Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Facial Phenotypes On Differential Performance Of Facial Recognition, Evan R. Garrett

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Facial recognition technology is utilized in many facets of life. As the use has become more widespread these systems have improved in reliability and performance approaching the level of human accuracy. With these improvements the problem of bias still remains as a persistent problem. Efforts have been made to minimize the bias prevalent in the systems via studies into various demographic factors, creating training datasets that have a more uniform distribution of subjects, and other methods. As facial recognition is one of the most utilized forms of biometric recognition it is vital to analyze potential causes of bias to help …

No Man’S A Stone: A Qualitative Approach To Characterizing Masculinity In Older Adulthood, Montgomery T. Owsiany

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Suicide rates are exceedingly high in U.S. older men (aged 65 years and older). In 2020, older men were about 6.5 times more likely to die by suicide than older women and 1.14 times more likely than men aged 18 to 64 years. Masculine norms (e.g., emotional suppression, self-reliance, anger, physical toughness risk-taking behaviors, alcohol misuse) are believed to influence the presentation of mental disorders, such as depression, which has led to the conceptualization of masculine depression. Research on masculinity often focuses on the experiences of younger men, ignoring how gender identities may change as one progresses through adulthood. Meanwhile, …

One Man Show/ Who Am I, Devin Baker

Dance (MFA) Theses

Historically, stereotypes of ideal masculine physiques and attributed qualities have led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices that adversely affect black queer men and how they show up in various performance and social spaces. As a result, black male bodies in these spaces have employed the alter ego as a tool to imagine themselves inside/outside these constructed masculinities. How can the alter ego aid in transcending dated notions of race and gender, beholden to black male bodies within concert dance? Through the intertwining of personal narrative and research rooted in psychology and gender studies, this work examines the alter ego as …

Public Transportation As A Vehicle For Upward Mobility Of Women In Appalachian Virginia, Katy Miller

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Gender and geography are intersecting identities that can affect transportation access and therefore upward mobility. Mobility in rural areas is restricted by economic, temporal, and spatial limitations, as well as infrastructure accessibility. Gendered differences in mobility patterns influence the ability of women to utilize public transportation systems. There is a lack of consideration of rural women in transportation research and planning.

This paper seeks to understand the accessibility of public transportation systems in rural areas to women and how it can contribute to their upward mobility, by studying the Four County Transit system in Appalachian Virginia. Population demographics, current system …

The Role Of Social Inequality In The “Feminization” Of Borderline Personality Disorder, Jane Goldie Ekhtman

Dissertations and Theses

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe and prevalent mental illness that is three times more likely to be diagnosed in women than men. BPD research has attempted to explain this gender disparity, with clinician gender bias emerging as a possible factor. Yet, no research to date has examined the role of social status in the overdiagnosis of women with BPD. There is merit in examining BPD through a class lens as low SES is a risk factor for BPD, poverty and income inequality disproportionately affect women, and low status is associated with stereotypical traits of femininity. Additionally, mental health …

The Design Of A House, Lars Mattingly

Theses and Dissertations

Photography lends itself to both damaging and facilitating connection, the camera at once a weapon of destruction and a catalyst for change. The Design of a House is a call to love deeply. In the aftermath of body trauma, I use portrait photography to reconnect with myself and others. Through making portraits, I bridge my own gap between fear and intimacy. Primarily working with film-based cameras and hand-sensitized photographic materials, I reintroduce touch through process. The slowness, delicacy, and tactility of these acts offer a safety I am learning to trust. When photographing myself, my mother, and my partner, I …

Strange World, Brooklin Grantz

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work explores the intersections of masculine and feminine labors as they relate to the structure of domestic space. I utilize materials and processes akin to craft, construction and architecture, and domicile upkeep, noting what is shared between gendered and polarized fields while exploring uses of the grid in various instances as a structure to adhere to and antagonize: a binary. Highlighting the queerness and fluidity of materials and the similarities between seemingly disparate processes, I relate to the objects I make and alter through my own gender fluidity. I do not see masculinity or femininity as autonomous: the …

China, Feminism, And The Legacy Of Confucius, Sor-Hoon Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the double burden of paid work and family demands leads Chinese women to think twice about marriage and children, we can rush to blame Confucianism’s sexism. But this is a mistake, writes Sor-hoon Tan. We need to separate Confucian philosophy from the oppressive patriarchal norms of its time. Confucian values of care and cultivation can enrich today’s feminism and support equal opportunities for all.

Gendered Pathways To Personal And Professional Development Through Entrepreneurship Education For Persons With Disabilities, Ahsan Habib, Thomas Cooney

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Purpose – This study explores how entrepreneurship education (EE) can be structured to support the personal and professional development of people with disabilities (PWDs), with a focus on gender-specific pathways. It examines how men and women with disabilities adopt different approaches to entrepreneurship and how EE can be designed to foster their emancipation. The study also considers how principles such as responsibility, systemic thinking and democratic participation can be embedded within EE to create more inclusive and effective learning environments, addressing both gender nuances and systemic barriers faced by PWDs in entrepreneurial settings. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted a qualitative …

Policing Gender: The Interest Convergence Of Women's And Transgender Rights, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

The social, political, and legal landscape has seen a resurgence of gender fundamentalism, seeking to reinforce archaic notions of what it means to be a woman. Social media movements run in tandem with this resurgence of gender fundamentalism. For instance, the “tradwife” phenomenon that romanticizes a domestic, subservient role for women.¹ Alabama Senator Katie Britt most infamously reflected the convergence of these trends when she delivered her response to the State of the Union from a kitchen table and proclaimed that her message was “a direct appeal” to her “fellow moms.”² Meanwhile, executive orders and state laws have …

Exploring The Experiences Of Collegiate Black Female Student-Athletes From A Phenomenological Perspective, Deja L. Jackson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Collegiate Black female student-athletes at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) face a unique experience as they navigate the complex intersections of race, gender, and sports while striving for academic and athletic success. Their encounters with racism, discrimination, and marginalization remain largely underexplored. This research provides findings from a transcendental phenomenological study that examined the lived experiences of these athletes. The goal was to understand how racism, discrimination, and marginalization impact these student-athletes both individually and in context sport. Grounded in social constructivism and informed by Black Feminist Thought and Intersectionality Theory, the study involved semi-structured interviews with eight current and former …

Exploring Identity And Belonging Through Housing Pathways: Resettlement Experiences Of Female Ukrainian Refugees, Stephanie M. Duncan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Background: This dissertation examines the resettlement experiences of female Ukrainian refugees in Germany following the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, which displaced over 8.5 million Ukrainians, including 1.2 million to Germany by April 2024. Focusing on Munich, the study explores the interplay of housing pathways, identity, and belonging, emphasizing gendered challenges faced by women, particularly single mothers and caregivers, navigating trauma, systemic barriers, and cultural adaptation. Organized into three articles, this work employs a social justice lens to address structural barriers, such as discriminatory housing markets, economic exclusion, and limited access to resources, which disproportionately impact marginalized women, …

A New Normal: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Gender Complexities In Los Angeles Social Justice Theatre Storytelling, Sue Hamilton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study uses autoethnography to examine the role gender plays in Los Angeles social justice theatre storytelling. Chronicling my autoethnography as a queer, nonbinary artist and social justice theatre practitioner, I will examine gender through the context of my social justice theatre company, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles (ARULA), by analyzing selections of its original, politically focused, professional stage plays performed from 2017 to 2019, utilizing ARULA’s emerging themes of gender expression and inclusion. ARULA was born out of a determination to create original social justice theatre storytelling to understand and transform reality by bringing theatrical expression to the environment …

Psychological Safety And Belonging In High-Risk Search And Rescue Teams: A Mixed-Methods Study, Sarah Seiler

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Wilderness search and rescue (SAR) volunteers and teams are essential for the safety of outdoor adventurers, and yet, organizational culture has not been studied closely within this population. While extensive research is available regarding psychological safety in corporate and healthcare environments, the role of psychological safety in high reliability teams, like wilderness SAR, is limited. Organizational belonging is a burgeoning research area that has yet to be explored in wilderness SAR. This mixed methods phenomenological study increased the understanding of the experience of psychological safety and organizational belonging in wilderness SAR volunteers. Initial quantitative statistical analysis that utilized t-tests, correlation …

Sex And Eugenics : A Memoir In Poetry And Prose, Amy Vaillancourt

Theses

This memoir is a work of hybrid creative nonfiction which incorporates the genres of essay, memoir and poetry. The memoirist uses multiple forms to address topics from their experience with Turner Syndrome, accessing medical care, medicine and coming to identify as disabled among many aspects of themself. The memoir asks the question; how do we live in a world where both sex and eugenics exist? It starts with the local -- the experience of one individual and expands into something farther reaching – the experiences of others over time. It begins with the perspective and understanding of the author’s own …

Waking The Witch: Exploring Gender, Magic, And Power Dynamics In Ancient Rome, Diana Gibson

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis explores the presence of witches and magic in the literature of the Roman Empire. The study ranges from the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE, and relates the prevalence of female witches in the Roman literature to particularly turbulent social contexts, such as the fall of the Republic and the rise of Christianity. The piece considers the rhetorical nature of accusations of witchcraft, and how the concepts of magic and witchcraft themselves were defined and shaped by those in power to uphold imperial hegemony and structures of patriarchy. The project seeks to highlight a distinction between …

Assessing The State Of Gender Equality For Skilled Migrant Women: Intersectionality Challenges, Uma Jogulu, Melissa A. Parris, Juliana Mutum

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the present state of gender equality experienced by skilled migrant women in Australian workplaces by using an intersectionality perspective that takes into account the multiple challenges women face as managers. Design/methodology/approach: Using a mixed methods design, the authors surveyed and interviewed female and male skilled migrants who migrated to Australia as adults “first generation” immigrants and were employed in full-time managerial roles. Findings: The findings show that intersectionality features of gender and cultural background influence skilled migrant managers’ experiences in the workplace, including their opportunities for further career advancement. Their data …

The Rise Of Women In Mining - How To Improve Inclusion And Diversity Through Organisational Programs, Ashley Mcgrath

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The inclusion and diversity (I&D) of women has become a priority for organisations due to the positive association with business performance and rising expectations of employees and shareholders for fair outcomes for all genders. Improving the I&D of women is also being driven by the evolving Australian legal framework which has heightened the responsibility of organisations regarding psychological safety and the prevention of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination. Companies operating in male dominated industries in Western Australia (WA) are under particular pressure due to lagging performance in addressing equity issues at a state level. Existing research correlates the I&D of …

Pickin In Petticoats: Lotta Crabtree And Women In The Elevation Of The Banjo, Michael Wright

World Music Textbook

This chapter explores early 20th century efforts to distance the banjo from its African American roots to meet the demands of a rising market of women players, highlighting actress Lotta Crabtree's influential role in reshaping the instrument's identity.

Never Again: Zionism And The Jewess, Rona Kaufman

FIU Law Review

The State of Israel was established, in part, to ensure that Jews would never again be killed with impunity. More specifically, the State of Israel was established to ensure that never again would Jewish women and girls be systematically raped, assaulted, violated, and mutilated in a pogrom-like attack against the Jewish people. It is well known that the sweep of history connects Jews with the land of Israel from ancient times to today and serves as an important foundation for political Zionism. Less understood is that the atrocities against Jewish women and girls, committed over thousands of years and across …

Assessing Teachers’ Conceptual Leadership Perceptions Of School-Site Administrators As An Approach To Improve Teacher Morale, Darlene C. Landy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to have teachers complete a self-assessment survey to assess their conceptual belief of the leadership styles of school-site administrators that are conducive to high teacher morals. The questions addressed how teacher morale affected the teachers according to the number of years they had been teaching, their college majors, their highest college degree, their gender, and their ethnicity. The teachers who participated in this study were volunteers who had to be teaching for 2 years or more.

This was a quantitative study that used the Teacher Rapport With Principal dimension of the Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire …

Menstruation, Menopause, And The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Marcy L. Karin, Deborah Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Some workplaces are extraordinarily inhospitable to menstruators, especially those in low-wage jobs. Workers have been denied restroom breaks and then harassed or fired after menstrual blood leaked onto their clothes or their employer’s property. Employers routinely refuse to provide accommodations for menopause symptoms or time off for menstruation-related medical care. The failure to support menstruators is a significant barrier to ensuring workplace equality. This Article explains how federal laws, including the landmark Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), can—and should—be interpreted to help address these inequities. PWFA requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” Menstruation …

Grieving In Doorways: A Critical Autoethnographic Exploration Of Embodied Knowledge Amid Shifting Reality And Radical Possibility, Holly Rae

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis is a critical autoethnographic exploration of embodied knowledge amid shifting reality and radical possibility. Beginning and ending with my own body, I explore how grief, as an embodied companion, offers wisdom and power in moments of profound change. Rooted in a methodology of slowness, rest, walking, and active listening, this work resists the extractive pace of modernity and instead invites building a relationship with grief and discomfort. This research is an experiment in co-creating knowledge with bodies and their intersectionality within systems that would keep us separate from knowing our embodied knowledge. As a location of research for …

No Neutral Ground: Sports Political Ideology In The 1936 Olympic Games, Lea Zeitler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

By using literary and cinematic narratives to explore changing cultural and ideological positions, my thesis demonstrates how the 1936 Berlin Olympics became a defining event of the intersection of sports and politics. Through analyzing Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, Richard Mandell’s The Nazi Olympics, and Elise Hooper’s Fast Girls, I show how distinct historical circumstances inform understandings of race, gender, and nationalism. The Berlin Games, used by the Third Reich as a platform for Nazi propaganda, stand as an example of how international sporting events become battlegrounds for ideological struggles and political messaging. This thesis argues that these narratives are not just …

"The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love": Identity Creation, Compartmentalization, And Belonging Among Queer Peace Corps Volunteers, Laura N. Keeran

Theses and Dissertations

The Peace Corps advertises that it accepts anyone, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation; however, recruiters and staff ask volunteers to go back into the closet for their twenty-seven months of service due to the Peace Corps’ safety concerns about their volunteers being out in their host countries. Queer Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) answer the call to serve, accepting that it means they will need to keep their queer identities concealed for two years and three months. I conducted ethnographic interviews with ten people who have served or are currently serving in the Peace Corps and identify under …

Perceptions Of A Hypothetical Student As A Function Of Binge Eating Disorder And Gender, Erin Rose Hennessy

Theses and Dissertations

Stigma toward those with binge eating disorder and a gender bias toward eating disorders can lead to misattribution of symptoms as well as a reduced likelihood of having the diagnosis of eating disorders (Currin, Schmidt, and Waller 2007). Symptoms of binge eating, such as being overweight, have different social meanings than an eating disorder that can lead to being underweight, such as anorexia (Saguy and Gruys 2010). In addition, social support has been previously found to have positive relationships with eating disorder recovery. The purpose of this study was to understand differences in people’s perceptions of targets who are overweight …

Victoria Welby's Semiotics, Significs And Gender: Through A Modernist Lens, Zoe Hurley

All Works

While there is an established body of scholarship discussing Victoria Welby's contribution to semiotics, her philosophical ideas engage with many of the intellectual currents that would later define the modernist movement. Exploring Welby's extensive articles, letters, speeches, and monographs - through a genealogical framework and modernist lens - conveys Welby's semiotic portrait of language and gender as both building upon and extending the classical semiotic approaches of Peirce as well as demonstrating nascent modernist elements. This casts a new light on the importance of Welby's semiotic concepts of Significs and mother-sense. Yet, although Welby's works correspond with proto-modernist concepts, including …

Understanding The Factors That Influence University Environment: Gender Differences In Perceptions Of Female And Male Stem Graduate Students., Rachel Robinson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite increasing female representation in higher education, women remain underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. This thesis investigates gendered perceptions of university environment among STEM graduate students, focusing on the role of faculty-student interaction as a form of social capital. The survey was developed and administered with Qualtrics Online Survey Software by members of the Social Science Research Group of the Pacific Northwest Circles of Success: Mentoring Opportunities in STEM. All graduate students in the participating universities pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in a National Science Foundation STEM recognized program were eligible to complete the survey. Using …

How Perceptions Of Trauma Impact The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Events And Drinking Habits Of College Students, Caitlin M. Ward

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been consistently linked to alcohol misuse across the lifespan; however, little research has examined how individuals’ perceptions of these experiences contribute to risky drinking behaviors. The present study investigated the associations among ACEs, perceived traumatic impact of childhood adversity, gender identity, and alcohol use among 211 undergraduate students ages 18 to 25 at the University of Montana (Missoula). Participants completed measures assessing ACE exposure, perceived trauma impact, depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), adult adverse experiences, and alcohol use (AUDIT). ACE scores significantly predicted higher AUDIT scores in an unadjusted model; however, this relationship was no longer significant …

Modernity, Domesticity, And Women’S Subjectivity: A Comparative Study Of The Fiction Of Jane Austen And Ling Shuhua, Rou Li

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study examines how Jane Austen and Ling Shuhua represent women’s conceptions of selfhood through domestic narratives during periods of modernization in their respective societies. Drawing on Anthony Giddens’ theory of modern intimacy and Gary Kelly’s analysis of the bourgeois cultural revolution, this comparative analysis explores how their works reflect broader societal transformations through the depiction of intimate domestic spaces. Through detailed textual analysis of Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice and several of Ling Shuhua’s short stories in Collected Essays of Ling Shuhua, this study demonstrates how both authors employ domestic settings not merely as backdrops but as dynamic …