tradition, call from …

An Exploration Of The Clinical Senior Nursing Student Preceptor Relationship, Kimberly Nicole Dunker

Dissertations

Problem

The use of clinical preceptors for training is well documented in the literature as an effective strategy for helping students, new graduates, and RNs orient to their roles in healthcare facilities. The need to ensure that the preceptor is adequately trained and then matched to a preceptee for a successful relationship is a challenge. The healthcare facility does its best to identify a preceptor and ensure adequate training is completed and there is a willingness to facilitate the experience. The academic institution is required to ensure that preceptors are chosen based on criteria outlined by the board of nursing …

Stories Of Seventh-Day Adventist Teachers Of Color And Their Voluntary Job Mobility During Their Early Years Of Teaching, Dollene Trott-Smith

Dissertations

Problem

Teachers of Color in the Seventh-day Adventist school system experience voluntary job mobility and attrition, contributing to increasing teacher turnover rates in the U.S. Since the 1954 federal mandate to desegregate U.S. public schools, this phenomenon has become more pressing. Despite racial and ethnic diversification in school staffing, the White teacher population remains around 80%, with Teachers of Color making up only 20%. While extensive research exists on public school teacher turnover, limited studies focus on private school educators, including those in the Seventh-day Adventist school system.

Method

This transcendental phenomenological qualitative study explored the voluntary job mobility of …

Predictors Of General Education Teachers' Self-Efficacy For Educating Autistic Students: Enactive Mastery Experiences, Vicarious Experiences, Verbal/Social Persuasions, And Physiological And Affective States, Renette Portecop-Prentice

Dissertations

Problem

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that presents challenges not only for autistic individuals, but also for their families, healthcare providers and school professionals. A significant number of children with autism spend most of their school day in general education classrooms with teachers who may lack autism-specific training and are unfamiliar with evidence-based practices for supporting autistic students. This lack of training or relevant resources specific to autism may impact teacher self-efficacy for educating autistic students, which in turn may affect instructional decisions and student outcomes. Guided by Bandura’s theoretical framework, this study examined the relationships among autism-specific training …

Ultramodern Racism: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Impact Of Anti-Crt Legislation On Us History Curriculums, Amelia Gernand

Dissertations

In the wake of Donald Trump’s failed 2020 bid for a second presidential term, there was a surge in anti-CRT legislation targeting how issues of race and racism could be taught in public school curricula. While proponents claim that anti-CRT laws will protect students of all races from discrimination, curriculums have historically been used as a tool by those with symbolic power to legitimize white supremacy and perpetuate anti-Black and color-evasive racism. Two states--Florida and Arkansas--recently enacted anti-CRT legislation in addition to Black history mandates. While legislators in these two states claim that their goal is to expand the teaching …

The Forced Sterilization Of Quechua-Speaking Women In Peru: The Role Of Epistemic Injustice In The Perpetration Of Genocide, Geraldine Diaz

Dissertations

The forced sterilization of Quechua-speaking women in Peru from 1996 to 2000 represents a case of genocide in which the state as an epistemic agent has a fundamental role. Although the systematic sterilization was carried out under the guise of a family planning program, the targeting of these women provides strong circumstantial evidence of genocidal intent. According to the testimonies of these women, medical staff, acting on behalf of the government, performed tubal ligation procedures through coercion, threats, lies, bribery, manipulation, and other tactics where the state intentionally withheld information, misinformed women, and failed to obtain proper consent. This research …

The Ingroup-Outgroup Effect: Effects On Open And Closed-Minded Cognitive Style, Ava Jackson Dempsey

Dissertations

Prior research provides evidence of an Ingroup-Outgroup effect on open-mindedness, specifically, that group membership (ingroup or outgroup) influences Situation-Specific Open-Minded Cognition (SOMC), the intention to be open-minded. Researchers have found that group members were more open-minded towards critics of their ingroup when criticism came from ingroup, as opposed to outgroup members, and that this effect was mediated by normative entitlement (SNORM), that is, how open-minded participants feel they “should be”. The present study aimed to extend these findings, examining actual manifestations of open-minded cognition, as opposed to how open-minded participants say they would be. The present study tested whether political …