Education Commons^™

Counselor Self-Efficacy Re-Examined: Components Of Racial Identity Development And Impostor Phenomenon Among Counseling Graduate Students Of Color, Erica Denise Wade

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this study was to explore the relationships among racial identity development, impostor phenomenon, and counseling self-efficacy among counseling graduate students of color. There is evidence supporting the importance of a client’s racial identity. However, there is limited research exploring the impacts of a counselor’s racial identity and the development of counseling self-efficacy (Tomlinson-Clarke, 2013; Holcomb-McCoy, Hines, & Johnston, 2008; Owens, Bodenhorn, & Bryant, 2010; Crockett & Hays, 2015). The following research questions were used to provide a frame of inquiry for this study and each research question pertained to counseling graduate students of color: (1) What are …

Ita Language Proficiency Testing: Recommended Replacement For The Speak® Test, Anne Marie Stoughton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Oral language tests have been used since the 1950s to assess the proficiency of spoken language. In the 1980s and 1990s, the need for oral proficiency testing increased as states began to mandate that universities within their jurisdictions test the English proficiency of instructors due to growing concerns over international teaching assistants’ (ITAs) comprehensibility. Many universities turned to the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit® (SPEAK test), a language proficiency test created and distributed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), as means to test ITA proficiency in English. ETS’s discontinuance of the SPEAK test in 2010 has forced, and is forcing, …

Faculty And Student Interactions At A Midwestern University In The United States: A Qualitative Study Of The Impact On International Graduate Students’ Academic Experiences, Debra Ann Miller

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study explored how academic experiences were influenced when international graduate students engaged with faculty at a public, Midwestern university in the United States. The study used a phenomenological interpretive approach, incorporating the narratives of fifteen international graduate students from eleven countries. The researcher guided this study based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development (1977, 1979, 1994). The findings provided insight into the interactions that international graduate students have with faculty, how these interactions influenced their experiences, and how classroom practices impacted academic experiences for international graduate students.

Faculty who acknowledged the unique needs and cultural differences of international …

Examining University Food Systems: Understanding Student Food Insecurity Levels And Food Waste At Minority-Serving Institutions, Amy Louise Gootee-Ash

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated food insecurity levels and attitudes and behaviors towards food waste at minority-serving colleges (MSIs). A validated survey from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Adult Food Security Survey Modules (AFSSM) was used to assess food security population levels. Paper 1 of the three included is a case study at a MSI (n = 229) that examined food security levels. No significant relationships at the p < .05 were found between food security and student ethnicity, living arrangements, meal plan enrollments, or grade-point averages. Paper 2 examined food security at three MSIs (n = 449) and two traditional, diverse schools (TDUs; n = 236). Food security levels between MSIs and TDUs were shown to be statistically significant (p < .05), while levels of student financial aid participation between MSIs and TDUs were not statistically significant. A comparison of food security levels at regional-state colleges in Delaware and Maryland reveal a significant difference in levels of food security (p < .05). The third paper found no significant relationship between students (n = 222) who were exposed to food waste education campaigns and reported levels of food waste behaviors. No statistical significance could be discerned between meal plan offerings and reported plate waste, which is food thrown away by consumers after a meal.

College To Career Transitions: Understanding Experiential Learning Opportunities Offered Through Business Incubators, Luanne Kelly Mayorga

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The transition from college to careers has remained relatively consistent for decades. This is no longer the case as numerous external factors, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technological advancements, and changing workforce needs, are simultaneously at play. In addition, higher education institutions across the United States are facing numerous challenges, such as unprecedented access to a college education, funding allocations, and students simultaneously working while attending college. These are just a few of the items which are complicating this transition and are influential factors in this discussion.

A college degree has become an entry point for many professional careers, …

First-Generation, Underrepresented Community College Graduates And The Accrual Of Social Capital, Jorge Nieto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Social capital contributes to the ability of individuals to navigate formal and informal systems and organizational structures. This qualitative research study features the perspectives of twenty first-generation community college graduates of color who completed their associate degrees in arts or science. This study describes the navigation of these graduates through the structure and systems of the community college, and the sources of social capital that were helpful to them in completing their associate degree as a part of their academic journey.

“Hersay,” An Exception To The Rule: A Narrative Inquiry Of Women Law Professors Navigating The Gendered Organization Of Law School, Lisa M. Matich

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how women law professors navigate the gendered organizational realm of law school. Stories of women’s experience illuminate structures within the gendered organization of the law school that reproduce gendered inequities. By understanding how these inequities are reproduced, we may learn how to create more equitable structures. This research thus provided an opportunity for women law professors to tell their stories, thereby giving voice to their experiences within the gendered organizations of law schools.

This study used the qualitative approach of narrative inquiry to explore participants’ experiences. Eight women law professors, either tenured …

Student Perceptions Of A Customer Service Model In A For-Profit Higher Education Institution, Leonard J. Grinstead

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact on students of customer service-oriented behaviors exhibited by faculty members and student advisors in a single geographic segment of a large institution of higher education in the for-profit sector headquartered in the midwestern United States. A single-case case study approach was used in order to explore students’ degree of satisfaction with customer service experiences and the extent to which these impacted their decisions to persist toward graduation from the university. A survey approach with a questionnaire distributed by email was used in order to gather data from students for …

The Role Of Spirituality In Women's Doctoral Journeys: A Portraiture Study, Katherine M. Richards

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The doctoral journey can be a personal one for many students. Students not only lean on their educational background and work experiences, but they may utilize some very personal attributes of their life during their doctoral journey. Spirituality might be considered one of those personal attributes that is interwoven into various contexts of student lives. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of spirituality among women during their doctoral journeys. This study furthered our understanding of the role of spirituality within the context of higher education. Fifteen women from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds who were …

Necessary Resilience: Experiences Of African American Men Athletes In Community Colleges, Julian Springer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that African American men have the lowest enrollment and completion rates within higher education. While community colleges’ athletic programs may offer access points for students, experiences of African American men who are student athletes enrolled in community colleges has gone under researched. As such, this study explores the experiences of eight African American men student athletes at community colleges. Specifically, this qualitative case study aimed to better understand how these men experienced barriers and support on their campus, as well as their perceptions of their campus climates. Findings suggest that participants felt academically underprepared in their classrooms, …