Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

(Trans*)Gressing Discourse: Producing And Disrupting Normativity In Education For Trans* Students With Dis/Abilities, Meagan Meredith

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation investigates how political rhetoric, education policy, and educational community member discourse construct, circulate, and contest meanings about trans*ness and dis/ability in K-12 public schools. In doing so, the study examines how meanings about normativity are discursively produced and disrupted for students living at this specific intersection. Grounded in a trans* methodology, this study performs a critical discourse analysis through a rhizomatic reading of policy texts, political rhetoric, and publicly available stakeholder discourse. This work responds to a gap in the literature that fails to understand the complexities experienced by trans* students with dis/abilities, particularly in hostile school climates. …

An Exploration Of Academic Help-Seeking Among Postsecondary Students: Differences By Gender And Ethnicity, Stephanie Greenquist-Marlett, Linda Bol, Claire Consadine, Courtney Hill

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Students often struggle to employ effective learning and study strategies in postsecondary settings that challenge their academic success. These struggles can be amplified depending on student characteristics like gender and ethnicity. One way to improve their success is an awareness they may need help and how to most productively use this help. We sought to understand students’ patterns of help-seeking behaviors as well as whether these patterns differed by gender and ethnicity. The researcher-developed Academic Help-Seeking Inventory (AHSI) was designed to measure academic help-seeking. Participants were 249 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at two East Coast public universities. An exploratory …

Why Is It Always The Boys?: Evaluating Disciplinary Issues Within The Classroom, Brian P. Lynch

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This thesis explores the concept of discipline in the classroom and the overrepresentation of male students in disciplinary action.  American public schools are nearly equally represented with male and female students, yet disciplinary action is taken far more frequently toward male students.  Throughout the course of this paper, a history of disciplinary action in America is relayed.  Psychological and social factors are acknowledged to explain the differences of actions in the classroom between male and female students.

To best impact students in the classroom and relieve the overrepresentation of male disciplinary issues, a community program should take place throughout the …

Children's Peer Selection In Stem: The Influence Of Gender, Ethnicity, And Disability, Meagan Girard, Kim P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study examined how children’s peer selection in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) may be influenced by gender, ethnicity, and physical disability. Sixty-four children (ages 6-12) from elementary schools in Southwestern Ontario completed three tasks: a simulated peer selection task, an attribution of ability task, and a stereotype belief questionnaire. In the peer selection task, participants were repeatedly asked to select one peer from a set of AI-generated photographs showing children who differed by gender (male, female), ethnicity (White, Black, East Asian), and physical disability status (able-bodied user vs. nondisabled). The Peer Selection Task was based on the …

'Coming Here, It’S Just Weird': 'Making The Familiar Strange' Through Exploring Experiences Of Sexism And Feminisms, Emilia A I Little

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This paper explores personal experiences with gender and how these experiences changed whilst attending university as an undergraduate student. The paper uses gender and feminist theory to guide a critical and auto-ethnographic exploration of personal experiences of a young woman within a patriarchal system. The paper uses journal excerpts to recount past and current experiences through feminist lenses. Through exploring gender theory, binary and performativity, personal experiences are validated and explained. The force of patriarchal oppression and privilege were illuminated as personal conceptions of gender were disrupted. The paper argues for much-needed feminist education in schools, centring around: avoiding the …

Do Gender-Related Characteristics Impact Female Faculty Career Progression In Academic Doctor Of Physical Therapy Programs?, Bridget Eubanks

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: This study explored the experiences of female faculty in academic Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the US and if gender, or more specifically any gender-related characteristics such as pregnancy or motherhood, impacts female faculty career progression. Evidence has demonstrated that several challenges disproportionately affect women in academia, but there is currently no research available related to female faculty experiences in academic DPT programs. Methods: This study used a qualitative research design with a descriptive statistics component. It utilized a descriptive, cross-sectional design with a nonexperimental survey methodology. The Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success instrument was used …

Do They Already Know? Level Of Gender Language Sensitivity Among Education Students, Bethany P. Villanueva, Azil Jane Guingguing, Bryan Abondo, Diane Deuna, Adelyne Abrea

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

This study, conducted within a Philippine educational setting, assessed gender language sensitivity among education students. Completing two tests, the gender-neutral pronoun usage test and the gender-sensitive language test, 255 randomly selected first- and second-year students participated. Additional qualitative data was gathered through a focus group discussion. Statistical analysis using analysis of variance and Z-tests revealed no significant differences in the use of gender-neutral pronouns based on year level, program, gender identity, and preferred pronouns. However, a significant difference was observed in using gender-sensitive language based on year level and preferred pronouns. Overall, the respondents demonstrated a beginning level of proficiency …

Liberatory Motherhood: A Framework & Praxis For Caring And Scholaring Otherwise In The Neoliberal Academy, Bhavika Sicka

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the emergent literature on motherhood in neoliberal higher education by proposing liberatory motherhood as a theoretical framework and praxis to deconstruct and reconstruct motherhood in the neoliberal academy. The author, an early-career immigrant woman scholar of color, uses feminist autoethnography to critically examine the disempowering, disembodying, and departicularizing effects of neoliberal subjectivation on motheracademics, foregrounding her lived experiences of caregiving in her analysis. She approaches academic motherhood through a prismatic lens of a pluralistic feminist rhetorical analysis that emphasizes interrelationality, tracing her experiences of caring and producing otherwise as a way to signal opportunities to reembody …

The Experiences Of Men As A Gender Minority In Early Childhood Workplaces, Julian Laferla

Graduate Teacher Education

Men comprise a small percentage of the early childhood education and care workforce worldwide. Men represent only three percent of the preschool workforce in the United States (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, 2023). A review of the literature revealed challenges men commonly face as a gender minority in a female-dominated field. These challenges include the transgression of traditional beliefs about masculinity, structural barriers like low pay and poor working conditions, and workplace challenges like exclusion, double standards, gatekeeping, and suspicion of sexual threat. Research showed that men can contribute to the field through pedagogic practices that support …

Building Gender Equity In Forestry Education: The Benefits Of Oregon’S Women Owning Woodlands Network, Lauren A. Grand, Tiffany Hopkins

Journal of Extension

The Women Owning Woodlands Network was launched in 2005 as a way to provide collaborative and hands-on peer learning education to women who felt uncomfortable participating in traditional Extension programs. Since its inception the program as grown to provide education and resources for over 300 women. We surveyed these women to identify if the program continues to meet their needs. It is evident that WOWNet has continued to be an important part of OSU FNR’s outreach education program and continues to meet the needs of a historically undeserved group of landowners in ways that traditional programming does not.

What’S Your Story? Perceptions Of Diversity In Faith-Based Organizational Contexts, Martha N. Mcclure

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Organizations for the past several decades have made diversity a top priority. While diversity and inclusion can often be interpreted as synonymous terms, distinguishing between representative diversity and inclusive diversity is necessary for positive intergroup contact among working teams. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the effect of a missions training course on individuals' perceptions of what constitutes a diverse and inclusive work environment. Using the personal stories of diverse panelists and pre and post-test survey research, the effect on perceptions of four constructs of diversity: gender, race/ethnicity, age, and language were examined. While study findings did …

“A Real Man . . .”: Deconstructing Machismo Heteronormative Standards With K–12 Latino Male Educators Through Dialogic Spaces, Mario Echeverria

Dissertations

In a K–12 educational landscape where 75% of educators are white women, recruitment of Latino male educators is crucial for diversification, yet these educators represent just 2% of the teaching workforce in the United States (NCES, 2020). These educators grapple with a layered sense of identity as they navigate expectations of hegemonic masculinity and machismo norms that dictate their roles as disciplinarians and saviors, especially for young boys of color (Brockenbrough, 2018; Lara & Fránquiz, 2015; Martino & Kehler, 2006; Mills et al., 2004; Singh, 2021). Unfortunately, Latino male educators leave the profession at twice the rate of their Latina …

It’S About Time, Part Ii: Does Time Poverty Contribute To Inequitable College Outcomes By Gender And Race/Ethnicity?, Claire Wladis, Alyse C. Hachey, Katherine M. Conway

Publications and Research

Existing research demonstrates gender- and race/ethnicity-based inequities in college outcomes. Separately, recent research suggests a relationship between time poverty and college outcomes for student parents and online students. However, to date, no studies have empirically explored whether differential access to time as a resource for college may explain differential outcomes by gender or race/ethnicity. To address this, this study explored the relationship between time poverty, gender or race/ethnicity, and college outcomes at a large urban public university with two and four year campuses. Time poverty explained a significant proportion of differential outcomes (retention and credit accumulation) by gender and race/ethnicity. …

Incorporating Sex-Diverse And Gender-Inclusive Perspectives In Higher Education Biology Courses, Breanne N. Harris, A Kelsey Lewis, Sam L. Sharpe, Teri J. Orr, Christopher T. Martine, Chloe C. Josefson

Faculty Journal Articles

Inclusive teaching is teaching in a way that reaches all students in the classroom; this is beneficial for everyone, particularly for those with minoritized identities. Instructors play a critical role in scaffolding how students are exposed to and learn science content in the classroom. In this manuscript, we discuss how biology instructors can make their classrooms more inclusive with regard to sex and gender diversity content. Many topics in biology are based on androcentric, heteronormative, and oppressive framing, even though those lenses are more reflective of our own history and culture than they are of the diversity we see in …

The Gender And Race Intersectional Disproportionality-Tool (Grid-T): An Exploration Of Practitioners’ Access To And Use Of High-Quality Data For Special Education Placement, Audrey J. Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Disproportionality in special education (SPED) is upheld by systems and individuals, policies, and practices that both reflect and shape the local communities within which it exists. Even with many proposed solutions for disproportionality, it persists. This two-manuscript dissertation explores two characteristics that make disproportionality difficult to solve (e.g., inconsistent findings and persistence) and proposes a tool to inform data-based decision making in interventions for disproportionality in SPED.

Manuscript One (M1) includes a literature review and development of the Gender and Race Intersectionality Disproportionality- Tool (GRID-T). Based on the findings of the literature review about inconsistence and persistence, I crafted three …

Diversity, Dignity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Age Of Division, Discord, And Disunion: Stereotyping, Sexist, Hegemony In Education, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article addresses diversity issues related to language, gender, and culture. Topics include fundamental areas of research essential to the discussion on language diversity in the context of education with respect to equity, poverty, stereotype threat, Pygmalion Effect, non-sexist language, and Matthews Effect. The discussion on diversity and equity creates a space to think about issues of access, opportunity, voice, and equal participation within society and educational settings. Diversity among humans requires thoughtful considerations, accommodations, and differentiations in educational treatment, yet providing equal opportunities for growth and learning for all.

Evaluating Impacts Of Development Programs On Female Education In Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Mobariz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation evaluates the effects of three development interventions on female education in Afghanistan: 1) effects of foreign military withdrawal on females’ demand for higher education; 2) impacts of PEZAK, a community-driven university entrance preparation, on student enrollment and performance in tertiary education; and 3) long-term effects of National Solidarity Program (NSP), that established gender-balanced local development councils, on female enrollment. Foreign military withdrawal increased female participation in higher education by 0.3 percentage points from a base value of 0.05 percent participation per capita. The PEZAK increased test scores by 0.17 standard deviations and had a positiveeffect on enrollment in …

Gender Equality In Higher Education And Research, Rodrigo Rosa, Sara Clavero

Articles

No abstract provided.

Competing Worlds: The Private Lives Of Women Nurse Students And Gender Equity In Higher Education, Lesley Andrew, Ken Robinson, Leesa Costello, Julie Dare

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 Society for Research into Higher Education. A longitudinal qualitative study of undergraduate women nursing students demonstrated the profound and pervasive influence of the heterosexual intimate relationship on their university engagement and achievement. Hitherto, the importance of women’s private lives have been underappreciated in the arenas of student equity and retention. The study showed that traditional ideas of gender held within the intimate relationship were highly detrimental to student autonomy and capacity to engage, and that the university’s organisation and delivery of the curriculum exacerbated the situation. Participants made personal sacrifices, which, while enabling continuation of their studies, were …

Developing Mathematical Identities: Australian Children’S Gendered Constructs In The First Formal Year Of School, Rachelle Glynn

Theses

Researchers have been intrigued by the dichotomy of similar achievement levels between boys and girls but disparate mathematical attitudes, which show that girls are much less likely to enjoy or engage with mathematics or choose professions involving mathematics (Kyriacou & Goulding, 2006; Vale, 2008). Although studies have explored differences in boys' and girls' perceptions of their mathematical identity from age seven, there has not been research conducted on students as they begin school to see what gendered perceptions they bring to their mathematical learning. This study seeks to answer the question: How are girls’ and boys’ mathematical identities being informed …

Women's Empowerment Through The Use Of Technology, Wolayat Tabasum Niroo, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Technology has shaped people’s lifestyles globally. Today, the majority of the world’s population seeks help through technology as a portal to learning with the wide variety of learning materials available. Women in both developed and developing countries can access learning through technology, yet the scholarly community do not have an up-to-date collective view of how technology is being used to provide learning materials to empower women around the world. Therefore, this systematic review included an aggregated and qualitative synthesis to investigate extant empirical work over five years, 2017-2021. Following a rigorous PRISMA selection process, 40 articles were included in the …

Watch Your Language! A Foundational Course Exploring Language Of Gender And Sexuality, Raeann Risko

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Summer Fellows

How do language and word choice influence the way people think about gender and sexuality? This question is addressed through a syllabus for an entry level college course, which includes suggested readings and activities along with explanations and advice for instructors. This course provides a foundation for understanding the power of language and the impact that the vocabulary used to describe people in relation to their gender and sexuality has. The purpose of the course is to offer an interactive guide for students to consider the many different ways that words may be used or misused, understood or misunderstood. This …

Gender Expansive Students In The Choral Classroom: Awareness & Practices Of Secondary Music Educators, Emma E. Taranko

Honors Projects

In an age of growing diversity, it is essential for educators, both pre- and in-service, to seek out strategies that will assist them in creating a welcoming classroom environment for all learners. It is incumbent upon choral music teachers and community leaders to educate themselves in the diversity that presents itself in their classrooms in order to better service all students. In this study, twenty-five secondary music educators shared their awareness of gender expansive students in their choir classrooms and any strategies they have used to better service their singers. This study was conducted in order to assess which strategies …

Effects Of Gatekeeper Course Modality, Age, Gender And High School Gpa On Kaplan Subject Area Exam Scores, Vernon Hoffman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The question of equivalency regarding course modality has plagued and intrigued educators for as long as multiple modalities have existed. In the modern world of academia, the two prevailing modalities are face-to-face or traditional courses and online courses. A multitude of factors have contributed to the increase in online course offerings, including increasingly dependable technology and fiscal pressures on institutions of higher learning.

A great deal of scholarly research has compared modalities using within-course measures such as course grades and comprehensive final exams. Most of these studies have found the two modalities equivalent. However, a dearth of research exists which …

Equitable Mathematics Classroom Discourse, Liza Bondurant

Journal of Practitioner Research

In this article the author shares a self-study investigation into how the quality of talk and opportunities to participate are distributed across individual students based on race and gender in her college math class. Readers will learn how to conduct a similar investigation in their classroom. A discussion of ways to use the information gathered from equitable mathematics classroom discourse investigations will follow.

Complaint As ‘Sticky Data’ For The Woman Wpa: The Intellectual Work Of A Wpa’S Emotional And Embodied Labor, Anna Sicari

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

There is rich scholarship on emotions in writing program administration, and the labor this work requires from WPAs (Holt; Micciche; McKinney et. al; Ratcliffe and Rickley; Vidali) and on the feminized nature of writing programs and the way gender informs this type of emotional work (Enos; Flynn; Miller; Schell). Many WPA scholars advocate that our administrative work is intellectual work, yet little attention has been given to the emotional and embodied labor of WPA work as intellectual and as defining components of WPA work. Drawing from Sara Ahmed’s recent work on complaint and data I collected from thirty interviews with …

A Narrative Inquiry To Explore The Connection Between Gender And Discipline In Grades Pre-K–8, Nicole Salazar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Because behavioral discipline can impact children’s development, it is important to ensure that educators work in fair and unbiased ways with all children, across gender, race, and other groups. Biased disciplining of children’s behavior in classrooms can occur as micro-aggressions (McCabe, 2009), sometimes counter to what educators may believe about their own behavior. As a means of raising awareness of gender-biased treatment in classrooms, this thesis involved narrating – a dynamic activity that elicits accounts of events – and thus as a means of reflecting on behavior in everyday practices. Educators anonymously completed a questionnaire requesting narratives of various disciplinary …

The Relationship Between Mentoring And Instructional Leadership Effectiveness: Gender Differences Between School Site Leaders, Kristina Britton

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Less than 25% of superintendent positions, the highest level of educational leadership, are occupied by women. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that over 75% of the nation’s teaching force are women. A significant barrier cited in the literature is that there is a deficiency in the support needed for women to successfully promote into higher-level administrative positions. Although mentoring has been shown to be key factor for female administrators’ success in educational administration, this study provides quantitative data to demonstrate the need for quality mentoring opportunities for school site administrators.The purpose of this research study was to …

For The Culture: The Importance Of A Critical Social Theory Within The Music Education Classroom, Brianna Thomas

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will analyze the history of music education in the United States and discuss how the music classroom can contribute to and dismantle social inequalities including social class, gender, and race. Class effects music education by creating barriers to necessary resources and opportunities as a result of economic positions.[1] Gender is the second focus because music has historically been a male-dominated profession. As a result, many textbooks and curriculum highlight the achievements of men while erasing the contributions of women which has taught women to devalue their own work.[2] The last focus is race. While the arts …

Hegemonic Masculinities And Children’S Picture Books, Nathan N. Taylor

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study focused on the role of hegemonic masculinities in children’s picture books. Chiefly, marginalized and subordinated masculinities are highlighted to investigate their relationships with dominant and complicit masculinities. This was done under a feminist reading of patriarchy and the connection between patriarchy and masculinities. Utilizing a critical discourse analysis framework, the author problematizes the personal transformation of the protagonists in three children’s picture books. The personal transformation attends to the masculine subject on an individual level, but fails to address how hegemonic masculinities and patriarchy operate at a discursive and corporeal level. Suggestions are made from the findings on …