Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

PDF

Phenomenology

Discipline
Institution
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type

Articles 31 - 60 of 461

Full-Text Articles in Education

Exploring Transfer Students’ Perceptions Of Their Transition Experience In Calculus 2 At A Research Intensive Institution: A Schlossberg’S And Tinto’S Theory Approach, Steven Edalgo Aug 2023

Exploring Transfer Students’ Perceptions Of Their Transition Experience In Calculus 2 At A Research Intensive Institution: A Schlossberg’S And Tinto’S Theory Approach, Steven Edalgo

All Dissertations

This study explored the lived experiences of eleven transfer students as they described their experiences in Calculus 2 at very high research land grant institutions (R1). This qualitative investigation focused on the psychological phenomenon of transition as the transfer students perceived, reflected, made sense, and understood their transition experience. Furthermore, this study explored transfer students’ understanding of how they perceive the attributes of their success or lack of success in Calculus 2.

Employing the use of Schlossberg’s Transition Framework along with Tinto’s Persistence/Departure Framework, the perceptions of the transition experience was analyzed through the lens of this conceptual framework. The …


Liberation And Inclusion Through The Voices Of Trans Youth: A Phenomenological Approach, Klaudia Neufeld Aug 2023

Liberation And Inclusion Through The Voices Of Trans Youth: A Phenomenological Approach, Klaudia Neufeld

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this phenomenological study is to elevate trans youth voice to understand the essence of their individual and shared lived experiences within school systems designed for them to be silenced, excluded, and erased. In alignment with Eve Tuck’s desire-based research, this study is designed to counter deficit narratives of trans youth. Participants include six racially and ethnically diverse trans youth, ages 13−17 in the U.S. state of Colorado. Analyses revealed four themes: a gender-identity transition journey; navigating geography; safety and the impact of school culture; creating belonging through a coalition of community and friendship; and youth lessons …


The Experiences Of Teachers Providing Feedback Using One-To-One Technology On Teacher-Student Relationships: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Christopher Magee Jul 2023

The Experiences Of Teachers Providing Feedback Using One-To-One Technology On Teacher-Student Relationships: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Christopher Magee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe teacher perceptions of teacher-student relationships while using one-to-one technology to provide feedback. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s theory of learning as it describes learning as a social process. A transcendental phenomenological design was used for this study with a social constructivist worldview as the study sought to understand the perceptions of teachers within the one-to-one learning environment and their relationships with students when providing feedback using one-to-one technology. The central question for this study was: How do teachers describe relationships with students while using one-to-one technology to provide …


Phenomenological Ontology: Turning To Practice, Kaustuv Roy Jul 2023

Phenomenological Ontology: Turning To Practice, Kaustuv Roy

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

Ontology is often reduced to epistemology, that is, to yet another conceptual category for discussion. We do this because historically we are comfortable with the mental and are habituated to reducing everything to mental representation. But ontology is not rational discussion of ‘what is’; it is, rather, the cultivation of contact with ‘what is.’ And that means practice. We shy away from practice as though it is some native witchcraft, and prefer instead to think about it. The present paper proposes that instead of merely thinking about ontology, we practice toward its realization. I call this phenomenological ontology. Ontological practice …


Infusing Military Culture In Multicultural Counseling Frameworks: A Phenomenological Study, Katherine M. Atkins, Toni R. Tollerud, Tilottama Roy-White, Lauren E. Brdecka, Deanna Chrones Jul 2023

Infusing Military Culture In Multicultural Counseling Frameworks: A Phenomenological Study, Katherine M. Atkins, Toni R. Tollerud, Tilottama Roy-White, Lauren E. Brdecka, Deanna Chrones

The Qualitative Report

This descriptive phenomenological study focused on counselor educators’ (CESs) experiences infusing military culture into counseling curriculum. Specifically, this study sought to learn what counseling programs can do to best prepare counselors-in-training to work with military families. The researchers used the McCracken (1988) method to interview ten participants who had terminal degrees in counselor education or a highly related field, experience providing services to military-connected clients, and were aware of military cultural facets (e.g., implicit and explicit expectations, rules, and ways of being). The findings support the need to redefine multiculturalism and intentional infusion of military culture in counseling curriculum to …


Giving And Taking Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Secondary Teachers’ Experiences Of Social Emotional Learning, Janna Jobel, Rebecca J. Lloyd Jun 2023

Giving And Taking Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Secondary Teachers’ Experiences Of Social Emotional Learning, Janna Jobel, Rebecca J. Lloyd

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been primarily researched in elementary schools, and within this context, SEL curriculum is often presented as an isolated, preplanned curriculum, with a list of curricular objectives to be delivered. A phenomenological inquiry was conducted to better understand the ways in which SEL and SEL curriculum are understood and experienced in a high school context. Data gathered from close phenomenological observations and interviews with three high school teachers in mathematics and physical education afforded the opportunity to orient, interpret, and describe the phenomenon of SEL-in-action. Rich descriptions of SEL as it is lived were generated and …


Peeling Away The Taken-For-Grantedness Of Research Subjectivities: Orienting To The Phenomenological, Melissa Freeman, E. Anthony Muhammad Jun 2023

Peeling Away The Taken-For-Grantedness Of Research Subjectivities: Orienting To The Phenomenological, Melissa Freeman, E. Anthony Muhammad

Department of Curriculum, Foundations, & Reading Faculty Publications

Qualitative research is a multidisciplinary field of practice that acknowledges and values the situatedness and subjectivities of the researcher. Therefore, reflexively accounting for one’s subjectivities is a crucial part of a research report. Less discussed is how subjective understandings are historically, culturally, and socially mediated, often challenging researchers’ abilities to orient themselves critically to this self-reflective undertaking. Phenomenology is a philosophical approach investigating how phenomena such as subjectivity are constituted in experience. This makes phenomenology an essential resource for understanding how complex subjective responses manifest differently depending on one’s orientation to the situation. This paper aims to familiarize qualitative research …


Peeling Away The Taken-For-Grantedness Of Research Subjectivities: Orienting To The Phenomenological, Melissa Freeman, E. Anthony Muhammad Jun 2023

Peeling Away The Taken-For-Grantedness Of Research Subjectivities: Orienting To The Phenomenological, Melissa Freeman, E. Anthony Muhammad

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative research is a multidisciplinary field of practice that acknowledges and values the situatedness and subjectivities of the researcher. Therefore, reflexively accounting for one’s subjectivities is a crucial part of a research report. Less discussed is how subjective understandings are historically, culturally, and socially mediated, often challenging researchers’ abilities to orient themselves critically to this self-reflective undertaking. Phenomenology is a philosophical approach investigating how phenomena such as subjectivity are constituted in experience. This makes phenomenology an essential resource for understanding how complex subjective responses manifest differently depending on one’s orientation to the situation. This paper aims to familiarize qualitative research …


Untangling The Phenomenon Of Teacher Anxiety During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Voices Of Secondary Ela Teachers, Jenise Gorman May 2023

Untangling The Phenomenon Of Teacher Anxiety During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Voices Of Secondary Ela Teachers, Jenise Gorman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid simultaneous teaching, surgical masks, Lysol wipes, and uncertainty capture the zeitgeist of teaching during COVID-19. This study builds on teachers’ daily stressors in the classroom. Many shifts in education that never seemed possible created angst and anxiety in the classroom (Cupido, 2018; Dubey and Pandey, 2020; El Rizaq & Sarmini, 2021; Zuo et al., 2020; Garcia and Piotrowski, 2022). Teachers entered the 2020-2021 school year having to learn many firsts.The purpose of this study was to understand the interplay of work-life lived experiences of secondary English teachers with moments of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a post-intentional phenomenological …


Active Imagination, Wellbeing And Ways Of Seeing: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into Experiences Of Adult Learners With Visual Impairments, Steinberg Henry May 2023

Active Imagination, Wellbeing And Ways Of Seeing: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into Experiences Of Adult Learners With Visual Impairments, Steinberg Henry

Educational Studies Dissertations

Six female and two male adult learners who became blind between the ages of 20 and 75 years participated in this study conducted by a blind researcher. The purposely sampled eight were interviewed virtually by way of Zoom. In combination with Johnny Saldana’s work on codes, this study used the NVivo framework for determining structuring categories, selecting node themes, code frameworks and final codes from the first interview. 291 codes were clustered under 26 node themes. NVivo’s word frequency search and Word Tree were applied to clarify and lend a number value to participants’ codes. The second interview, administered after …


The Research Question In Hermeneutic Phenomenology And Grounded Theory Research, Pilar Folgueiras-Bertomeu, María Paz Sandín-Esteban May 2023

The Research Question In Hermeneutic Phenomenology And Grounded Theory Research, Pilar Folgueiras-Bertomeu, María Paz Sandín-Esteban

The Qualitative Report

Formulating the research question is a key but complex task in qualitative studies. The question should be framed consistently with the approach chosen; in other words, question and approach are interdependent. This article aims to contribute to the understanding of the nature of the research question; to this end, we address its meaning by presenting two qualitative approaches: applied hermeneutic phenomenology and grounded theory. Although both approaches draw from the experience of the participants in research, they are vastly different and comparing them provides an exemplar of the important decision-making required for crafting research questions epistemologically aligned with their designs. …


Investigating Students’ Career-Readiness In The Agricultural Sciences: A Phenomenological Case Study, Jean A. Parrella, Holli R. Leggette, Theresa P. Murphrey, Christi Esquivel, Anna Bates May 2023

Investigating Students’ Career-Readiness In The Agricultural Sciences: A Phenomenological Case Study, Jean A. Parrella, Holli R. Leggette, Theresa P. Murphrey, Christi Esquivel, Anna Bates

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The agricultural industry lacks qualified workers, suggesting students may not participate in opportunities that effectively develop their employability skills. We used a phenomenological case study approach to investigate Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students’ career-readiness and factors influencing career-readiness. We conducted interviews with 19 juniors and seniors. Open coding procedures revealed five emergent themes—Career Advice-Seeking Behavior,Employability Skills Development, Network Establishment, Relevant Experiences, and Personal Growth. Findings indicate that students do not take advantage of University resources to help them with career preparation. Findings also revealed a lack of employability skills development, especially relating to …


Unfit For Slavery: A Qualitative Exploration Of African American Male Perceptions Of Persistence And Academic Achievement At A Midwest Public Community College, Lavada Rebecca Rice May 2023

Unfit For Slavery: A Qualitative Exploration Of African American Male Perceptions Of Persistence And Academic Achievement At A Midwest Public Community College, Lavada Rebecca Rice

Dissertations

While African American males enrolled in community colleges, persistence and graduation rates remained low compared to all other demographics. Educational literature and research examining the performance of African American male students in community colleges was scarce (Bush & Bush, 2010). The most recent research focused on African American male students in the community college systems was 2010 (Harris & Wood, 2013) and focused on ways to keep African American male students enrolled. Ignoring the socio-ecological factors can affect decisions to stay enrolled. The researcher believed examining institutional and socio-ecological influences might be necessary to improve the persistence and academic achievement …


Exploring Digital And Print Text Experiences Of Adolescent Readers, Melissa Brown May 2023

Exploring Digital And Print Text Experiences Of Adolescent Readers, Melissa Brown

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Digital and print texts, as well as the efficiency of reader engagement with them, have long been of interest in scholarly literature. Most of the studies undertaken in this connection seek to compare reader comprehension of these two text media. But what are the lived experiences of reading digital versus print? And how do those who are still expected to be growing in their reading skills experience immersion and distraction in either medium? This study utilizes a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to investigate high school students’ experiences of digital texts in order to examine how their experiences with digital texts differ …


Students’ Online Engagement And Usage Of Discussion Boards On Blackboard: A Study From The Uae, Laila Mohebi May 2023

Students’ Online Engagement And Usage Of Discussion Boards On Blackboard: A Study From The Uae, Laila Mohebi

All Works

Academic institutions need to enhance online and virtual learning strategies to ensure student engage-ment, satisfaction, and feedback in online classrooms. Providing online education has become the need of the hour because it enhances learning without regard for distance or the need to travel to school. The present study conducted a qualitative research design to explore students’ online engagement in Blackboard’s discussion forums. The study aimed to investigate students’ perceived benefits of discussion forums and their views on improving their engagements in the discussion boards. In the current study17 students at a federal university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reflected …


Xinachtli: Exploring The Experiences Of Young Resilient Latinas In A Rural And Under-Resourced Community, Deborah Hernandez May 2023

Xinachtli: Exploring The Experiences Of Young Resilient Latinas In A Rural And Under-Resourced Community, Deborah Hernandez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This interpretive phenomenology study aimed to explore the lived experiences of young Latinas in a rural and under-resourced community. The analysis of the messages received by young women in educational institutions, at home, and in science and math classes was necessary due to the underrepresentation of Latinas in STEM fields. Using an interpretive phenomenology lens, the researcher collected journals from seven participants. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with all seven participants every week for 16 weeks by the Xinachtli facilitator. The data collected from the journals were transcribed in a line-by-line analysis and affirmed using qualitative analysis. The codes were …


A Phenomenological Study Of The Shared Responsibility Experiences Of Secondary Co-Teachers, Stuart Brady Apr 2023

A Phenomenological Study Of The Shared Responsibility Experiences Of Secondary Co-Teachers, Stuart Brady

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe co-teachers’ experiences regarding shared instructional responsibility in North Georgia secondary schools. Shared responsibility is generally defined as both teachers perceiving each other as co-equals in instructional responsibility and that neither teacher perceives the other as the subordinate or primary teacher in the co-taught classroom. The frameworks that guided this study is sociocultural theoretical framework, as developed by Vygotsky extended in recent co-teaching literature and Howlett and Nguyen, and teacher belief theory, developed by Parajes and adapted for co-teaching research by Kim and Pratt, which is supported by Bandura’s social cognitive theory. …


Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Elementary Teachers Who Teach Students With Dyslexia How To Read: A Transcendental Phenomenology, Erin Lynn Bower Apr 2023

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Elementary Teachers Who Teach Students With Dyslexia How To Read: A Transcendental Phenomenology, Erin Lynn Bower

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenology sought to understand the lived experiences of elementary teachers who teach students with dyslexia how to read. The central question guiding this study was: “What are the lived experiences of elementary teachers who teach students with dyslexia how to read?” Three sub-questions looked more deeply into the phenomenon. The first sub-question asked: “What internal influences shape elementary teachers’ experiences when teaching students with dyslexia how to read?” The second sub-question asked: “What external influences shape elementary teachers’ experiences when teaching students with dyslexia how to read?” Finally, the third sub-question asked: “How do internal and external influences …


A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of High School Students Who Were Socially Promoted, Janis Marie Fulgham-Faulk Apr 2023

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of High School Students Who Were Socially Promoted, Janis Marie Fulgham-Faulk

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of social promotion for high school students in the southeastern region of Virginia. The theories guiding this study are Ryan and Deci’s (2000) self-determination theory and Bandura’s (1989) social cognitive theory. The self-determination theory was used to examine the motivation of high school students after being socially promoted, and the social cognitive theory was used to examine self-efficacy as it relates to academic performance and long-term goals. These theories are relevant to this study because they identify components that students require in order to be academically successful …


Counter Narratives: A Phenomenological Study Of Inner-City Catholic School Teachers, Staci Wadlington Apr 2023

Counter Narratives: A Phenomenological Study Of Inner-City Catholic School Teachers, Staci Wadlington

Dissertations

Educational experiences of children can have positive or negative impacts on their future. This study used a method, counter-narratives, identified by Critical Race theorists to document the shared experiences of inner-city Catholic school educators during one of the most important time periods of education in our country, post Brown v Board of Education (1954). Using a qualitative and phenomenological approach, the researcher interviewed educators from an inner-city Catholic school to investigate their experiences during the post-restructuring phase, which essentially segregated a select group of schools from the larger archdiocese school system. These targeted schools were renamed, provided an alternate governing …


You Can Get There From Here: A Phenomenological Study Of Help-Seeking Behavior And Experiences Of Student Military Veterans In Community College, Donivan Foster Apr 2023

You Can Get There From Here: A Phenomenological Study Of Help-Seeking Behavior And Experiences Of Student Military Veterans In Community College, Donivan Foster

Dissertations

This phenomenological study described the experiences of student military veterans in a community college with physical and psychological health needs. Each participant enrolled in the community college by utilizing the benefits of the post-9/11 GI Bill and transitioned from active duty to civilian life. More than 40,000 programs in the United States are designed to assist veterans transitioning to civilian life (Carter, 2013). Further, the health needs and transition experiences of military veterans have been well-documented. Numerous programs seek to reduce barriers; however, many veterans experience challenges when using the programs or services (Perkins et al., 2019; Aronson et al., …


Open Educational Resources And Equity: Lived Experiences Of Minoritized Educators, Jacob Rogers Apr 2023

Open Educational Resources And Equity: Lived Experiences Of Minoritized Educators, Jacob Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

Open educational resources (OER) have been heralded for their ability to provide educational equality amongst learners worldwide. While this possibility offers to transform the availability of educational materials with only very specific limitations (devices, bandwidth, and ability to engage), it is seriously noted that the production of OER is typically sourced from the same homogenous sources as traditionally published texts (e.g., white males at elite universities in the U.S.). Additionally, while there are emboldened strides towards equality (equal access to materials), there remains an educational gap providing educational equity (equal opportunity to succeed) in the design as well as the …


A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of New Mexico Charter Leaders Through The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nadine T. Torres Apr 2023

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of New Mexico Charter Leaders Through The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nadine T. Torres

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has impacted the educational landscape in unbelievable ways. The changes to the learning environment in schools required leaders to obtain and exercise different competencies. New Mexico charter leaders are leading in the new normal of public education. With the additional roles, requirements, and expectations brought on by the pandemic, leaders cannot return to their prior leadership practices. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand and give voice to the lived experiences of NM charter leaders working through the COVID-19 pandemic. The narrative of the participants highlighted four major themes: …


Navigating The Unfamiliar: The Lived Experience Of Elementary School Teachers As They Navigate The Use Of New Literacies During A Global Pandemic, Sydney Boyer Apr 2023

Navigating The Unfamiliar: The Lived Experience Of Elementary School Teachers As They Navigate The Use Of New Literacies During A Global Pandemic, Sydney Boyer

Theses and Dissertations

New literacies within schools is supported by both education policy and research; despite this, new literacies have yet to enter and transform the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic offered an unprecedented opportunity to study teachers' experiences as they are required to navigate new literacies while teaching online. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of three upper elementary school teachers as they navigated the use of new literacies in a Title I school during a global pandemic. Data sources included three in-depth interviews and were analyzed through a thematic approach. Data analysis resulted in identifying …


Reviving The Roots: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Of Black Women In Agriculture And The Influence Of Post-Secondary Education, Alvianna Woodard-Davis Apr 2023

Reviving The Roots: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Of Black Women In Agriculture And The Influence Of Post-Secondary Education, Alvianna Woodard-Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of twenty Black women in the southern United States and the influence of post-secondary education on agricultural science. Two theories guided this study, Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory. When considering the five levels of Maslow's hierarchy, coupled with Black women's marginality as identified by the intersectionality theory, the research helped better define the relationship between Black women in agriculture and the referenced theories. Criterion sampling was used to identify ten experienced Black female producers and ten agriculture students to determine the trend. …


Kīpuka Leo: A Phenomenology Of Leadership In Hawaiian-Focused Charter Schools, Megan Lee Kawatachi Mar 2023

Kīpuka Leo: A Phenomenology Of Leadership In Hawaiian-Focused Charter Schools, Megan Lee Kawatachi

Educational Studies Dissertations

In Hawai‘i, the Hawaiian-focused charter school emerged as a call to action in communities that desired places of learning grounded in Native Hawaiian epistemologies, pedagogy, culture, language, and self-determination. Driven by the intention to decolonize schooling, Hawaiian-focused charter schools are still obligated to abide by the United States federal and Hawai‘i state mandates of publicly funded institutions. This phenomenological study sought to explore the experiences of eight po‘o kumu (leaders) from seven Hawaiian-focused charter schools as they develop kula (schools) from within the community, culturally rooted and responsive, while operating in a modern, Western context. Through face-to-face interviews, po‘o were …


Student Perceptions Of Learning Loss Following Traumatic Multi-Event School Closures: A Phenomenolgical Study, Robert Todd Mitchell Mar 2023

Student Perceptions Of Learning Loss Following Traumatic Multi-Event School Closures: A Phenomenolgical Study, Robert Todd Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of students who suffered learning loss due to multiple school closures during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years while attending Bay District Schools (BDS) in Bay County, Florida. The theoretical framework utilized in this study was Weiner’s Attribution Theory (AT). Weiner (1974) posited that the pursuit of understanding the motivation of an individual’s behavior requires attributing one or more causes to the behavior. Using attribution, I engaged participants in their personal narratives in order to understand and interpret their experience, motivation, and dimension of behavior regarding the …


A Phenomenological Study Examining The Collaborative Community Experiences Of Veteran Special Educators, Jennifer Boyd Mar 2023

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Collaborative Community Experiences Of Veteran Special Educators, Jennifer Boyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aimed to examine and describe the experiences of veteran special education (SPED) teachers in rural southwest Georgia school districts regarding their collaborative community network experiences within the field. Granovetter’s (1973) social network theory (SNT) encompasses critical concepts of belongingness and connection about job satisfaction over time and throughout educational contexts and guided this study. A phenomenological approach involving teacher interviews, a focus group, and journal prompts was used to examine the experiences of SPED teachers on their social networks. Eleven veteran SPED teachers were interviewed using open-ended interview scripts developed to target the central research question. Convenience …


A Phenomenological Study Of K-12 Educators' Perceptions Of Social Emotional Learning For K-12 Students In Southern Illinois., Ruth Cahill Jan 2023

A Phenomenological Study Of K-12 Educators' Perceptions Of Social Emotional Learning For K-12 Students In Southern Illinois., Ruth Cahill

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this Phenomenological study was to analyze K-12 educators’ lived experiences, opinions, and perceptions regarding the impact of social emotional learning implementation in a small school district in Southern Illinois. Results revealed four consistent codes: Educator competence – the participants revealed that they did not feel competent enough to correctly implement SEL due to lack of consistent, on-going SEL training; Efficacy – due to school closures, virtual instruction, and inconsistencies caused by the corona-virus pandemic, SEL implementation in the school district was discontinued until further notice; Perception – the participants expressed that when implemented correctly, they believe that …


Experiences Of African American Students In A Stem-Focused Community Program, Angela Blount Jan 2023

Experiences Of African American Students In A Stem-Focused Community Program, Angela Blount

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has invested millions of dollars in STEM program initiatives; however, African Americans in STEM career fields are underrepresented. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study aimed to explore the lived experiences of African-American first-year college students from rural communities in a STEM program and whether their experiences influenced their decision to pursue a STEM major in college. Spencer’s phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) was used to frame the study. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with eight African American first-year college students from rural communities. Coding analysis involved identifying meaning units and situated narratives …