Digital Commons Network^™

Determinants Of Success Among Chinese Female Entrepreneurs, Lei Zhu, Orhan Kara, Wei Du, Mustafa Celikten

Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship

This study explores the determinants of entrepreneurial success among women in China, based on data collected from 180 female small business owners. Using an ordered logit model, the analysis examines a range of factors ranked by respondents as critical to their business performance. The results highlight several key factors that drive success, including good general management skills, maintenance of accurate records of sales/expenses, hard work, charisma/friendliness to customers, satisfactory government support, and support of family and friends. These findings reveal the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial success, emphasizing the importance of personal attributes, management practices, and external support systems in enhancing …

Ravenswood Hospital School Of Nursing Class Book, 1957, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

Ravenswood Hospital, Chicago, IL: Ravenswood Hospital School of Nursing 1957 class book.

Ravenswood Hospital Annual Report, 1926, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

Ravenswood Hospital, Chicago, IL: 1926 Annual report for Ravenswood Hospital. Includes photos, hospital and school of nursing statistics, expenditures and treasurers report, list of hospital staff.

Ravenswood Answers The Call, 1934, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

Ravenswood Hospital, Chicago, IL: This Ravenswood Hospital brochure outlines the hospital's history and importance to the community. It serves as an advertisement to request support and donations from the community.

Reclaiming Instructional Leadership: Using Evidence-Based Tools And Conversations To Change Classroom Practice, Lyndsay Britt, Matthew Militello

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Instructional leadership is the most influential lever principals and supervisors have to improve teaching and learning, yet managerial demands often limit sustained classroom engagement. This qualitative participatory action research study explores how leaders can reclaim instructional leadership by embedding focused observation tools and instructional conversations into routine supervision without adding time burdens. 

Using Community Learning Exchange methodology, four teachers and a principal engaged in a 14-month community of practice at a rural Title I early college high school. Through three inquiry cycles, the study examined how evidence-based tools and data-informed dialogue shaped teaching and leadership practices.

Findings revealed two outcomes …

Becoming: Adult Learners In Graduate Education And The Pursuit Of A Meaningful Life, Tara Shollenberger

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Adult learners in graduate education represent a population defined by deliberate, purposeful choice. Unlike traditional-age students, these individuals advance within higher education while managing careers, families, and complex life responsibilities. This conceptual paper explores the espoused and enacted vision for a meaningful life held by adult learners in graduate education, with particular attention to doctoral students in professional education programs. Evidence is drawn from national enrollment and attrition data, relevant scholarship, and nearly two decades of direct practitioner observation. The paper argues that adult graduate learners are animated by a vision of becoming: a generational, relational, and deeply purposeful understanding …

Seeing The Line Move Up: Educator Perceptions Of Mastery Experiences As Drivers Of Student Engagement And Persistence In Rural Intervention Programs, Carter J. Baran

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

This study examined how educators in a rural secondary school district describe the influence of mastery experiences on student engagement and persistence within academic intervention programs. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 18 certified educators (six core content teachers, six elective teachers, and six administrators) and a subsequent focus group conducted in a single rural South Carolina school district, this qualitative analysis extends a larger dissertation study on teacher perceptions of dropout-prevention interventions. Using Bandura's (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory and Astin's (1984, 1999) theory of student involvement as a dual conceptual lens, findings indicate that educators consistently identified visible, incremental …

Measuring Maladaptive Social Media Use: Development And Validation Of A Multidimensional Four-Factor Scale, Leanna Tally, Abigail Mace, David Carscaddon

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

The advent of social media has had a tremendous effect on the realms of social interaction and entertainment, particularly in younger generations. As this sensation has continued to grow and intensify, increasing concern has been raised about the potential adverse effects of social media use, including the possibility of dependence and addiction-like symptoms. This study aimed to create a scale capable of measuring social media dependency based on an alternative and internet-specific theoretical model. Participants (n= 133, ages 18-25) answered questions about their social media usage and related variables, completing a 26-item scale, the MPIQ, and accompanying items. McDonald’s omega …

Letter From Robert G. Wright To Kenneth L. Whitt, Robert G. Wright

Kenneth L. Whitt Papers

Completed questionnaire from Robert G. Wright, former student editor of the Shorthorn, to Kenneth L. Whitt.

Characterization Of Natural And Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced Composites For Sport Prosthetic Feet Applications, Daniah F. Abbas, Jawad K. Oleiwi, Qahtan A. Hamad

Engineering and Technology Journal

Sports prosthetic feet reinforced with natural and synthetic fibers offer a promising solution for developing lightweight, cost-effective, and sustainable biomedical components. In this study, epoxy-based composite laminates reinforced with Hemp, Sisal, and Bamboo fibers were fabricated for potential sports prosthetic foot applications. Different reinforcement configurations (3, 6, 9, and 12 plies) were investigated, while hybrid laminates were produced by incorporating three carbon fiber layers to enhance overall performance. The fabricated composites were evaluated in terms of density, water absorption, fiber volume fraction, hardness, and microstructural characteristics using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
The results demonstrated that increasing the number of reinforcement …

Teacher Mentoring As A National Imperative: A Multi-Paper Dissertation, Ramiro Pesina

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

This multi-paper dissertation investigates teacher mentoring as a critical intervention in human resource development designed to address the complex challenges facing the teaching profession, including high attrition rates and the need for sustained professional support. The study is organized into three connected studies: an integrative literature review on technology enhanced mentoring, a longitudinal qualitative study that devises a comprehensive mentoring model covering cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects, and a phenomenological case study in which a formally structured mentoring program in a North Texas school district is analyzed in terms of execution and outcome. Critically important findings indicate that well-crafted mentoring …

The Role Of Financial Decision-Making Methods In Achieving Financial Performance, Kifah Sami Hussein

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

This research provides a comprehensive study of the role of financial decision-making methods in improving the financial performance of organizations, focusing on the strategic importance of various financial tools in supporting the process. The study aims to explore how the quality of financial decisions affects key performance indicators of organizations, highlighting the positive relationship between effective financial decision-making and achieving optimal financial results. The research also addresses the various factors that influence the effectiveness of financial decisions, including analytical tools, predictive models, and high-quality accounting information.
The research methodology relies on integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in a comprehensive manner, …

Re-Evaluating Seagrass Ecosystem Services: Integrating Community Gleaning And Cultural Values Into Economic Valuation In Selayar Island, Indonesia, Hendriyadi Bahtiar Daeng Sila, Rohani Ambo-Rappe, Mahatma Lanuru, Sebastian C.A. Ferse

Forest and Society

Dominant marine conservation and blue economy paradigms systematically prioritize biophysical metrics, such as biodiversity or carbon sequestration, frequently rendering the cultural and subsistence values of coastal communities invisible. This study contests these biophysically-centered frameworks by applying a holistic valuation approach to seagrass meadows at the Selayar Archipelago, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Utilizing the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) framework as an instrument for recognition of cultural values, we applied participatory methodologies to evaluate the relational values embedded in traditional gleaning—the small-scale, intertidal harvesting of marine invertebrates (a'sulo/ngatti-ngatti). The findings reveal a socio-economic and cultural reality …

Lindenwood Digest, September 9, 2026, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

• Event & Date: The Lindenwood University Employee Digest was published on September 9, 2026, detailing university operations, academic deadlines, and the Taste the Cause community event scheduled for September 19, 2026.

• Geographic Grounding: Programmed events are situated at the Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri, as well as rooms LARC 09 and LARC 10 inside the Library and Academic Resources Center, Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri.

• Key Honorees/Awards: Faculty recognized for institutional service include Dr. Stephanie Afful, Professor of Psychology; Dr. Colleen Biri, Senior Professor of Psychology; Weston Anderson, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice; Brynne Schroeder, Assistant Professor of Psychology; Suzanne …

Joy For Whom? Joy To What End? The Promise And Peril Of Joy-Centred Pedagogy, Mays Imad, Karla Clark , Ed.D, Constanza Barthololmae

Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE)

In this essay, we trouble the notion of joy in teaching and learning. We trouble it because we do not want to offer another status quo, shiny intervention grounded in hegemonic hierarchy. We trouble it because we want to explore how to co-narrate joy in a way that lets us, our colleagues, and our students realize our “magical” capacity, to borrow Sylvia Wynter’s word. Writing as three educators in a single analytic voice, with first-person narratives in which our standpoints diverge, we ask: joy for whom, to what end, and at what cost? We enter through the debate over generative …

Practitioners’ Perceptions: Evidence-Based Practices And Evidence-Based Interventions To Reduce Burnout In Third-Sector Organizations, Elizabeth Riley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Third-sector organizations (TSOs) face challenges providing effective evidence in reducing stress and burnout for human services professionals (HSPs) to remain in the field. Burnout is a social phenomenon that has received much attention in the helping professions for the past 50 years, due to the nature of the work that HSPs perform. Researchers have confirmed that HSPs are at critical risk of burnout, which affects not only their health and work performance, but also their delivery of service. Current literature lacks studies on what supports HSPs’ need in TSOs to reduce their stress and burnout to remain in the field. …

Exploring Rural And Non-Rural Disparities In Interpersonal Violence And Help Seeking Barriers Among North Dakota Women, Tahmid Hassan Jeeshan, Ashley K. Fansher

Criminal Justice Posters and Presentations

Interpersonal violence extends beyond physical assault to include psychological and/or emotional abuse that can produce substantial physical and mental health consequences. Unfortunately, rates of violence have not been directly studied among residents of North Dakota. In this study, we compare victimization patterns, treatment seeking behaviors, and barriers to treatment among North Dakotan women. We anticipate that rural victims will report more severe or chronic victimization yet face reduced access to and use of healthcare and victim services. By jointly considering violence type, rural versus non-rural status, and treatment seeking, this project highlights differences between rural and non-rural residents and identifies …

The Role Of Financial Inclusion In The Quality Of Financial Decisions: A Descriptive And Analytical Study Of A Sample Of Startups In Iraq, Inam Abass Hamidi

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

This research examines the role of financial inclusion in improving the quality of financial decisions for individuals and institutions in emerging and developing economies. The research focuses on how the availability of accessible formal financial services enhances the ability to make informed and rational financial decisions. The scope of the study includes examining the relationship between access to formal financial services and positive financial behavior, as the literature shows that individuals with higher levels of financial inclusion are more likely to engage in positive financial behaviors such as regular saving and responsible investing (Musa et al., 2025).  The research aims …

Beyond The Pail: A Holistic Approach To Early Literacy Through Executive Functioning And Motor Develepment, Christie Vantilburg

Masters Projects

Traditional reading models, such as the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope, have historically isolated reading mechanics into word recognition and language comprehension silos. While foundational, these static frameworks overlook the vital cognitive role that active self-regulation and executive functions (EFs) play in text processing. As states like Michigan roll out statutory mandates under Public Act 146 requiring comprehensive educator training on dyslexia and its secondary behavioral impacts, a critical gap remains between higher-order cognitive science and daily classroom instruction. This project addresses this gap by translating contemporary developmental neuroscience and literacy frameworks into a practical, classroom-ready curriculum …

Intersections Of Intimate Partner Violence And Risk Behaviors: Exploring Associations With Substance Use, Suicidal Behavior, Weapon Carrying, And Risky Sexual Behavior, Bibi Maria

Masters Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among youth is considered a social and public health concern globally, which coexists with other high-risk behaviors. Previous research has mostly focused on female victims and adult populations or examined a single outcome, did not distinguish between physical and sexual victimization, or overlooked gender differences. Guided by general strain theory, power-control theory, and a gendered perspective of GST, this study examined the associations between physical and sexual IPV victimization and four risk behavior categories: substance use, suicidal behavior, weapon carrying, and risky sexual behavior, among both male and female youths and tested for gender differences. Using …

Direct Observations Of Office Disciplinary Referrals For Aggressive And Other Disruptive Behaviors In Elementary Schools, Daniel A. Waschbusch, Pevitr S. Bansal, Marcela C. Ramos, William E. Pelham Jr., Greta M. Massetti

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Aggressive behavior in childhood is a major developmental and educational concern, but school discipline records provide limited information about how aggression is identified and managed in everyday settings. This study used direct observation to characterize office discipline referral (ODR) events among kindergarten through fifth-grade students in 2007, with each of 14 schools observed for one designated week near the end of a randomized school-based intervention trial. Observers recorded 348 referrals involving 296 students. Aggressive or destructive behavior—physical aggression, verbal aggression, or property destruction—accounted for 46.8% of referrals, with physical aggression alone accounting for 38.5%. Aggressive/destructive referrals involved descriptively longer office …

Latent Profile Analysis Of Physical And Cognitive Leisure Activity Level Among Chinese Middle-Aged And Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study, Zhenying Liang, Pankaew Tantirattanakulchai, Nuchanad Hounnaklang

Journal of Health Research

Background: The global aging trend has accelerated. This study tried to identify the factors related to different patterns of physical and cognitive leisure activities among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.

Method: Latent Profile Analysis was conducted to classify 12,480 participants aged 45 and above, followed by logistic regression to understand associations between activity profiles and related factors.

Results: Physical activity (n = 2,269) and cognitive leisure activity groups (n = 10,211) were identified according to their different levels of physical activity and cognitive leisure activity engagement. Middle-aged individuals (aOR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.29–1.56), rural residents (aOR = 1.38, 95% …

A Transformer-Based Approach With Data Augmentation For Multilabel Emotional Context Detection, Mohsin Hasan Hussein, Marem H. Abdulabas, Azha Talal Mohammed Ali, Homam Aziz Ghazi

Al-Bahir

Emotion identification in texts is becoming increasingly difficult because of the wide variety of ways emotions are represented. This study uses a fine-tuned Robustly Optimized Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers Approach

(RoBERTa) to offer a Transformer-based model for identifying multilabel emotional context in textual data. To balance emotion categories and enhance the model's capacity for generalization, data augmentation is applied on two different datasets: Semantic Evaluation and Cross-lingual Emotion Dataset (SemEval and XED) English corpus. This stage is considered one of the most important steps in preprocessing as it greatly helps to improve the results. The RoBERTa model was then …

Religious Night Tourism During Ramadan In Mashhad, Iran: Lived Experiences Of Pilgrims, Neda Zarandian, Razieh Rabani, Daniel H. Olsen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Mashhad, located in northeastern Iran, is one of the most significant pilgrimage destinations in the Islamic world, attracting millions of visitors annually to the Imam Reza Shrine (The eighth Imam of Shia Muslims). During Ramadan, the city transforms into a vibrant spiritual and social space where nocturnal religious practices and social gatherings shape distinctive emotional and temporal experiences for both pilgrims and tourists. Understanding these lived nighttime experiences is essential for developing culturally sensitive and spiritually meaningful tourism approaches. Despite the growing attention to religious tourism, the temporal, emotional, and sensory dimensions of night tourism in pilgrimage contexts remain unexplored. …

The Effect Of Religious Belief On Spiritual Tourism Intention: A Case Study Of Vietnamese Tourists To Thailand, Huong Thi Quynh Nguyen, Ngan Thi Huyen Nguyen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In this paper, religious belief was integrated into the Goal-Directed Behaviour Model, to clarify the behaviour of tourists towards spiritual tourism. Data from 516 Vietnamese tourists visiting Thailand was used for PLS-SEM analysis. The research results indicated positive relationships of religious belief to the original elements of the MGB, including attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, emotion, and spiritual tourism intention. Desire was shown to be a key predictor of intention, mediating the effects of attitude, subjective norm, behavioural control, and emotion on the tourists’ intention to engage in spiritual tourism.

Lgbtq+ People On The Camino De Santiago, Xose Santos, . Wisulanbou

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In the many published works on the Camino de Santiago, LGBTQ+ people have never been considered as an subject of study. The widespread idea that the Camino is for everyone serves to invisibilise this group of people. The problems and accusations we have had to face in our fieldwork are proof of how uncomfortable it is for some persons to talk about gender, sexuality and non-heteronormative identities on the Camino. Regardless of the variety of motivations for pilgrimage to Santiago, religion continues to have a very strong presence on this itinerary which generates tensions with sexualities, especially those that are …

Possible Contestation Between Pilgrimage And Tourism: A Spatial Analysis Of The Shrine Of Shahjalal, Zarin Tasnim Rashid

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper aims to examine the contestation between pilgrimage and tourism by conducting a spatial analysis on the shrine of Shahjalal, a prominent pilgrimage site in Bangladesh. It analyses particular components of this site through the lens of Kim Knott’s (2009) concept of a spatial approach based on four essential characteristics that connect a location to the larger whole of space. This paper followed a qualitative research method and more specifically content analysis. Being a prominent pilgrimage site in Bangladesh, the Shrine of Shahjalal, turns into a centre of contestation due to the presence of tourists and other existing stakeholders. …

Religious Visitors’ Spiritual Values And Their Relative Importance: Evidence From Chinese Buddhist Tourism Contexts, Zhiqing Wang, Keji Huang, Jiankang Zhang, Yunyun Fan, Ge Zhang

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Spiritual values are affected by diverse factors with different roles and influence daily life in various ways. Using Mount Jiuhua and Mount Putuo, two mountains in Mainland China with great importance in Buddhism, as examples, this study explores the specific dimensions of religious visitors’ spiritual values. Through a survey study, five factors of these spiritual values were extracted and their relative importance was measured. The identified factors were transcendence, general connectedness, inner balance, positive life direction and special religious feelings. According to factor importance analysis, these spiritual values can be categorised into three levels: fundamental, reflective and surpassing. This study …

Hajj Pilgrimage And Spatial Behaviour In Sacred Space, Zuhriddin Juraev, Young-Jin Ahn, Ji-Yeong Gu

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study examines the behavioural and spatial dynamics of the Hajj pilgrimage through the conceptual lens of behavioural geography, focusing on how sacred space, ritual choreography, and communal experiences shape religious engagement. Centred on the Kaaba and surrounding pilgrimage sites, this study explores how ritual practices such as Tawaf, Sa’i, and standing at Arafat construct immersive and affective experiences for pilgrims. Drawing on an interpretive analysis of visual and textual sources, the study argues that sacred space operates not only as a physical setting but also as a symbolic framework that mediates spiritual transformation and social cohesion. It also highlights …

Exploring Challenges For Relationship Marketing Based On Vertical Partnerships Among Smes For Developing Spiritual Tourism: A Case Of Kartarpu, Farooq Haq, Mohit Vij, Naveed Yasin, Amitabh Upadhya

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Spiritual tourism has evolved as a growing segment of special-interest tourism, attracting increasing attention from both public and private sectors. While government agencies are primarily responsible for infrastructure development at spiritual sites, the private sector plays a crucial role is delivering products and services that enhance the visitor experience. Although collaboration between these stakeholders is vital, the role of relationship marketing, particularly through vertical partnerships, remains underexplored in the context of spiritual tourism. This study addresses this gap by examining vertical partnerships as a relationship marketing strategy at Kartarpur, a prominent Sikh pilgrimage site. Employing a case-study approach, the research …